Showing posts with label Sheltie Gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sheltie Gardening. Show all posts

Friday, August 15, 2014

Friday Flowers: Hydrangea


Life has been a bit crazy lately and Mom only realized this morning she hadn't preposted our Friday Flowers pictures. So, we apologize for our late start, but hope you enjoy today's entry.


Dog Dad bought home the Hydrangea a couple years ago after researching its care and needs. The color is beautiful and Mom was very surprised and pleased by his thoughtfulness.

What we can tell you is they attract lots of bees and human attention. Everyone seems to notice them and comment on them when they see them. Nothing like a pretty flower to distract them from what should be the main attraction, us.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Veggie Garden Adventures


We have warned all of you of the dangers of an aggressive veggie garden. The zucchini have been the most dangerous aggressors this year. We fought them back for a bit, until Dog Dad forbid us to attack them anymore. Now the green peppers are under assault. First the peppers and then the world, just remember you were warned. Sure, you say it can never happen. That is what the peppers thought, too. Sure, they thought, what's so bad about having zucchini next door. Now they are taking over the whole raised bed. They've already grabbed us a few times.


This giant is ready for the kitchen. Despite its hostile nature, Mom and Dad have been enjoying quite a few Zucchini dishes. They've even been able to share with neighbors.



Look at this brave pepper trying to grow despite the ongoing plant hostilities.



The tomatoes are still in their crates cages, but they are trying to break out.


Mom was pleased to see some are ripe and ready to eat.


Mom has a weeding planned as even the nasty Zucchini can get killed off when the weeds take over.


Friday, July 18, 2014

Friday Flowers: Mystery Yellow Flower


Mom has a tendency to pick flowers up at the local garden club sales. She knows she got these there, but doesn't know what they are called.


She loves the bright cheerful colors, but these flowers grow like weeds. We had to go out and help Dog Dad trim them back a little while ago. They can take the whole garden if you aren't careful.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Tales from the Veggie World


Welcome back to our garden update. You may notice that this week I'm staying further back from that plant Mom calls zucchini. She says plants don't eat meat, but let me tell you stuff goes into that garden that never sees the light until that plant dies. I'm taking no chances. Where the bright yellow flowers first appeared, we are now starting to see greenish round creatures. Mom calls them veggies, but I'm telling you these could be some kind of monster creatures growing out there.


Notice the difference here. This zucchini is grown in captivity. It knows it is caged and will not escape. The plant is smaller and not looking like its ready to attack. It too is producing those odd green things, but I know I can still take it out if I have too. Well actually, we aren't admitting to it, but there was some zucchini tipping that happened last week and Dog Dad wasn't too happy about it. We tried to convince him that the zucchini had just grown so top heavy it tipped over. Since nothing broke off and it resumed its monster expected growth, he seems to have let it go. However, the zucchini are under warning. If threatened we will strike. Like the monster zucchinis, these smaller cousins are producing green round things Dog Dad are convinced are edible veggies.


The tomatoes are behaving in their cages. We’ve had no threats from them. They are already have green tomatoes from the yellow buds Mom saw last week. The parents are looking forward to fresh tomatoes from the vine. The asparagus is starting to wind down, but Mom thinks there may be another meal left in the plants. They had fresh asparagus, spinach, and lettuce despite the bad weather over the holiday. Dog Dad picked it before the rains hit. We had a rabbit visit over the weekend, but we made quick work of chasing it out of the yard.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Friday Flowers: Lilies



Mom loves Lilies, both the Day and the Oriental. The Oriental Lilies are slowly coming into bloom. The Day Lilies are a bit slow this year. Mom is hoping the ones that were called 4th of July Lilies around here make it for the holiday.



At one point Mom in planning her perennial jungle garden Mom kept picking up just about every color of Lily she came across. She loves the way the bright cheerful colors decorate her garden during the summer.


Mom is rather surprised and excited to find the Lilies doing so well without assistance. It must be the weather because the last few years the Lilies have been under attack by bug critters and if she doesn't treat them in time, they don't even get to the blooms. This year she found them blooming before she even expected them to be ready to bloom. The bug critters must not enjoy the weather we've had this season.


