frost on the leaves

we woke up to this this morning. doesn't happen often.

cold cold cold

fall in Florida

It has been very cold here lately. Very windy too, which makes it feel even colder. We had a wind chill advisory last night and had to bring some of our plants in and cover them. The kittens have taken to staying inside also. At least there is some sun. This doesn't help our winter vegetables much. I haven't checked on the onions lately, but since they are bulbs in the ground, I think they'll be ok. 

happy holidays

best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous new year

break in the weather

The weather was a little better today. I actually had the chance to uncover the fish pond and add some water. All the fish are there, thank god, they have all survived. It most recently looked like this photo above, taken at our famous Lake Eola downtown. No rain today, and no chance of rain anytime soon. I am hoping we have a better rainy season this summer. We didn't get much rain this past year. We need it or the threat of brush fires grows. That we don't need.

rain today

It looked like this for most of the day today. It wasn't as cold, but the rain was biting, so it didn't make for such a great day. At least the plants got fed water, and they didn't freeze. I uncovered a bit of the fish pond, for some fresh air and possible sun, and all the fish are they. I bought a plant for the pond in the hopes the plant would provide some shelter and warmth and fun for the fishes to swim through. I just got one. The last time we had this plant it took over the pond, but we bought, like 6 of them. A little overboard with the plants at that time, but now we know better. The kittens are enjoying being outside again, but not the rain so much. Rain makes it difficult for the kittens to slide gracefully off the top of my car. 

bus stop foot

I thought of riding the bus today, since I understand that Santa Claus may be my bus driver any day, and that means my ride is free; but it's still too cold. I couldn't talk myself into it. I would definitely NOT be wearing these shoes today. Nope, no flipflops for me for a couple weeks now. It's supposed to be warmer by weekend. We'll take another look at the plants then. I know the tomato plant is a goner, and not sure about the red hot pepper plant. On a bright note, the onions are doing well!

cold cold cold

Wolfie and Moses

We have been especially cold here lately. We woke up to 28 degrees this morning and it's only supposed to be a high of 50 around 4p. We have covered the plants in the container garden and moved some of the hanging ones into either the shed or tool room for cover. I know that my wedelia in the front yard has been killed off. Not to worry, it's a low maintenance native plant and will come back in no time. Nate wanted to take it out, but I like it because it has yellow flowers. I like to have a little color in the yard. 

The kittens have been staying inside all day lately. I can hardly wonder why. It's unusual though, because as soon as they eat in the morning, they head right back outside. Although, this cold hasn't kept them from doing their job. Nate found rat parts outside our back patio door this morning. yuck. 

cat on a cold fish pond

It's been really cold here. And when I say cold, I mean it has been close to freezing at night for most of the week, and not much warmer during the day. Oh yeah, we get sun, but that doesn't necessarily make it warm. Now, I must admit, for us, it's not so bad, considering this is Florida, but we aren't used to such cold weather so early in the season. Our garden has faired fairly well (can I say that without sounding redundant?), without much loss to vegetation. The cats have stayed indoors most evenings and even in the morning after they have been fed. The fish pond I covered with some wool blankets. These are army blankets, so you know they are heavy duty. Nate put some 2 x 4's over the pond, then we put blankets over the 2 x 4's. I'd rather not have my fish freeze to death. Poor things. It's tough enough taking a cold shower, can you imagine living in it constantly? No, I say.  I've been feeding the fish, so I've seen them and know they are there. Wolfie here, likes to drink out of the fish pond. I think she's trying to eat their food. (She loves to eat, we call her our fat girl.) See how it looks like she has no feet? And she almost matches with the blankets!

Winter Park Harvest Festival

The Winter Park Harvest Festival is tomorrow! This is a day long, and I mean day long 8a -9p, event celebrating our local farmers, gardeners, entrepreneurs and non-profits. I am excited! The weather has been great lately which adds to the awesomeness of this event! I can't wait! I'm so excited! 

spool down end of year time

This is Rogue. She lives with us, well, actually, she lets us live here, we just share the house with her. She and her sister, Wolfie, let us live here. Rogue is the prissy girl, but a tough ass prissy girl as she is the one that does most of the killing of rats around here. She is very soft, has beautiful color, and walks like a princess. She does, really. She likes to be looked at and adored, not so much touched and petted. Only petted when she says so, as most cats go. 

