String of beads

Triggered by the most thoughtful surprise gift from Husband, I am researching plants to put in the front south-facing flowerbeds. The tulips and grape hyacinth were beautiful and lush in the spring, but now there is nothing but dirt. After the a failed hydrangea experiment, I am thinking of using lavender as the main focus shrub. MIL has also generously offered a harvest from her flowerbeds.
I love our neighbor's yard. Even though it is completely under kept, the plants fascinate me, and it's actually part of my inspiration. (Maybe it's the fact that they never do anything to it and the flowers and plants are thriving that excites me.) The plan so far includes lavender, daisies and ground-cover succulents, and enchanting flowers like the echinops.
My search for plants lead me to the little number pictured above, called String of Beads (Senecio). I am officially coveting this little plant. While I first though I would put it in a bed that drops off so it could hang over next to our driveway, the plant is actually toxic when ingested. It sounds scary, but then again, people keep lilies which are toxic as well, especially to cats. I wouldn't think of planting this in reach of animals or small children, but I definitely have plenty of unreachable spots for a pot in the house. Is it worth it? . . .

Bugs, Slugs and Tomatoes

I discovered this little guy on a tomato the other day. I found out he was a Stink bug nymph (Chlorochroa). They inject their digestive juices into a plant and eat it up. Gross. They lay eggs on the underside of leaves in the spring, and over-winter in leaf cover.

I also keep finding slugs! This guy that I found this morning was huge! I had a major problem with them eating my zinnia and marigold leaves. Both plants looked like skeletons for awhile. I resorted to putting pet-safe slug repelant around my plants. It seemed to work and all flowers game back beautifully, though I am bummed about using the chemicals.

My heirlooms are revealing themselves! Two of the three plants have at least one tomato that's turned. I'm still hoping that the third plant is ripening at the same rate and I just can't tell because it's a green zebra. I'm pretty sure now that I have a pink Brandywine and an orange Nebraska Wedding!

Husband and I had the best BLT's tonight so I'm excited that the heirloom's texture is just fine!

Alli's list of 10 things that make her Terribly happy. . .

I was forwarded the cutest blog of the cutest couple I don't even know. I am stealing their wonderful idea. Here is my list of 10 things that make me Terribly Happy!

1. Husband's jokes that make me double over in care-free, child-like, delighted laughter

2. Rainbows

3. Huckleberries

4. The smell of new born babies

5. Doggies and their soft fur

6. A stimulating intellectual conversation

7. Seasonal clothing like cool, twirly sun dresses in the heat of the summer and cozy scarves in the crisp fall

8. Crepes

9. Undenyably answered prayers

10. Giving the perfect gift

Why I need a man.

I wrestled with the pressure canner for 20 minutes, got the lid only about half way on, and finally lamented. It was the first time I've ever used one, so was I doing something wrong? Was something wrong with the lid? Oh, no. Husband was working Friday night, so I thought I'd use the alone time to attempt a tomato canning trial run. I called a friend who lives close by, but no answer. I thought about knocking on one of the neighbor's doors, but I haven't quite gotten that far in my extroversion development. So, I called my brother-in-law. He laughed at me, twisted the top right off and saw that I only had one can in the canner. He laughed at me again, and popped the lid on. So, thank you Tanner for coming to my canning rescue!

I do have questions, though, about my tomatoes. The texture is off, no matter what stage of ripe I think they are. I'm starting to wonder if it's the soil. Our garden was covered in evergreens for a long time. I guess I'll see how the texture of my heirloom tomatoes turns out.

The end product looks like this. I haven't quite decided if I want to actually eat the tomatoes. They aren't pretty, and the jar is 1/4 air. I've read that if the filler (the sugar bath in the case of fruit, or water in this case) isn't close to boiling when the cans are processed, it causes it to boil over and take in air.

Huckleberries

Obsession is defined as "the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc." As I was happily, even if tiredly, preserving my day's treasures last night, I wondered at what point I would be classified as obsessed. Is it that I physically get angry at work because I have to be there instead of hunting down the next bountiful patch? Or is it that I no sooner arrive back in the town limits before I'm already craving the next trip? (And get anxious at the thought of missing the time slot to pick them at their peak?) Maybe it's when I fall asleep to the image of the deep purple berry just waiting for me to pluck it from its bush.

It's not just any huckleberry that I can't get enough of. Don't get me wrong; since I discovered huckleberries, I've loved them. With the exception of a few trials of exotic fruits from the grocery store, I grew up on the apples and bananas. It was much to my delight to discover our own little exotic fruit grown in the Northwest, and even more so when I found out they abound in Idaho! I enjoy the hunt, the stomping around in the wilderness, the Craps-point-number-roll excitement of finding the "jackpot" patch, and providing for myself and my family. And while I am finding myself tempted with greed and territorialism, it's the knowledge that they are not My berries that keeps me grounded. They are a blessing that proves to me that God cares about my heart's desires and I am ultimately loved.


Note to self: 4 cups of whole berries does not equal 4 cups of crushed berries. As I crushed the berries, I immediately regret the decision to make jam before just canning them whole. Oh well. There will be more, there will be more. :)

A garden by the street

Ah the perils of having a garden by the sidewalk. Earlier this year, one of my tomato-supporting bamboo tee-pees was swipped. While I tried to tell myself someone needed it to support their in-need family with a garden, there are some actions that just can't be given the benefit of the doubt no matter how hard I try. Like the discovery we made today: Someone viciously ripped one of the tomato plants from the ground. Two tee-pees were connected with string. The one in the foreground was completely out of the ground leaning on the fence, the plant right along with it. The one behind it in the picture was just topled over. I managed to get both tee-pees standing upright again, but not without a number of casualties. I replanted the one in hopes that with a little TLC it will make it. If it just keeps withering, I will salvage what I can. :(

I am posting a question again: what makes a tomato split? I now have two split tomatoes (one in the picture on the left), but all the tomatoes one plant over are just fine (pic on the right)! Is it a problem with the soil, the water, the sun? I just don't know what variable is effecting one plant and not the other.

Garden Questions

What causes tomatoes to crack? (see picture) How many tomatoes do you need to make canning them worth it? If it requires multiple pounds, what do you do with the couple pounds that ripen before the multiples?

What is this flowering weed?

You're my huckleberry!

My husband is truly my huckleberry. While not entirely excited to spend the morning in the heat of an Idaho August day, he lovingly volunteered to go with me hunting down one of my summer obsessions:

the wild Huckleberry!!!

Huckleberries are similar to blue berries but, in my opinion, sweeter. No one has been able to commercially grow them, so they have to be picked wild. The plants like the soil under pine trees in an area that wild fire has burned through 15 years prior.

The huckleberry community can be very territorial and hush, hush about known patches, so MIL and I were incredibly blessed on our first outting last year when we ran into a couple seasoned Idaho adventurers who let us in on some hints. The plants are no taller than knee high and typically grow on north-facing slopes. Armed with this information, we did end up finding some last year! Today, I was just hoping I'd be able to remember what the bush looked like.

It wasn't too long after finding the correct road that lead to the north-facing slopes that I spotted these from the car:

(The arrows are pointing at actual huckleberries, both in front of my leg and to my side. The sparkling purple berries of deliciousness that caught my eye in the car are on the right side of the photo with the white arrows.)

And a couple closeups:

The hardes part was leaving some of the berries behind, even if they aren't quite ripe yet. Oh well, now I know where to head on the next trip!

The day's bounty.