Positive Focus - Week 4

Well...

Those times you dump tiny seeds out thinking they all won't germinate! The 'red' is Hopi Red Dye Amaranth. They are supposed to get 4-6 feet tall. I need to start moving them around to different parts of the garden. I have a couple of crafty friends who can use it for the dye. I also have some Hopi Black Dye Sunflowers which I will be growing this year. Hopefully, I can give the seeds to the same people so they can do some red/black dyeing of wool for knitting. (Hint, hint)

However, this week has been really good. I have been feeling really positive and upbeat all week. It only reinforces what I already know down deep, but find so hard to bring to the surface - If you get positive focus and thoughts, you will reap positive things in your life. 

And being a Virgo, I can self-critic myself to death! So positive, positive, positive thoughts!

Anyway...

The bamboo I cut two weeks ago, I finally took all the leaves off it. I think I will have enough to make the fence around my herb garden. My problem is I am so looking forward to getting the fence going and I have a TON of work left on the veggie garden.

Sigh...one step at a time!

But the pile of leaves will go on the garden walkways. My plan for the walkways is to layer with grass clippings, weeds I've pulled, bamboo leaves and letting it decompose over the summer. Then in the winter I will 'scoop' out the walkways and put the compost on the garden beds. Yep - future plans! 

Speaking of future plans...

When I have a thought about something I want to do in the future to do with the garden, I have been writing it down on a sticky note and put it in my planner to remember a few months from now. Things like 'order garlic' or 'order winter seeds'.  I want to keep my garden going all year as much as possible. Which means I might also be constructing a hoop cover for part of my garden in late fall so I can grow over the winter. 

Right now my front yard looks crazy! I have all the bricks stacked there. Well, they were stacked...

And no, Ruby is not responsible for this arrangement. It seems the stacks of bricks are a magnet for Lady K when she is here and this is her 'fort room'. 

There are also dozens of pots with crinum lily bulbs which I helped dig up and pot up for the upcoming Master Gardener Plant Sale coming up. I need to pot up a couple of other things also. I have Blackberry Lily, Silver Sea Thistle and Penstemon which are ready to be moved to larger pots. 

This past week also saw me attending the monthly Master Gardener meeting where my friend, NCTomatoman was the speaker. It was so much fun to see him again. There is an upcoming trip to his house for some seedlings (like I don't have enough already). 

Another thing I have been thinking about for the garden is expanding my experience with different veggies. This year I have planted several different winter squashes - a couple of acorn squash, a small butternut and a small spaghetti squash. I am not a squash person. I think part of that is (1) we never had a winter squash at a meal growing up and (2) summer squash was cooked to death and was a mush of yellow with some onion in it. I was also gifted some seeds from someone I met which are supposed to be Cherokee Trail of Tears beans.

These two things have been already thinking about my 2024 garden! (Crazy, yes!)

I think I want to go somewhere like Seed Savers Exchange or Victory Seeds which carry heirloom seeds and try some 'new-to-me' veggies and/or different types of beans. I would like to try and not only save seeds from my veggies this year, but to also use some of the beans as dried beans for the fall/winter. 

One thing I am finding, and really liking, are the salvias in my garden. The ones I planted last year survived the winter nicely and are up and blooming.

In fact, I have a couple more 'new' salvia to add to the collection. And I am going to be dividing some up this fall/winter. 

And I am watching this coneflower with hopes. Last summer I put what was supposed to be a white coneflower in this bed which is now where I dumped a bunch of bulbs. It is up and a flower is forming. I'm hoping it will be white. I would like some of the Cherokee color series of coneflowers in the future. The regular pink form I have already.

A rescued blackberry from last year is covered in flowers and baby berries are forming. I can't wait to see how much I get. Note to self - 'Self - weigh and record your harvests this year!'

Another 'surprise' for me was the mints. This planter (to contain the mints) was neglected and when I removed some of the leaves and weeds, the mint took off! The left is chocolate mint and the right is regular mint. So happy. Plus, my lemon balm has taken off and is twice as tall as it was last year. 

I have been using my lemon balm more this spring already, adding it to my iced tea. I would like to make some lemon balm syrup as done by Jess at Roots and Refuge. 

With the coming week being a bit cooler, I am hoping to get the veggie garden pretty much planted. There is an upcoming trip to Hendersonville to pick up more tomato plants (like I really need more!) And hopefully, this coming week, I will see some of the beans emerging by the end of the week. I would like to get started on my front yard and get the flowers into the ground ASAP. Then the fencing around the front beds. 

I am thinking and feeling positive about my yard!