Quote of the Day: Buckner Hollingsworth
“I think I yet see what I have so often beheld both in town and in country,” Mrs Grant continued, “a respectable mistress of a family going out to her garden, in an April morning, with her great calash, her little painted basket of seeds, and her rake over her shoulder, to her garden labors.”
Buckner Hollingsworth
found in Her Garden Was Her Delight. Famous Women Gardeners.
If you’ve never read the book above you should, such a fascinating book about women gardeners throughout American history.
I’m getting a little backed up sharing images since we’re focusing on cleaning. Here’s the update, scenes from around the gardens of Chiot’s Run this past week, harvest, blooms, and life. (if you are my personal friend or if you follow Chiot’s Run on Facebook you might have seen a few of these).
Remember those tulips that I forgot about in the garage? They are just starting to come into their own and they’re stunning, obviously no harm done by the accidental blanching. They are parrot tulips ‘Rai’, ‘Green Wave’, and ‘Parrot King’.
The tulip hillside is in full bloom, photos of that in the coming weeks complete with photos of each individual tulip variety in case you want to know which ones to order.
Do I really need to say anything about these photos? These show exactly why I garden; it’s peaceful, it’s beautiful, it feeds my soul and it brings me much joy during these busy, busy weeks!
What’s been bringing you joy in these last few weeks?
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Quote of the Day: Nigel Slater
Mrs Pearman’s house was a home in every sense of the word. A place where a daughter or son would suddenly turn up without warning, expecting, and getting, supper or Sunday lunch. Where every piece of furniture seemed to have a history and where every daily event was faithfully recorded in photograph albums. It was warm and happy, untidy and cozy. There was always a jug of garden flowers on the kitchen table and milk in the fridge. And like all good homes Mrs Pearman’s also had an overriding smell of golden retriever.
Nigel Slater from Toast
Around here it’s hit or miss. You can come to my house one day and it’s clean as can be or come the next and it’s a bit crazy. It all depends on what’s going on, how many seeds I’m planting, if I ‘m canning, or if we’ve been traveling all day for a few days. My house is usually clean, but it’s often a tad cluttered (there is a difference).
I used to be quite a neatnik, sweeping and mopping several times a day, especially after we first got the chiots. Then I lightened up a bit as I acquired more and more hobbies. Now I’m actually a little more comfortable when the house is a bit cluttered. When you live in a small house and the dining room table is the craft table, sewing table, seed starting table, work table, and the canning table it can get a little messy at times. I used to try to clean everything up when people came over, but then I realized it didn’t matter. People know we live here, and sometimes, life is messy.
If you ever stop in for a visit our home will look like people live here. A whole lot of life happens at Chiot’s Run and at times it really shows, especially on our dining room table! You can always tell how busy we are by what our dining room table looks like.
What part of your house starts to show life first?
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Quote of the Day: Cicero
I look upon the pleasure we take in a garden as one of the most innocent delights in human life.
– Cicero
I’m delighting at the beginning stages of my tulip parade. Last fall when I was planting all these bulbs I was debating on planting them all in blocks of each specific variety, but then I decided to throw them all into a box and plant them all jumbled up. I’m certainly glad I did and it will extend the color that I see from my kitchen window.
I’ve been wanting to do something with this hillside for so long and I’m finally glad I did. If we do end up selling & moving, at least I will have the memory of this hillside this spring. Now to figure out what to plant on it when the tulips fade. Any suggestions?
Is there anything in your garden that you put off for a long time only to wish you had done it much sooner?
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Quote of the Day: Joan Dye Gussow
Nature is a difficult co-worker: She won’t allow you to postpone things, and she is often ready for you when you aren’t ready for her.
Joan Dye Gussow from This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader
I was thinking about this quote earlier this week when I was carrying all of my seedlings up to the front porch to harden them off. Spring is a really busy time of year and it seems that everything needs to be ready at the same time.
This year spring kind of snuck up on me, I’m really not quite ready. Winter was not nearly long enough for me, there are still a lot of things not crossed off of my to-do list.
I don’t mind though, I appreciate the need to get out and spend every spare minute getting chores done around the garden.
What’s your busiest time in the garden?
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Live Long and Prosper
Spring insinuates itself little by little into the winter and into our awareness, almost like a dye put drop by drop into a glass of water, hardly coloring it at all first, but eventually, by steady additions, changing its appearance and even its very nature.
Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd in Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill
Mr Chiots and moved into this house 10 years ago, in February of 2002. That first spring I purchased four primroses at the grocery store checkout that were marked 50% off. They were the first things planted by me in the gardens of Chiot’s Run. I wasn’t a gardner then and can’t remember why I chose to plant them where I did. The next spring two of them came back and bloomed, then the third year I was down to one.
Amazingly, this little primrose is still thriving in the garden. I can always count on it to be one of the first signs of spring in the garden and one of the last flowers to bloom in the fall. If we pack up and move, this little primrose will definitely come with along to our new home. I don’t know if it will survive, but I’m sure going to try.
What’s the longest living plant in your garden?
