Sunday Stills - (Ever) Green

 

Today is Father’s Day. My Dad always complimented me when I wore the color green. He also told me I looked good in hats and even bought me a black suede fedora as a birthday gift one year. So in honor of his many kindnesses and affirmations of love to me, I’m posting this pic of me wearing a green garden hat. I miss you, Dad, but I know without a doubt where your spirit has gone, and I will see you again one day.  

If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you. – William Ewart Gladstone

In the same way that a genuine loving compliment will warm your heart, so tea can warm you physically and also lift your spirit. My teas are not evergreen in the way they grow, but most are perennial. Brewed in boiled water with a dab of honey or other sweetener, they definitely check all the boxes for a cup of good cheer. Here is a list of the green teas I grow and drink with regularity.

Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm - It started with one plant. I don’t even know if I first purchased it to use as a tea. I do know that, through self-seeding, it has spread all over my gardens. It’s so easy to transplant the small volunteer seedlings that come up in the Spring. This is probably my all-time favorite herbal tea. As with all homegrown teas, check for potential interactions with medications before brewing and drinking. I have also read that it loses its benefits if you drink it daily; it's better to intersperse your consumption of it with other beneficial herbal teas.

Lemon Balm Mandarin Variety

A new variety of Lemon Balm I found this year through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is Mandarin Lemon Balm. It has a distinctly different, quite citrusy fragrance. It makes a stronger, greener tea than the pale yellow of common Lemon Balm. The plants I grew in pots have done much better than those I grew in the ground. I will definitely keep cuttings of this plant and grow it every year. I combine both types of Lemon Balm with fresh Gingerroot.

Tulsi or Holy Basil

Tulsi, or Holy Basil, has become another of my favorites. This plant is not usually available in nurseries, but it is very easy to grow from seed. Again, I have good luck growing it in pots, and right now I have so much of it that I need to find some people who would like to experiment with it as a tea. It is said to be an awesome booster of your immune system, but again, care needs to be taken if you take medications.

Spearmint

Spearmint grows in abundance for me. I usually need to weed it out of the gardens where I grow it, or it will take over the whole bed. I like to combine this herb with the Lemon Balm. Spearmint and Lemon Balm are a favorite to brew together.

Moringa

Moringa seeds, available through Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, are a unique addition to my tea garden. Rather than grow it in the ground, I keep it potted in the greenhouse. A few years ago, I had a Moringa tree that became so overgrown I could not keep it in the house after summer. The root, unknown to me, had thrust itself through the pot and was about 18 inches into the soil beneath the pot. This would have been wonderful if I lived in a climate where Moringa did not have to endure a Mid-Atlantic winter.

This post is part of Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge - (Ever)Green Thank you to Terri at Second Winds Leisure for hosting the challenge.

Friday - Flowerday #25 - Sweet Peas and Oregano

Today I put together a miniature bouquet. A small dahlia with pink-tinged petals. Also included are soft mauve-pink sweet peas; they are beautifully fragrant. The lovely pink cluster of blossoms will be a surprise to some. They are the blooms of oregano. This herb is not only wonderful in the kitchen but also a rich source of nectar for the bee population. Because the stems spread and are very rigid, they are the perfect grid to hold my soft-stemmed sweet peas aloft. The vase is a small frosted votive candle cup, and the seashells are part of my scallop collection from Sanibel Island, Florida. The backdrop of rugged fence borders my yard, becoming more picturesque with moss each season. Thank you for looking and thank you to Astrid for hosting this Friday-Flowerday challenge.  

 

The Delaware Bay, Fortescue, New Jersey

 

The weather, although slightly overcast, was perfect for visiting the Delaware Bay at Fortescue, New Jersey. The sky above the bay is part of Skywatch Friday. 

Milkweed grows in abundance along the salt marshes surrounding the bay. During the summer we see many Monarch Butterflies visiting the area. Milkweed is a host plant for Monarch caterpillars.

Unfortunately, where milkweed grows in massive displays, so does poison ivy. Many who visit shore towns and bays don’t realize that poison ivy grows well in sandy soil, as well as woodlands and hedgerows.

Chartreuse signs with green letters and illustrations were on many lawns, warning of turtle crossings. Luckily, we were aware, and on the way home, swerved quickly to avoid a turtle crossing to the other side of the road.

This image of a turtle is not the best quality, but the turtle was swimming quickly, and the current it was in was moving even quicker. Two types of turtles swam from the bay into the creek as the tide rushed in. We stood on a bridge and watched them swim beneath us, almost as if they were on a conveyor belt. We have never, in all of our lives, seen so many turtles. Four types of turtles can be found in this area: a mix of sea, freshwater, and brackish-water species. All appear green, from light to dark, with many shapes and markings on their shells.

I filled an empty coffee cup with some shells and other beach detritus. The driftwood piece was a find, as it resembles a bird’s head from both sides. I’ll have to save it for a special project or gift it to someone who collects beachy items. I was happy to find a few green pieces of sea glass. We find most of the sea glass we collect on the beaches of bays rather than on our New Jersey ocean beaches. We also have had good luck finding sea glass along the beaches of the Chesapeake Bay.

Dollar Store Delight - Gardening in Buckets

 

Early Spring Planting in the Square Foot Container Garden

Square Foot Gardens are a terrific choice for gardening in small spaces. After planting square-foot plots for several years, I gave them up to grow a beautiful rose garden. With food shortages looming and prices skyrocketing this Spring, I decided the time was right to grow a few vegetables again. I didn't want to dig another garden into the yard, and wanted to try something temporary. I've combined Square Foot with container gardening, and it is growing well in the first days of June.e.