Wolfie on the other hand, is queenie of the house. She doesn't do much killing, although she has, I just don't think she likes to get her paws dirty too much. She, unlike her sister, LOVES to be petted. You start petting her and she goes into auto purr. No kidding. And it gets so loud too! Then if you dare take your hand away, she reaches for it. Yeah, she doesn't want you to stop petting her. She does run outside from time to time, and I have seen her climb a tree or two, so she is not totally devoid of animal instincts, she just thinks she's queen of the house. She really doesn't like her brother bothering her.

This is Moses. He's our foster turned adopted cat. You can tell from this picture that he only has 3 legs. He's missing his back right leg. He gets along just fine without it. He is one fast cat! He's a little over a year now and LOVES to be outside. He is always looking for lizards and squirrels and birds and rats. He's caught a rat too. I am very proud of him. He has come a long way since he has been with us. He is my baby boy. 

We are spooling down to the end of year here. This time of year I start to wind down, relax, and look forward to having some time off. I clean out the closets, the attic, start raking the leaves (since mowing season is over until June next year), brushing the kittens and dog, and clean out the psyche too. Getting rid of things that don't serve me, whether that's physical or mental. It's all good and I feel refreshed and ready for whatever the new year brings. 

cauliflower

the leaves look great, but where is all the cauliflower? 

rain barrels, and composters, and compost, oh my!

There is a local organization, Mills50, that is hosting a green fest tomorrow. I really like this area of town. It's very quaint, is walkable with many local businesses and has a unique culture. There is a big asian influence in this part of town. Some of the best peanut sauce you can find anywhere! Anyway, at the greenfest they will be selling composters and rain barrels, and these are exactly the same ones that I bought through work for a charitable organization:

and the prices are even cheaper than what I paid for originally. We're getting there early tomorrow to buy 4 rain barrels. Since we didn't have much rain this summer, we have used up almost all of our water from the barrels. One is empty and the other only half full now. These will come in handy next year during summer, if we don't get any rain over the winter. Sometimes we have a short rainy season in winter. Not as much as the summer downpours, but enough to get us some usable water. Hope to see you there!

Coytown Garden

hot peppers from the garden

We have quite a few hot peppers in our garden. We actually only have 2 large plants, but they produce a LOT of peppers. Needless to say, I give them away to friends. I think Nate likes to plant things to see them grow, because neither one of us eats these things. It's fun to watch them change color, and they seem to go through grow spurts. For awhile there won't be any peppers, then suddenly, we have a bunch on both plants. It's a pretty plant too, as you can tell by the different colors of pepper. I wait until they are very red before picking. They just twist off the vine then. 

I saw an ad the other day for community gardeners wanted. There is a parcel of land that used to belong to the navy base that is being looked at for development of a community garden, Coytown Garden, it's called. I know that a mountain bike park is going to be put in part of that land, but the rest is left open green space, and the city is looking to develop it for next years spring planting. I'll have to ask Nate what he thinks about joining. It's not far from home, and we could learn a lot from being around others that garden. 

The weather has turned COLD here! For us that is. It was very chilly yesterday morning as we went for a motorcycle ride. Thankfully our coats are impermeable to weather like that. I didn't feel a thing. But my legs did. and my hands. I did wear gloves, but these are summer in florida gloves, we aren't used to this weather. It makes for going to yoga not so hot anymore. Which is nice, I don't feel so claustrophobic. I am not complaining about the weather, not at all, it is just a sharp and marked difference from what we just had. No smooth transition from one season to another. Just HOT then COLD. This too shall pass...

much cooler weather...

Rogue

It's been so much nicer and cooler the past few days that it is pure joy to work in the garden. The kittens are running around with so much more energy, as am I, it is so refreshing! The lettuce is still doing very well; I have a salad almost every night. The tomatoes are done for the season, and the catnip has come back! I haven't dried it, but I pick off some leaves and leave it in the living room for the cats. They get a little possessive of their leaves. Moses loves to rub all over it, Wolfie doesn't so much with it, and Rogue will eat it all if I give it to her. Here she is coming out of a bag of yard waste that tipped over. Kittens are so funny!