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

News from the Veggie Gardens


Welcome to our Tuesday Veggie Garden tour. There is lots going on in the Veggie World. Mom is amazed we are still getting fresh asparagus. Normally it is a spring perennial for us. It comes up shortly after the snow melts and starts to turn into ferns just as it warms up in May. However, here we are in June and Dog Dad is still finding new stalks sprouting. The parents are thrilled, as they love grilled asparagus.


So far, the tomatoes have been loving this wet rainy spring. We were afraid we might have plant rot, but so far there seems to have been enough dry days in between the wet ones that the plants are holding on and thriving.


Mom was sick over the weekend so she hadn't gone out to check on the veggie's progress. She was amazed at how big the zucchini plants had grown. Let me tell you guys in a month, you lose a ball in there and it will be fall before you see it again. What the zucchini takes it keeps.


Next, we have Katy's gardening tip of the week. The parents really don't mean do whatever is necessary to keep the garden's safe. We take our critter patrols seriously. However, Dog Dad made it very clear after I killed a lettuce, OK a couple of lettuce plants this weekend in pursuit of a squirrel that it wasn't OK to kill a plant while protecting it. I am not allowed to jump in the gardens even in hot pursuit of a critter. So, let that be a lesson to all of you eager gardeners doing your best to protect the produce. If you kill it while trying to protect it, they won't thank you. They won’t see the heroic effort you made in chasing off the varmint. All they will notice are the dead plants you killed while trying to defend them.





Thursday, June 12, 2014

The Rabbits are Back


We warned the Mama. Stop sighing over those fuzzy bunnies. They are varmints. Remember these are RABBITS, not the cute and charming Easter Bunny. They destroy your gardens. However, she spots them and does she scare them off? Oh, no she has to take pictures. Now they think they are movie stars. Instead, they should be on most wanted posters. These little critters will kill off Mom's lettuce crop before she can blink an eye. However, all she can do is say, "But they are so cuuuttteee." How could they possibly be evil?


Well we have no trouble taking on the problem. Shortly after the Mama caught these shots, we started barking. At first, we were ignored. However when we got to the windows we made it very clear what we would do when we got outside. The bunny decided to leave and its hypnosis over the Mama was broken. If it were a snake, we'd have no problems convincing Mama it had to go. However, show the Mama a rabbit and she gets all mushy.




Hosted by Ruckus the Eskie and Loved is Being Owned By a Husky



Hosted by Heart Like a Dog and 2 Brown Dawgs


Thursday, June 5, 2014

Protecting the Compost




Mom has been composting since long before she knew it had a name. She doesn't have the land she had when she was a kid, so now she has a container to keep it in.

We not only protect the compost from intruders, but we provide escort service for Mom to and from the composter. See, Mom is cool with the composting, but she's not so crazy about the bugs inside the composter. She also likes company when its dark and its time to empty the storage bags she keeps in the kitchen. Who is she kidding she likes company when it is bright daylight. The Mom just doesn't like traveling alone. So, being good dogs we head out with her.

As you can see, it is nice and shady back here. So, of all the chores we have, watching over the compost isn't the worst. It is shady, the larger animals haven't figured out how to break in, so others than using it as a landing point from the trees, we have limited need to clear them from the area. Just don't tell Mom or she'll be thinking of tougher jobs for us.



Hosted by Ruckus the Eskie and Loved is Being Owned By a Husky



Hosted by Heart Like a Dog and 2 Brown Dawgs

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Garden Update


We can't believe it is June already. The weather has been good to the tomatoes and they are adjusting to their cages. We helped Mom with the weeding over the weekend. Mom was surprised that even with all the tropical weather, the weeds were minimal this first week.


Dog Dad only used to use newspaper wraps for the tomatoes. However, with the funky weather and the extra critter and bug attacks last year, he decided to experiment and use them on some of the other plants to give them a starting chance. He is pleased by the process and has seen stronger than he had last year.