The Square Foot Container Garden at Present

The garden needed a border; the largest expense was the fencing. This keeps the area neat and helps lay out the proper measurements. Dollar-store buckets, two-and-a-half gallons, were an inexpensive choice for the containers. I created drainage holes by thrusting my spading fork once into the buckets as they sat on the grass. The holes were perfectly spaced, and my lawn aerated a bit too. Garden fabric cut large enough to cover the area keeps the grass from growing up between the pots. Filling the buckets with a mixture of organic container soil and vermiculite was easy using the wheelbarrow.

Twelve Tomato Plants Along Back/Trellis supported

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard, Kale, and Bok Choy have been very plentiful. Steamed with carrots, mixed with a little butter, and ladled over Jasmine Rice, oh my, so delicious.

Kale

The tomatoes already need watering every day; their stems appear more like small tree trunks than normal-sized garden plants. I have them in the back of the gardens, braced against trellises for support. Small palettes between the plots keep the grass down also. I'm growing a wide variety of vegetables to note how each plant performs. Too early to know what will succeed as of now, but the green beans, four plants to a bucket, are getting small beans after flowering. I'll update as the summer progresses.

White Squash

So far, the only antagonist to my garden joy is the yellow squash. There have been many flowers, and several small squash, but all developed blossom rot. I'll read up on this problem and apply what might help. If I find a solution that works, I will post the results. Here's a photo of another squash, a white squash. I am hoping it will perform better.

PS Between the time of writing the first draft of this post and now, the small green beans grew large enough for a first tasting. Delicious! Food grown in a dollar store bucket: an achievement that might come in handy if the world keeps spinning toward higher inflation and food shortages in the future.

Jersey Shore Shells Part 2

 

We've had fun hiding the decorated shells over the past few days. On the weekend, we went to Red Bank Battlefield in the National Park and hid two shells: one in this cannon and another on a stack of cannonballs. I think both were most likely found, but only one was posted on the Jersey Shore Shells site. I was thrilled it was found, most likely by two small children we saw playing on the cannon later that day.

After the battlefield we walked beside the Delaware River and hid a pressed flower shell on the steps leading up the bank.

I also hid two shells in Fortescue while my husband fished. One was found and posted, the other on the sand was probably found too; not everyone who finds the shells posts to the Facebook group. That is okay with me, just the thought of someone feeling happiness when they find the shell is so worthwhile.

I've created a few more this week, I must admit, while I should have been doing chores. I am especially enjoying using pressed flowers with them. I found some decorating kits on sale for only $2.00 at Michael's Craft store this week. Oh happy day! More fun on the way. Grandchildren and creative adults will be here on Sunday to celebrate Father's Day. I'm going to have shells and decorating supplies on the tables for anyone who wants to paint and glue.

If you want to join this group, or just lurk a bit, the group is public: Jersey Shore Shells

Jersey Shore Shells

 

Tomorrow, I will hide at least two of these shells, decorated with decoupage and pressed flowers. I belong to a Facebook Group called Jersey Shore Shells. I had so much fun painting the outside of them white and decorating them. On the back of each shell is a little laminated piece of paper with this message-

HELLO! I'M SO GLAD YOU FOUND ME...KEEP ME, OR HIDE ME AGAIN, WHATEVER YOU CHOOSE TO DO WITH ME IS PERFECT. IF YOU CAN, POST A PHOTOGRAPH OF ME AND WHERE YOU FOUND ME ON FACEBOOK GROUP: JERSEY SHORE SHELLS. THANKS.

I will update with part two after I hide them tomorrow. Maybe I will hide all four, maybe just a couple. So much fun. To answer your question, yes, the shells came from the Jersey Shore, a little town called Strathmere, between Ocean City and Sea Isle City. Although they are from the Jersey Shore, they can be hidden anywhe 

Garden Product - Composter

 

I purchased a composter/tumbler from Miracle-Gro this Spring. It was totally unassembled, so it took my husband about 90 minutes to put it together. A few connective inserts bruised his thumb as they were challenging to push into the frame. Yet, once the composter/tumbler was ready to use, everything was easy from that moment on.

I placed it in the back of the yard. The composter is not an eyesore, but it is only pretty if you are a gardener and recognize what you are looking at. I immediately added a bit of used potting soil, undiseased yard/garden clippings, and kitchen scraps. Every day, I made sure to tumble the bins. When the first bin was full, I marked six weeks on the calendar, and today was the day I scooped out my first compost harvest.
 

After removing the few sticks and roots that had not decomposed, I admired the dark, beautifully textured soil the composter created. I added it to the tops of my potted tomatoes. I am pleased with this wonderful garden product and recommend it. I purchased mine through Amazon. 

The drawback to this product is the time-consuming process.

Destination - Sanibel Florida

 

We recently spent five days on Sanibel Island, Florida. The devastation from Hurricane Ian is still visible, but most areas are cleaned up. The islanders and businesses are booming back. The place we chose to stay in, Periwinkle Cottages, was terrific.

Sanibel is known for seashells, and the beach did not disappoint us. Fighting conchs, enormous cockleshells, and pristinely pink scallops, the photograph does not show the beauty of the shells. We also found a few olive shells, whelks, and many small shells with holes for stringing into projects or jewelry. I also found an intact angel-wing seashell and brought it home in the same condition. If you have a chance to visit Sanibel Island, I can promise you will find shells.

I have to limit myself to how many I bring home before I even step on the airplane. I packed a large plastic container into my suitcase to fill with seashells. Doing so keeps me from bringing home too many. There were mountains of shells on the beach while we were there. I highly recommend wearing water shoes if you plan to go. Seashells are beautiful, but walking on them can feel like sharp gravel under your feet.