It's supposed to be 44 here tonight. I am not complaining, really, I'm just saying. We need a break. I hope you're getting a break where ever you are...

Happy Halloween!

be safe out there!

day 2

the kids are doing well here and they enjoyed picking some lettuce and hot peppers last night. I had the lettuce for dinner and the hot peppers went in the sloppy joes they had. Every so often one of them would say, "I have a piece of the pepper" and make a strange, large face. I asked if they were ok. They said they were, and kept on eating.

good times...

kids visit

Nate's niece and nephew are staying with us for the week. They helped us when we originally started the garden. They were good at planting. Tonight before dinner we'll go out and pick some lettuce and see if the red peppers are ready to be picked. 

cooler weather, still no rain

Moses, our 3 legged cat

The weather has been so much nicer to work outside, but we still have no rain, and no great chance of rain anytime soon. Only 20% chance tomorrow and wednesday. That's not much. The standard saying here in Florida is that if there is a 50% chance of rain, you will get rain. One of our rain barrels is empty now. We have one that is almost full, but with watering the new bamboo we put in, as well as our other plants, I'm afraid it's going to run out before it gets filled again. 

This was a very dry season for us, and it doesn't bode well if this continues. We've had brush fires around here in years past, and we really don't want that again. 

Time for another rain dance...

lots of lettuce

Nate tells me the lettuce is really coming along and I need to eat some. True, I need to eat lettuce and I don't want it to go bad. After yoga tonight I'll have a good salad. It looks so good and healthy! I am so happy with our progress so far. 

tented food

no, it's not some strange bio-harvesting project subsidized by the gubment.

So this is what the backyard garden looks like at present. I have to admit, as much of a pain as it was to put up these things, it sure has saved us a lot of grief and headache and heartache. This fabric has saved our plants from pests, disease, and the burning sun, but still allowing for rain and sunlight to get to the plants to feed them. I thought Nate was crazy to buy such things, but I've found that we need it in florida. 

The weather here has been beautiful all week. I rode my bike to work one day this week, and we have actually had a chance to open the house windows and let some breeze in. It is beautiful. I always tell people; we suffer through the summers to have winters like this.

and here's what's in the garden tents...

here we have some tall, hot peppers, and views of cabbage...

2 different kinds of cabbage, and some lettuce. all is well, so far, thanks to the fabric covering our food. Let's hope it stays that way. 

new garden tents

well, I call them garden tents because that's what they look like. They are protecting our fall vegetables. 

hurray! cooler weather!

It is amazing! The weather has actually been tolerable these past 2 days! We've had the windows open today in the house for the first time in months! This is so refreshing! I know I could go on and on and on about this, and I just might, because this is what we have been waiting for since May. Now, it's tolerable for us, which means in the low 80's, but I know for many it would be way too hot. I am so glad that fall is finally here. I doubt that we'll get any hurricanes now, and we have planted for the fall harvest, and what we have already done has come along so well. I am just so thrilled that the plants that are covered are doing so well. 

I planted some cat grass the other day and that has already sprouted. I don't know that the cats have seen it, as they usually go for what they are not supposed to get into. Nevertheless, it looks good too. I'm waiting for it to get a little taller before I move it to pots. Then I'll put it in the screen porch for the cats to gnaw on at their leisure. 

Rogue got in the yard waste bag. She was trying to hide. I caught her as she was coming out. 

enjoy the weather wherever you are!

fall planting

the tomatoes we planted for summer have lived their lives, and now we are working on broccoli, lettuce, beans, and I think Nate planted cabbage. I'm not sure. It's my birthday tomorrow, and I have no great plans to do anything but what I want to do, but what I really want to do is get our fall planting finished. We have the fabric covers on 2 of our boxes, and the plants in there are doing quite well! We don't have to worry about them getting burnt or full of bugs. It's a great idea! At first, I thought Nate was being paranoid - as he can be sometimes - and since I am the frugal queen, and I don't want to spend anymore time outside in the florida summer than I need to, I thought he was crazy. Crazy like a fox they say! We need to get more compost from the landfill, before it's all gone and before they stop giving it out. (budget cuts, you know.) 

