Lilies

While Trevor spray painted one of our vehicles, I decided to engage in something a bit more aesthetically pleasing. I love our lilies. Lilies are a great shabby garden flower. I especially like the bright orange color of the lilies facing the alley.

New Paint

As a few of you know, Trevor is determined to get 250,000 miles out of our free car. The car was given to us by a friend who had purchased it from another friend. The car has been in "the family" for the last seven years. Trevor spent Sunday morning giving the old girl a new paint job. He really stepped it up and used a spray paint made specifically for cars. The last time he spray painted the car he used the same spray paint that we used to paint the compost barrel. He is very pleased with his workmanship and now plans on painting our other car. God help me!!

Earth Boxes

The first photo is an official "Earth Box". The official "Earth Box" was a present for graduating. I planted two Hungarian Heart heirloom tomatoes and two heirloom purple bell peppers. I am pleased with the earth box and intend to use it next year. The plants are huge with tons of fruit and flowers. We have not had any problems with pests, drought, or over watering. The second photo in an unofficial earth box. The unofficial box was a birthday present. Trevor fashioned a large household tote with a false bottom, drain hole and black plastic covering. He then built a large wooden structure that has wheels so we can move it when entertaining on our deck. The unofficial earth box is cooler than the official. I especially like the color and the fact that it was handmade by my hubby. We planted heirloom pickling cukes in the unofficial and are happy with their development. We planted them from seed late in the season and are looking forward to tracking their production. We like the unofficial earth box so much that we are planning on building two more for next year's crops.

Strawberries!!!!!!!

Our strawberry plants have produced two beautiful pieces of fruit. Trevor and I shared the spoils of our hard work. Note that Trevor's t-shirt is of the homemade variety. He claims that the recycling symbol with an exclamation point will be all the rage with local treehuggers.

Dog Park Days

Due to the size of our yard we are forced to take Buster to the dog park. Buster enjoys running around and sniffing other dogs. We enjoy watching all of the different breeds and their silly dog antics. Sylvia enjoys sitting next to us. She isn't very sociable and wants to make certain she is the center of our world. Duluth has a very nice dog park located on the West end near the zoo. If you have a pet and are in Duluth you should check it out.

Herb Delish (sounds like Herb Cavindish)

Trevor and I shared this wonderful plate of summer food. Please take a close look at the salmon; all of the herbs are fresh from the garden. Olive oil, basil, rosemary and parsley are all you need to turn this wild caught salmon into a summer delight. The fresh herbs made this an amazing piece of fish. Many of my friends live in places where they don't have access to land for gardening. Herbs can be grown inside with good light. Apartment, condo and penthouse dwellers unite and grow some wonderful herbs in those windows with gorgeous views !!!

WE LOVE SUMMER

This is why we love summer.

New Growth

There are so many exciting things going on in my little yard. Our neighbors offered us the Hibiscus plant in the first two photos. Knowing that Trevor has a green thumb they thought we might be able to bring it back to life. When we got the plant it needed to be replanted immediately. After a great deal of watering and a new home the Hibiscus is blooming. The third photos is of a tomato plant. As many of you know, I went a bit tomato crazy this summer. Twenty eight tomato plants germinated! I am planning on canning most of them and giving any extra to the food shelf. Photo four is so tantalizing. Eating a strawberry off the vine is so much better than the ones at the market. Photo five is blurry but interesting. Ground cherries are new to me and I am attempting to grow one. They look like a Chinese lantern pod and the pod contains a fruit that can be made into jelly. In the future, I will post of photo of the mythical Mexican Sour Gherkin.