Moose River, Old Forge, NY

I took a much needed break from everyday life. I watered my garden and left for a few days - weeds - have fun growing! We went camping in Old Forge, NY at Nick's Lake State Park. We were joined by other family members. On Saturday, we met more people in town who had come for the day and we spent the afternoon paddling down the Moose River. What a relaxing, wonderful, stress-free afternoon. (except the part when we had to portage, oh my aching back!!) We paid to have Mountain Man Outdoors transport us and our canoes/kayaks to a put-in site. Then all we had to do was let the current carry us down river (with a little bit of steering on our part.) Stopped for a leisurely picnic lunch on one of the many sandbars. It was a wonderful break from life. Mountain Man Outdoors rents all the equipment you need for this trip if you don't have your own.

The Evening Garden by Peter Loewer book review

If you don't already have a garden to enjoy in the evening, in the light of the moon, you will want one after reading Peter Loewer's book, The Evening Garden: Flowers and Fragrance From Dusk to Dawn.
I am in the process of submitting a children's story I wrote to publishers. I've been working on it since last winter. The title - The Moonlight Garden. The story takes the reader on a stroll through a moonlit garden and my hopes are it will inspire parents to create a similar garden with their children.
I borrowed Peter's book from the library so many times to use in my research, I finally bought my own copy. This book is such an inspiration. Full of beautiful black & white drawings, quotes, and snippets about gardening. It's full of ideas, plant care, etc. Published in 1993, there are many new varieties of flowers and plants suitable for an evening garden, but this book is a great place to start. (As my book would be if a publisher chooses to publish it.)
If you're looking for a different "theme" garden to add to your landscape, consider one you can enjoy at night - after a day of work and chores.

http://www.amazon.com/Evening-Garden-Flowers-Fragrance-Dusk/dp/0881925322

Blackberries picking and cooking

'Off I went, into the wild green yonder...' It's blackberry season (or it was last week when I went picking.) I braved the stabbing thorns, skin-piercing mosquitoes, and head-buzzing deer flies in the wilds of my son's property. Yup - all for the joy of picking my own berries. There's such a rewarding feeling about foraging for your food. Kind of like being a pioneer woman (or cave woman, depending on how far back you want to go.) When you walk out of the "jungle" with your pail of berries, sweat dripping, feeling like you've just done battle with nature - you feel great knowing YOU picked those beautiful berries. You may get a few strange looks from folks willing to pay $3 a pint for their berries. I give them strange looks for paying such an outrageous price, what the heck do you do with a measly pint of berries?



Don't these look yummy?? They were, trust me. They're so pretty and shiny :)


So, other than eating them on cereal and in my yogurt, here are a couple of recipes you might like. Oh - and have you ever made a smoothie with blackberries? It turns a delicious shade of purple!

Blackberry Cobbler

• 4 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375°. Place blackberries in a lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish. Stir together egg, sugar, and flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over fruit. Drizzle melted butter over topping. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. Serve warm with whipped cream, or even better - vanilla ice cream.

Blackberry Freezer Jelly

2 cups blackberry juice (either use a juicer or sieve to get the juice)
2 TBS lemon juice
4 cups sugar
1 pouch CERTO

Measure juice into large bowl (one with a spout is great.) Measure exact amount of sugar and stir into juice. Mix well, let stand 10 minutes; stir occasionally. Stir pectin into lemon juice. Stir mixture into juice mixture. Stir constantly for 3 minutes. Pour into jelly containers. Let stand at room temperature before putting in freezer or refrigerator.
Note: Sure-Jell or Fruit Pectin can be used for lower sugar recipe or no sugar recipe - follow their directions.

The Greenhouse Garden update

A few new pictures of my greenhouse garden -
Here is my very own live orangecicle - orange gladiola and white liatris




Pink butterfly bush (huge blooms- over a foot long!) with white rose of sharon as a backdrop.



Don't you just love it when a "non-plan" comes together? These are my fuchsia colored phlox, which I just happened to plant around my purple rose of sharon (because there was empty space there) and they just happened to bloom at the same time - I didn't even think about that when I planted them. The phlox filled in the bare lower branches of the rose of sharon. Love it!!!

out of control clematis

This is my clematis that I didn't quite get trained over the top of my arbor. It decided to reach for the neighbor's yard. Didn't quite make it but it gave a good try.
Do you like the frame around my photo? I found this GREAT blog that has TONS of neat stuff to add to your blog. There were very detailed, clear instructions for adding frames to your photos. Check it out at paisleycatscrapsfreebloglayouts.blogspot.com

flower dolls

Okay, so I was bored one day. I know, how is that possible when you have gardens to weed. I guess I didn't feel like weeding, I felt like playing. Remembering the hollyhock dolls I used to make as a kid, I decided to see what else you could turn into "people". My husband saw me playing and thought the heat had cooked my brain. I was having fun - I used balloon flowers, impatiens, day lilies, poppy seed heads, trumpet flower and Oswego tea. Next time your kids get bored (or you feel like having a lazy day) just pick a few flowers and use your imagination.

The 3,000 Mile Garden book review

I've just finished reading The 3,000 Mile Garden by Roger Phillips and Leslie Land. Roger, a professional gardener in London and Leslie, an American gardener, exchange letters during the year, sharing their gardening experiences. I ecpected this to be a dry read and I'd just skim through it, but I was delightfully surprised. I felt like I was reading a novel. Through their letters, we learn about their garden successes and frustrations. The struggles they each have gardening in their climate, critter problems, people problems... We've all been there. I highly recommend this enjoyable read for every gardener.