The harvest moon was last night and was it beautiful! It lit up the yard so brightly I could see the kittens running back and forth. They like to chase each other when the sun goes down. They also antagonize each other. Sister's do that. 

The herbs are still doing well. Lots of basil and rosemary and parsley. It's great to have in food. I'm very impressed and happy they are doing well. 

watermelon problems

rotten watermelon
I just want to know what the hell happened to our watermelon?

hurricanes and breezes

scary hurricanes
I am not thrilled with hurricanes. Anyone who was here and lived through the 2004 hurricanes will agree with me that these things are no fun. This picture is pretty intimidating, but I am glad of the outlook. They are forecasted not to come anywhere close to us! Yippee! The good thing about these guys, is that they are bringing a lot of breeze and cooler weather our way. It was actually tolerable outside yesterday evening! I didn't sweat at all standing still! It was a beautiful thing! I was told this will be with us all week! yay!

covering the garden boxes

The bugs have been so bad here that Nate bought this very thin fabric to cover the boxes. He's ingenious at putting things together, and he came up with an idea of using pvc pipe as an arch over the boxes, and using this fabric to protect the plants. So far, it has worked well on the one box that we have covered right now. It is just so damn hot and humid that it's not fun putting this together. Either at 6am or after 6pm is when it's best to be outside. I can't wait for November. 

what're you lookin' at?

We have some plants for the fall: broccoli, cabbage, and we're going to try some lettuce again, in these covered boxes. I am hoping for the best. The herbs have done very well uncovered in this weather, so we may leave those smaller boxes as is for now. 

sweat rag and water bottle are de riguer around here.

Happy Labor Day

Take a break everyone! enjoy the day off! here is to all who labor, sweat, toil, and stress for a living. Congratulations on an extra day off. Do whatever you like today, enjoy the day. Because tomorrow will be here too soon. 

My beloved was working in the garden putting this cover over the plants. The bugs have been brutal this year, and the one container that already has this on it has been very successful. I told him to stop for today and take a break. It's too damn hot too. It's supposed to feel like 100 today. A great day to stay inside. (pay no attention to the butt crack.)

Moses

Moses has been growing by leaps and bounds lately, and I'm not talking physically. He has overcome his fear of the kitchen (go figure, since there is food there) and all the noises that go along with it. He has become comfortable enough around us that he sometimes gets underfoot and we end up stepping on him. (quite by accident of course!) He loves to sit in the front yard under the trees and tall shrubs and look for lizards. He even came across a frog one day. He saw it hop away and I told him "you probably shouldn't lick that" and sure enough as soon as I said that, he pulled back and shook his head, like 'that tastes awful!'

another way I know he's comfortable here is by how he relaxes around us. I don't think he has any bones. 

He's over a year old now and we've had him for 10 months. He is my little boy, my cute little orange kitten!

summer harvest is over

yep, all the tomatoes we had are done growing, the watermelons have died off, the corn was eaten by something but us, and our basil is on its way back. (I ate a lot of that. good stuff!) so now we are going to till up the beds we have left and get ready for planting our fall harvest. We'll keep one box for herbs, Nate has his beans growing, and we are going to make some covers for the boxes as the kittens have been having fun wreaking havoc in the garden beds, so we are trying to come up with a way to keep them out of there, as opposed to keeping them in the house all day.

this is a mouse from months ago. the rat she caught was twice the size of this rodent. 

speaking of being in the house, we came home today to a dead rat in the living room. yeah. kinda yucky since it was missing half of its head. that we found down the hall. At least they are helping keep the yard rodent free. fierce kittens we have.

Orlandoweekly.com - NEWS+FEATURES: Clucking around

Our local indie paper recently published an article about some rogue residents of Orlando keeping chickens in their backyard. Chickens, mind you, not roosters. Neither one is legal in the city, and the city of St. Cloud, cow town as it has been called, has actually voted to keep a ban in place from 1989 which makes chicken keeping illegal. We have some neighbors that have roosters in their yards as I hear them crowing in the morning. It makes me no never mind, I think it's great, and kind of funny too. But unfortunately there are some stuck up types around that don't think chickens should be kept as pets. This article talks a little differently about that. I think it's time we revisit chicken keeping also. 