Dog Dad added spinach and more lettuce to the back gardens this week. Mom remarked that the spinach looks remarkably like the weed grass we generally remove from the garden. We've never tried growing spinach before so it is a whole new area we are exploring this year.


They've been cooking and using spinach more in salads these days, so it seemed like a logical choice to add to the gardens. Along with squirrels, we noticed more chipmunk activity in the backyard since the gardens have been planted. We scared one into jumping into a tree. We are inspiring new heights in squirrel and chipmunk gymnastics.

Sugar and Kohl are hosting today's hop.



You are next... Click here to enter

Get the code here







Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Getting the Veggie Gardens Planted


It was a strange weather weekend. Short bursts of clear weather followed by almost tropical rains. However, Mom and Dad worked hard to get the annual Veggie Gardens dug up, cleared of weeds, and planted for a new season. First up is the tomato garden. We think its kind of odd that the tomatoes have cages. However, they do seem to get a bit wild as the season progresses so perhaps that is why Dad keeps them caged all season.


Mom calls this Veggie Garden 2. Here they planted zuchinni and peppers. The chives are a perennial and grow back every year.


Guarded by Hostas, this is what Mom calls the back Veggie Gardens. This year Mom and Dad decided to plant more of some stuff and get other stuff from the local growers. Back here she hopes to grow more rows of lettuce, spinach, and more zucchini.

Now that the plants are in, we have a great deal more work to do to keep the pests out of Mom and Dad's food. We think we are just putting out a welcome sign inviting more pests, but Mom and Dad are quite excited about their fresh veggies.





Friday, May 9, 2014

Friday Flowers: Rhododendrons






These bushes were here when Mom and Dad moved here, but they love the colors that come out each spring. They have some in the back and the front, but so far, the ones in the back are being shy so we had to go out front to get pictures for today.


We had to be careful getting these shots. The bees are crazy about these bushes. They buzzed us constantly while we were out observing them. Sometimes the birds hang out in the bushes, too. There was a mommy bird and babies in there earlier this spring.






We are participating in The See Beautiful Blog Hop


Click to enter here

Get the code here

Monday, May 5, 2014

Protecting the Asparagus


Mom planted asparagus not really thinking it would come too much. Several years later every spring, we have to go out and guard the asparagus from creatures that might eat it before Mom and Dad get to cook it. It doesn't look like much, but Mom and Dad say it is a special veggie. Mom really likes the fact that it comes back on its own every year. It doesn't have to be replanted each year and it is pretty low maintenance from a veggie growing perspective. This crop is just about ready to be picked. Mom is already trying to decide what to make this weekend.

We just want to know when we are going to get one of those dog biscuit trees. We'd take real good care of it and make sure those nasty squirrels didn't attack it. Mom keeps saying she hasn't located one yet. We think she's just too busy hunting down veggie plants for her and Dad.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Friday Flowers


This is what comes of living in New England folks. Yesterday we posted pictures of snow. Today the snow has melted and we have pictures of the daffodils in bloom.

We are looking forward to our visit from the Easter Bunny. We hope he has lots of cool treats. Mom is talking about experimenting with treats in Easter Eggs. We'll see how that all works out. We wish all of you who celebrate a wonderful Easter holiday. We hope it is filled with lots of fun and treats.

Monday, July 25, 2011

This Garden Thing Has its Moments


Mom and Dad spend more time outdoors. This weekend Mom and Dad were actually on the garden swing. OK they forgot to bring the cushions out and I ended up in Mom's lap instead of sitting on my favorite comfy spot. However, despite the heat they are still outside with us.

Dad is excited because he had enough veggies to make a salad. He had cucumber, lettuce, zucchini, green onions, and peppers. The tomatoes are still green, but he was happy with the harvest. He has an eggplant close to done and Mom is thinking parmesan. What does this have to do with us? Well as Mom always tells us, happy well fed parents make for happy Shelties. When they are eating healthy, they have more energy for playing with us and you know it is all about us.

No additional critter incursions to add to my weekend report. Katy and I have been vocal this weekend. I suspect that has helped keep down the visits. Human activity also makes them less likely to wander in and attack the plants.