When I Am An Old Woman...

Royal Burgundy (left) and Sequoia bush beans

When I am an old woman, I shall pick purple beans and put them in a red colander....

Gee, Have I Ever Mentioned That I Like Free Stuff?

 Free bricks!

 In case  you missed it the first time, I like free stuff!  Freecycle is an amazing thing, and a network that I use often, both to give things away that we no longer need, and to receive things that I need but don't really want to spend a bunch of money on to purchase.  As their website states:  "It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills."  Rather than throw it away, why not give it to someone who can use it?  Today I scored a truckload of approximately 400 free bricks.  These weren't a Freecycle find, but rather the friend of a friend gave them to us.  I have so many things I could do with these bricks:  wood-fired brick oven, greenhouse base, edge walkways, raised bed edging, outdoor fireplace, etc. etc.  They won't go to waste, and there's not nearly enough to do everything I'd like to do with bricks!

Used greenhouse plastic

 Another recent freebie item that I scored was a bunch of used greenhouse plastic.  A friend of ours has a large greenhouse business, and he has to replace the plastic every 5 or 6 years or thereabouts.  That's a LOT of plastic that would end up in a landfill somewhere!  He tries to place it in new homes....we got two piles of it for use on my future hoop house.  I can think of several other things to use it for too, but the hoop house is my first priority.  I realize it won't last as long as if it were new, but it can be replaced every couple years, free, if need be.

 New step leading up to my compost bins 

 For years I've been wanting to put a step into a small slope that leads up to the compost bins from our back yard.  Earlier this spring while wandering through the woods, I found the perfect rock....big, nice and flat.  I lugged it down to the house and finally just last week got my rear in gear and dug it into the little slope.  It looks nice there, it's nice and level, and now I don't have to worry about slipping and falling on my behind when I trudge up to the compost bins when the grass is wet.  Sweet...another free item.

Now if we can just find the time to create everything out of these freebie items (bricks, plastic) that need creating....

Munch!

Climbing Cécile Brunner rose--post munch

Sometimes gardening can be very frustrating, and I often find myself pining for The Garden of Eden...what must that have been like before humans screwed it up?  I often imagine that Heaven must be a garden of Eden sort of place...anyway....

Yesterday I was admiring a perfectly formed bud on my climbing Cécile Brunner rose.  It was about to burst open, and since I just got this rose I'd never seen its blooms before and was anxious to see the rose unfurled.  Today when I spied the rose....horrors!  Something has munched it!  See above photo.  The rose smells divine, but it looks like it's been through a war zone.  Sigh...

Green tomato "Early Girl"---post munch

 Another "Early Girl" tomato---post munch

Then I walked out to check on my chickens.  I sneak a peak at the tomatoes I have growing from hanging pots every time I go out there since they're right on the way.  Yesterday, these tomatoes were perfect green dudes waiting to ripen.  Today....something's munched them!  See above photos.  Sigh....

What flattened my corn?!

And yesterday morning my corn was looking fine and dandy.  Then we got a little rain and a slight breeze.  I looked across my corn patch and much to my horror....where'd it go?!  Upon closer inspection it appears to have been flattened by either the breeze or water weight from the rain.  See above photo.  It doesn't seem to have been uprooted, but rather just bent over in some places.  Some stalks are actually snapped right off mid-way up or near the top.  I know planting the seeds at the wrong depth can make corn fall over, as can various grubs that attack the root, but this stuff seems bent.  I'm hoping I can prop it up, perhaps...Sigh....

Well, at least we got some rain!