Orlandoweekly.com - NEWS+FEATURES: Clucking around

Wolfie

she looks so serious here

rosemary

we have lots of rosemary growing. I say lots, but it's not like it's taking over our whole yard or anything, but I think for us, it's a lot. I'm not exactly sure what to use it for. It's very aromatic, it looks like a small pine tree to me. I understand it goes in many Mediterranean dishes. I'm not one for lamb or pork, so that doesn't suit me. I thought maybe I could use it as an air freshener of some kind, but in reading over what I've found, I think not. Rosemary has a history of being used in wedding ceremonies and in love potions. It's a strong herb, so it may have been used in wedding ceremonies hundreds of years ago as something more pleasingly aromatic than the people getting married. And I mean that in a good way. Nevertheless, I shall find something good to come out of this, if only to use it as an herb in Nate's bathroom after he's been 'reading' in there for awhile. 

we have another watermelon!

I just noticed this little guy the other day. yay! I am happily surprised that they are doing so well. The other one that resembles the shape of a squash, is still there and growing too. I'm keeping an eye on them both.

Finally RAIN!

Yay! we finally had some big rain today! When I first moved here to Florida, I had never seen such big rain! It seems to take up the whole sky when it rains here! and it's not like a little drizzle for days either. It rains A LOT in a relatively short amount of time, and then it's gone. The thunder and lightning sure make for a big show and can be very scary sometimes. The yard and the plants are very grateful for the rain. As am I. It helps to cool us all down, which we desperately need. It was in the 90's again today. The white tent looking thing in the garden has sweet potatoes growing in it. Nate decided he had had enough with all the damn bugs and made a cover for one of our planters, and they look pretty good in there. They are coming along nicely and don't look burnt or have leaves full of holes. that's one thing about Florida, too many weird funky damn bugs and not enough cold to kill them off. 

rain, rain, where is the rain?

This is usually our rainy season, through most of the summer, notwithstanding hurricane season. We have not had much rain at all this month, maybe 2 days worth which is very unusual. This can create many problems.

1. We need rain for our garden. (duh)
2. The rain helps to cool the outside temperature. It has been in the 90's, with the heat index of 100's lately. we need the rain for cooling purposes. 
3. The rain helps to stave off brush fires. If we don't get some rain soon, there is a threat of fires. We had a big run in with this about 10 years ago. We didn't get any rain through all of July, and not until August sometime. It caused quite a bit of problems. 

Now needless to say, we don't want so much rain that it floods, or that we get rain from hurricanes, but some rain would be nice. I am hoping the rain gods are listening. 

Full Moon planting

I've known for some time that the moon affects the earth as well as our bodies. Since we've just had a full moon, I thought I'd check out what this is all about. I found 2 books that have all sorts of information on the moon phases and what they mean as far as when to plant. 

I've never heard of this one, but it includes all kinds of information on gardening, the weather, and moon phases. The almanac for all seasons, they say. The website is very simple, and there's no way to order online. We have to go old school and send a check! I wonder if I still have some....

The Farmers Almanac I remember from back in the day. My dad had a copy of this every year. There's information on astronomy, astrology, gardening, husbandry (no, not that kind), even sports. To think, they were talking about astronomy and astrology back in 1792! I think that's kind of cool. We're all connected you know, and the more we know, the better off we will all be. I think I'll get one of each almanac for Nate. Well, for both of us really. I always liked reading the farmers almanac. Such interesting stuff!

sorry looking corn

I don't know what happened to the corn, but it looks pretty sorry. I'm not sure if it's the heat, the soil, or bugs, or a combination of all 3, but they didn't even come close. Nate is sorely disappointed. He was looking forward to corn, as he likes it so much. I take consolation in the fact that we got so many tomatoes.

I keep telling him it's our first garden, and we really did plant too late in the season, so we should be happy with what we got. I'm excited about the fall vegetables! I'm not used to having a garden in the fall. In Ohio, by now, the plants have gone through their life cycle and we are preparing to till up the garden to put it to bed for the winter.

staving off the rain....

