The whish-whish-whish of dust being brushed off my blog!
Over the course of nearly two years, more has happened than I care to detail here, but consider this my pushing the reset button. Some highlights:
New garden!
(After a marathon session of enrichment this spring, our warm-season soil is hosting an orgy of life--and the tomatoes were above my head before they even ripened!)
New pup and kitty! (so beautiful I can't put up only one photo):
Welcome to Frankie Manning and The Oracle!!
New heat source:
(Major, major thanks to (also new) Neighbor Thomas and his bottomless skillset for sourcing and installing this beautiful workhorse of a stove!)
New enemies:
(Mother Nature arms her most soft and beautiful creatures with the most vicious weapons. Oh, the pain! The neverending pain!!!!)
Aaaand (drumroll) new home:
(of course, during the colder months. You'll be seeing a lot of this place.)
In short, this place is 3 acres of neverending beauty, and we look at each other every day and ask how the hell we got so lucky. The conveniently split driveway (upper and lower) is wide and nicely graveled, and we have at our disposal a detached ~600 sf. workshop. The house itself has a full unfinished basement and original (1950s) heart pine floors throughout. The living room has seen much dancing, and will see much more as the floor mellows with continued wear.
Old secondary growth hardwoods ring the sides of a very private knoll, which gets differing sunlight and moisture on three sides, resulting in several distinct-yet-abutting ecosystems. We're still discovering the native plants and fungi, and getting to know the avian dwellers--screech owls, red-tailed hawks, pileated and downy woodpeckers, towhees, finches, jays, nuthatches and other songbirds. It's fun to watch the squirrels navigate the treetops all around the hill, and to see the rather private chipmunks play around the edges of the woods (but they're smart, and avoid Frankie pretty well, I think. Either that, or he doesn't leave evidence.)
And 2010's garden!! Seven tomato varieties, Thai and black eggplants, green and purple bell peppers, peperoncinis, jalapenos, orange habaneros, yellow sweet and strawberry popping corn, yellow wax and green string beans, burgundy okra, English and pickling cucumbers, white and sweet potatoes, horseradish, volunteer butternut squash, spaghetti squash and jack-o-lanterns, acorn squash, loofah gourds, basil, cabbage, green onions, oregano, brussels sprouts and a handful of green muscadine grapes. Mmm. I love my garden.
Fall greens (curly kale, purple-top turnips, radishes, spinach and lettuces) are sown and starting to carpet their rows. Can't wait for those delicious vitaminy fall soups!
So, in short, welcome to the new Garden of Eva!
