How’s That Chiots?
It’s been a while since I’ve given an update on Lucy the garden namesake, I thought you might be interested in one. For those of you who are new, a little over a year ago she tore her ACL and wasn’t able to use one of her legs. We chose to take the least invasive method for treatment. No surgery, only therapy and dietary supplements.
She’s slowly gotten better and better and seems to be almost back to normal. She still can’t do really long walks, but she loves shorter ones. She’s also finally able to run a little bit this spring. She’s really enjoying the freedom of being able to follow me around the gardens again. Last summer she was still on limited mobility so she was only allowed to be outside if she was chained. This spring she’s been following me around as I work and is have a great time chewing on sticks and sleeping in the flowerbeds.
She just turned 8, so she’s far from the ornery little 10 pound chiots we brought home in a box from the pound so long ago. I remember her digging up all my plants, ripping out my clematis vines and running around the gardens like a crazy dog for several years. When she hit 2 she decided she was all grown up and became the best dog ever.
She isn’t destructive in the gardens any more, except for the occasional use of a flowerbed as an actual bed. She’s quite a nice gardening companion.
Do you have any gardening companions human or of the animal kingdom?
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Chistmas Gifts in the Garden
Mr Chiots and I don’t have children, but we have 3 nieces and a nephew (my sister’s children). You’ve probably seen photos of them if you’ve been reading this blog for a while (here are some more of their Christmas photos if you’d like to see them).
For Christmas they made me mosaic stepping stones for my garden. I’ve been waiting for the weather to be nice enough to put them out. Since it looks like the hard freezes are over, I put them in the garden yesterday. One of the stones has their names on it and the other is a small flower shaped stone. Both are jeweled with colorful pieces of glass.
These will be perfect to put in the garden to give me a place to step so I don’t compact the soil. I’m not traditionally a garden ornament kind of person, but I do love these.
Do you have any decorations/ornaments in your gardens?
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Happy Easter From Chiot’s Run
No need to spend hours coloring eggs when you have ones this lovely from the local farm. Here’s to a free-range pastured local holiday!
Happy Easter from Chiot’s Run!
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The Rewards of Growing Vegetables
The most rewarding part of growing vegetables is harvesting them. It is incredibly satisfying pulling from the ground vegetables you sowed as seed in the spring.
-Christoper Lloyd & Richard Bird (The Cottage Garden)
I’m reading The Cottage Garden book at the moment and I really really like it. I actually got it from the library again, it’s the second time I’ve read it. I decided it’s worthy of being added to my library and I purchased it last week. If you like cottage gardens and like growing vegetables you’ll be delighted by the garden plans and all the information, plant suggestions and photos in this book.
What’s the most rewarding part of growing vegetables for you?
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Signs of Life in the Garden
This past week I’ve been spending the lovely warm days cleaning the thick mulch of leaves out of the perennials beds so the plants can emerge (I don’t clean out my flowerbeds in the fall, I wait until spring). I cut back all the dead foliage from the perennials and often discover the plants springing forth from the roots. I spread some rock and mineral dusts on the flowerbeds and work compost and some organic fertilizers (like kelp meal, fish meal, etc) around a few heavily blooming plants. This time of year it’s exciting to get out and work in the garden. Things are starting to emerge and promise a summer of lush green plants and colorful flowers.
The catmint is making promises of mounds of soft billowy purple flowers buzzing with bees and other pollinators lasting from early summer to late fall.
The daffodils promise sunny spring color that will be seen in the garden very soon!
The lenten rose is currently blooming in it’s demure way. Not showy and colorful, but so brightening up the shady spot in the garden.
The peonies are showing the promise flowers in all shapes, sizes and colors filling the garden in June.
I can’t name a favorite plant in the height of their summer glory, but I think my favorite plant to see emerging in the spring is the sedum. I don’t know what it is about how they come up, but they’re so interesting to me. The texture is fantastic, the waxiness of the little cabbage type buds are so lovely!
What’s your favorite thing to see coming up in the spring?