So far we have staved off the rain today. I was hoping for some, for the plants sake, but I was also doing laundry and hanging it outside, and I didn't want to do the clothes grab if it started to rain suddenly.

Today I finished the last of my homework for my degree. It feels good to be done, but it still hasn't totally hit me yet that I have a degree. It'll take some time. I have been enjoying the 'weekend off' of homework, so to speak. I got up early today and rode my bike to yoga class. It helps keep me centered, and it so good for the body. The ride home was good too, as it was overcast and there was just enough breeze to make it easy to ride home, and a pleasure to have the breeze.

The tomatoes are still producing and we have a few for salad for dinner tonight. The heat has taken a toll on most of the rest of the plants, not to mention us and the animals as well. We're all very tired. Tomorrow we sleep in!

Tomorrow is do-nothing-stay-in-my-pajamas-and-don't-leave-the-house-until-I-need-to-take-Scotty-to-the-park day. I'm very much looking forward to it. Of course, I'll check on the vegetables when I get up, as it's still kind of cool then. Tolerable, I should say.

I found this flower on one of our plants, and for the life of me, I can't remember which one. That's what I get for hesitating in storing these photos. All I can say is, it's pretty.

the FINAL final

I took my Major Field Test in Business this evening. I printed out the results. Come to find out...

I'm average.

My delusions of grandeur are officially squashed.

I'll sleep better tonight without the pressure.

rose bush

We were given this rose bush by a dear friend, and honestly, I don't know much about roses except that they are thorny, have some pretty looking and smelling flowers, and there are lots of different varieties. Needless to say, like most plants in my yard, I plant it, prune it some, give it some food every now and then, and just let them grow. I am not big on maintenance on the yard. I don't have the time, nor inclination, to work out in the yard every day, or every weekend (not withstanding the garden, of course). It is too damn hot here most of the time to do so, and I have xeriscaped my yard so that I don't have to do a lot of maintenance. Don't get me wrong, I like working in my yard. It is calming, soothing, and I like to see the progress of my plants. So when we were given this rose bush, I didn't know what to expect. It kind of got crazy and wild with the growing, so I cut it back FAR about 2 weeks ago. It was nothing but sticks, but still growing. There were a few branches that had died that needed to be cut away. I go to look at it yesterday and it is growing some very pretty leaves! I am not used to red leaves, and there was a very small, not quite full, flowering bud on a lower branch. 

I think it looks pretty good. It survived the trimming and I obviously didn't kill it. I think I'll keep it cut back so it's not so huge. It's kinda difficult to mow around. Those damn thorns catch on your clothes.

we have a watermelon!

I could hardly believe it when Nate showed it to me! The weather has been unbearably HOT (feels like 102F today) and most things are withering brown and dying. I was wondering how a watermelon would grow on a vine, but it is! I am so ecstatic! I am hoping this one comes to fruition so we can have some for later this year. Watermelons take a LONG time to grow, and this is a baby one. We'll keep an eye on it to see how it progresses. 

Our tomatoes are growing really well. Almost everyday we have at least a few yellow pear tomatoes and one big red tomato.

even the hanging tomato planter is producing! 

bad news...

the corn looks terrible and all eaten up, one of the watermelon plants is shriveling, and the pepper plants are only producing small peppers. I think we started too late on some things, and it's too hot now to save them. Next year we'll start earlier. In September we'll try the cooler weather plants.

On a brighter note, we have LOTS and LOTS of yellow pear tomatoes! yay!

bounty from the garden

I'm thrilled to report we have A LOT of yellow pear tomatoes! and some red big boy tomatoes too! Look!

A couple of the red tomatoes looked ready to burst, but they still looked good. I've had a few of the yellow ones for lunch. It's great to be able to go in the backyard and pick some food for lunch. 

Scotty was guarding the yard for me while I was picking...

and the watermelons are starting to take over the yard...

I can't wait to see how they turn out! The red of the tomatoes looks beautiful against the green of the plants...

I'm having some of these with my salad for dinner. Can't wait!

The passion vines are in full bloom too. These are so pretty. I've cut some flowers on the vine and set them on top of the water in the fish pond. They last for a few days like that and look very pretty.

I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July holiday and are well rested and still have all their limbs, fingers, and toes. Happy gardening!