Mysterious

What is this thing?!It's on my cherry pepper plant. There wasn't any noticeable damage to the plant so I left him alone. I'm not sure if he was hurting or helping. Advice?

In other, non-bug related news, I got some time in at the workshop yesterday and have some new cuffs to list!

Tomatoes!

They're growing! all over the place!I'm very pleased. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have cherry tomatoes coming out the whazoo!

Happy Dad Day!
(well, my dad, anyway)
It's his BIRTHDAY!
I unfortunately was not able to get him his present online, which is a bummer because that means I had to pay full price for it at Barnes & Noble, but it is purchased and wrapped nonetheless.
I got him a copy of Hoodwinked, the new book by John Perkins.Now that I think about it, I should've bought a copy from the author's website. they usually autograph them when you do that. Oops. Well, I guess there's a Father's day idea.
Happy Birthday Dad!

Sweet Sunday

Oh Sunday, how I love you. Since I work all Saturday, Sunday is the start of my weekend. I wake up super early to play on the computer and run errands; I'm like a little kid who struggles to get to school at 8am but then darts out of bed at 6am Saturday to watch cartoons.
After checking the weather forecast I decided that today would be great for gardening! Hopefully I'll be able to dig out some more space and get my cucumbers and radishes in the ground today! The image at the top of the page is my attempt at drawing up a garden layout. The circles represent marigolds and the rounded squares are predicted planting spots.
What do you think? Does it need some work?

*water* gasp... *water*

It is SO hot and humid outside. I tried to dig out another chunk of garden today and managed to mangle about four square feet of grass before collapsing into the house again. There are plants waiting in queue for prime yard space so I've gotto keep digging out a little each day. But this is HARD!

So, enough about my foliage-related fatigue. I'll daydream about my pretty garden until work tonight.By TheSucculenGarden on Etsy
By 8point8 on EtsyBy Azuredandelion on Etsy

Its a trip

My buddy came back and we spent a funtastic day at the beach before the clouds rolled in. The evening was warm and perfect for a meal and drink outdoors with friends and family. Unfortunately, he had to make the long drive back to Missouri and left yesterday morning. I miss him already!I went back to my garden and dug out some more space; planted some more peppers and lettuce. My garden plot is starting to look like a garden! The next step will be transplanting the cucumbers, dill, and radishes. yes, I know I should've just started the radishes in the ground to begin with, but I have a fear of seeding directly in the garden still. Especially when I'm unfamiliar with what the seedlings look like in the first place. What if I accidentally left weeds growing for weeks, thinking they were radishes? That would be a nightmare!

Buddy Time

My buddy Chad came to visit the other day! I haven't seen this guy in YEARS! Five years, to be exact. We parted ways in Kansas City; he moved to central Missouri and I moved to Florida. This past month, he decided to take some long over-due vacation time and bounced between Tennessee and Sarasota. From Sarasota he came south a bit to see me on Thursday! It was great seeing him, but sad that his visit was so short.
Well, fantastic news - he's coming back down again today! Can't wait to see him (again!)

I spent the morning working in my garden, trying to dig out some more space and drawing up plans for various seedling areas. It's a bit frustrating, because I'm dealing with existing crops that may or may not be companion plants with the seedlings. For instance, the dill can go next to the corn, onion, and cucumbers, but needs to stay away from the carrots and tomatoes.
Fingers crossed I get it right!

As the weeks go by

So, May is officially upon us. Mothers Day was fun, but scattered. Most of the family had to work at some point or another throughout the day, so we were never really able to gather together. However, we showered my mother with love and affection and my aunt eve gave her a refreshing haircut! I had tried to buy flowers on my way home from work but the roadside floral vendor, who is always there, was not there that day. Ridiculous! The best day to sell flowers and youre not going to be open?Fortunately, I had purchased my mother some amazing hand-blended teas from Teaman on Etsy.

My garden has been pushing steadily along. I have some small squashes forming and am re-growing green onions for the third time. They seem to be forever regenerating!
My cousin even made some mild hot sauce from our garden using onions, scallions and peppers.We didn't have enough peppers, though. Hopefully soon we'll have a bigger harvest.