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Home-Grown Produce
My summer vegetable garden is a mix of successes and failures. Let’s get the bad. Corn, cucumbers and yellow squash have not done well. Between the chipmunks and vine borers, I was lucky to get two squash, two cucumbers, and a few pitiful ears of corn. Tomatoes have done great. The potted ‘Celebrity’ started off…
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4th of July Flowerworks
Growing flowers from seed allows me to plant uncommon varieties. Some selections are old favorites. Others caught my eye as I was putting together my seed orders. Here’s an update on this years’ choices. Gloriosa Daisy. I wanted Blackeyed Susans but ended up ordering a variety alleged to have double blooms. The petals look to…
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My OCD Pup
We celebrated Tootsie’s third birthday earlier this month. She got a ball–an exact duplicate of a well-worn favorite. I bought it months ago, but knowing how she is with a new toy, held off until her June 9th birthday to give it to her. She’s been playing with it pretty much ever since. Giving Tootsie…
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Locked Out!
I’ve been locked out of my web site several times over the past few weeks. Usually, I’m able to access the dashboard to fix the problem. Two weeks ago, I was working on a post about Tootsie’s birthday when an error message came up I couldn’t get past. Sigh. Many moons ago, I knew everything…
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Running Down
Illness knocked me off my running game in 2023. Nothing serious–just enough to get me out of the habit. Getting back into the routine has been a challenge. Late last summer, I was running three miles, three or four times a week. My average time per mile was 13 or 14 minutes. Occasionally, I’d hit…
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Early Success in the Garden
The 2025 season is off to a great start. Pushing back my seed-starting schedule continues to pay-off. By the time things were ready to plant, the soil had warmed up enough for seedlings to hit the ground running. And they did. Abundent rain and mild temperatures over the past few weeks fueled the growth spurt.…
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A Major Life Change
Some changes in life are bigger than others. I recently experienced a huge change. The Kroger where I’ve shopped for more than 25 years closed. I don’t get out much. Many believe going to the grocery is old-fashioned. Ordering groceries for delivery or pickup doesn’t work for me. I need to see stuff. Getting out…
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Canteerbury Bells
This year has been my best ever for Canterbury bells–a plant I’ve grown on and off for more than thirty years. They’re biennials–like foxgloves, forget-me-nots, and dame’s rocket. Folilage grows the first year and, in the second year, they bloom, set seed, and die. Outside of catalogs, I’d never seen Canterbury bells. I ordered several…
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A Good Start
Spring weather has arrived here in Athens. Locals say Good Friday is the safe planting date to avoid late frosts. Given the way Easter moves around, that’s tricky. I go with April 22–the day between the birthdays of Dad and his mother from whom I inherited a green thumb. Little is blooming beyond some store-bought…
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Pickled Weeds?
A post promoting vinegar (one gallon), salt (one cup) and dish soap (one tablespoon) as a replacement for RoundUp recently came across my Facebook feed. The active ingredient in Roundup is nasty, but effective at killing plants–and lots of other things. A more earth-friendly approach appealed to me. Weeds pop up in cracks in the…