Captured moments

Follow up on the mighty mystery vine.

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The mighty mystery vine that came up in the compost pile earlier this spring has turned out to be a pumpkin.  It is growing over, under, around and through the fences and there are fruits of various shapes and sizes scattered over the vines.  It is in a bit of a decline now, but I still hope to have the most sincere pumpkin patch come Halloween.  🙂

Here is the vine in its prime.

The leaves are huge.  (I do not have small hands.)

The leaves are huge.  I do not have small hands.

One of many small pumpkins on the vines.

One of many small pumpkins on the vines.

This pumpkin was hidden amongst the leaves until recently.
It is about 9 inches long and the largest so far.

Some of the pumpkins are starting to change color.

Once the fruit started appearing, the vines began dying back. I think the squash bugs invaded when it started blooming. I have seen a few and have been picking them off and killing them. I am trying to garden without pesticides.

I will post again once the pumpkins are ready for harvest.  I also have pumpkin vines on the other side of the garden that I planted.  I will add these to the next update.

Melyna

Sunflower

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Last year we had a volunteer Sunflower come up in the yard under a stand of Oak trees.  It was about six feet tall, slender stalk and had a beautiful bloom that you can see if you click on the link above.  This year we had one come up near the house. It is about three and a half feet tall with a thick stalk.   The blooms are similar.  It has been fun watching it grow and the bees are enjoying this early bloom very much.  

Bee on sunflower showing size comparison

 

Bee on sunflower cropped

 

Young sunflower closeup

Fun Finds – Bluebonnet Festival – Burnet, Texas 2017

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Hello!

Recently Burnet, Texas held it’s annual Bluebonnet Festival.  It is always a fun event and  brings many wonderful artists to town.

One of my favorites is a booth that sells penny pendants.
The business is Wicked Whatnots of Texas.
I have bought charms from them in the past and I always love exploring their booth.

Wicked Whatnots of Texas

Kat of Wicked Whatnots of Texas and Kat of Wonders

Pendant earrings

Having grown up in Austin, this one made me smile.

This year I met Kat & Austin O’Burke.  They have partnered with Julia, the founder of Wicked Whatnots of Texas.  In addition to the penny art, which includes, charms, pendants, bracelets, earrings, cuff links and wine glass charms, they also carry uniquely decorated flasks.

Kat

Kat & Austin also have other creations that were at the booth, but have a separate website from Wicked Whatnots of Texas.  Their site is called Kat of Wonders.    This is where you will find their fun and whimsical creations.  These include potions, wands and props.

Wands

I wish I had a video of the potions in action.   They contain  rheoscopic fluid. When you shake them they have a wonderful swirling motion.

Potions

 

 

 

 

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https://www.etsy.com/shop/katofwonders

 

 

 

 

Gardening – Spring 2017

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Late this winter I started seeds in the house.  I planted some of my favorite vegetables and flowers.  The seedlings were looking great, but as time passed, I realized that I had started them too early.  They did not get enough light and were just very unhappy plants. ( this photo is before their unhappy demise)

During this time we also decided to make a proper garden area.  This involved bringing in soil and installing fencing.  We are on limestone which made digging holes for the fence posts a challenge, but we persevered, and in a short while we had a garden site.  The soil is not perfect and we are adding organic matter to it as we go.  One area is doing great.  It was the old compost area and has our mystery squash growing in it.

I also decided to take a chance and get some plants in the ground early.  Historically, the last frost date is around March 20.  I planted the garden February 26, 2017.  It was a risky decision, but I was optimistic because we had a mild winter.  I also had very early spring fever and wanted to see growing things.

This is the first photo I took on February 26, 2017.  I planted seeds and plants.

This is a view from our porch.

We were lucky and there were no freezing temperatures for the remainder of the winter or early spring. The photo below is from April 09, 2017.

This is the garden layout. Click the image to enlarge the photo.  There are labels to indicate what the plants are.

We are already getting some vegetables.

Zucchini

 

Dragon Pepper – Cayenne

 

Bush beans

 

Sweet Million cherry tomatoes

Hopefully we continue to have good luck with this years garden.  Updates on the mystery squash next month.

🙂

 

Bat house or scenic outlook?

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We placed a bat house near our garden shed.  Unfortunately, the bats have never found it inviting.  The birds and squirrels love it though.

 

This young scrub jay enjoyed using the bat house last summer.

Click on the photo below and look for the small red arrow.  This is the bat house.

The mighty mystery plant, or the power of compost.

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Last year I started a compost pile in a re-purposed kennel that was given to us when we took in some chickens in need of a new home.  During the fall and winter we allowed our chickens to forage in the compost area.   They helped aerate and fertilize the compost, plus they enjoyed finding tasty treats of the insects and worms that also came to the compost.

This spring I noticed that we had some plants sprouting in the compost.  They looked so healthy and strong, I couldn’t bring myself to turn them back into the pile.  So I decided to let them grow.  I am fairly certain that they are some type of squash.  What kind  of squash is still a mystery.

The young mystery plant March 27, 2017

 

A very happy plant(s).  April 07, 2017

It has escaped the kennel and is climbing a tomato cage that is outside of the garden area.  The small plants at the bottom left of the kennel are bush beans.  They are benefiting from the compost too.

 

One of many small fruits on the vines

Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

Happy gardening,

Melyna

Good morning!

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Life has been hectic and I miss drinking a cup of coffee while wandering through the garden in the mornings.    I hope to see these little wrens gracing the garden again this year.

Wishing a wonderful, peace filled day.

Blackhaw Viburnum

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One of the first trees to bloom on our property after the Redbuds is the
Blackhaw Viburnum.  I love the clusters of white flowers and the bees appreciate them too.

 

 

For more information on this tree click on the Arbor Day Foundation link below
Blackhaw Viburnum
Viburnum prunifolium

Greater Roadrunner

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When one talks about Roadrunners, many of us have the image of that incredibly fast  bird from Saturday morning cartoons.  Around our house, Roadrunners represent the speedy daredevil that races across the road just in front of the car, or speeds along with a lizard dangling from its beak as it ducks under the fence.  Occasionally, one will fly over the fence or up into the low branches of trees.  One place we almost never consider  looking for one is in the tree tops.   We were working outside when I heard a low cooing sound. It was similar to a dove, but not quite right.  After a few minutes of searching, I found the owner of the voice.  This Roadrunner was sitting in the top of an old cedar elm tree cooing to his heart’s content.

 

To give you an idea of how high up in the tree he was:

This is it’s cooing posture :

A great website to find out more about the Greater Roadrunner is

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
All About Birds

This link also contains the many variations of calls
the Greater Roadrunner makes.

I apologize for the grainy pics.  This guy was very far up in the tree and I had my little Canon PowerShot SX 280HS with me.  It is easy to carry and I love the zoom capabilities.  Unfortunately it has never quite been the same since a trip to the coast a few years ago. Still the camera I  carry in my pocket most of the time.