BEE Patient!

Hello, lovelies!   So, if you ever "talk" to me on Facebook, or my Facebook Fan Page , Twitter or stopped by my Shop you hear me talking about my garden, the latest thing blooming, the colors of pretty flowers, and what I'm planting in my garden.    Things have progressed over the past 6 weeks nicely.


Here is a "BEFORE" shot of my proposed "kitchen" garden which lies right behind my beautiful garden window in Cassia's Kitchen.  I'm kind of ashamed to show it to you, but just know that I was a very busy girl and didn't get out into this area to weed  until mid-March or so......and then Springtime absolutely exploded onto the scene early so even in early March things were already growing like Mid April!!!!

 This area is approximately 5' x 30' and goes most of the length of my house.    It's the ONLY patch of ground on my whole acre which has direct sunlight sufficient enough to grow flowering and fruiting plants.   This has caused me excessive consternation since moving to my beautiful new house.  There is a huge climbing rose, a big sedum and a golden flowering plant which I cannot remember what the name is.  There are also some 4 O'clocks and a flowering woody invasive weed that I for the life of me did not know would be so hard to eradicate!   The good thing is that the hummingbirds and the butterflies LOVED the purple invasive woody hard to remove demonic like deep and burrowing invasive rooted plants and used to visit there to drink nectar every morning last year and I would see them through my garden window and just smile and smile whenever they came.   Oh, well, this will be a good tradeoff!  And I see some new little shoots of the invasive weed coming up so I may allow one or two of them to peacefully co-exist in my garden if just for the sake of my hummingbirds IF they play nicely.


My "NOW" photos don't want to upload to my computer so I won't show you how nice it looks now.
We have the whole area weeded out, 6" of rich organic compost dug in, removed the climbing rose, the sedum and the golden plant, and replanted the whole area with culinary herbs such as peppermint, spearmint, 3 kinds of basil, thyme, oregano, sage, calendula, and then 3 kinds of peppers, three kinds of tomatoes, yellow crookneck squash, and cucumbers.  YAY!


I can't tell you how much fun it has been through the whole process.  Even the weeding part!  It was quite....cathartic, if you will!  Good old fashioned hard work and sweat!  Good for you good for your soul!  There's just something about being connected to the earth and to the pulse of nature which makes you feel in tune with your Creator and also revitalizes your whole being as well. Not to mention the Vitamin D and A absorbed through your skin bringing a boost to your immune system, strength to your bones and outlook and a rosy glow!  And then the JOY of seeing your labor turn into fruit is just so satisfying.


So now we have a co·nun·drum/kəˈnəndrəm/Noun

1. A confusing and difficult problem or question.

2. A question asked for amusement, typically one with a pun in its answer; a riddle. 

We have the plants growing nicely and getting strong.  The tomato plants have a verdant fragrance that I just love!

  

Things are really progressing nicely, and blossoms are literally covering the plants.   There are Bright Orange blooms on my calendula (marigold!), bright yellow blooms on my climbing cucumbers, and HUGE Bright Yellow Orange blooms on 

my crookneck squash.   But morning in, morning out.....the blossoms come and the blossoms

go, but NO fruit!   

Now, a farmer needs to be patient, but this got me kind of concerned.  By this time we should be seeing fruit on the cucumber vines and on the squash!  Then Suddenly I Had This Lightbulb Moment!   I realized that I had not seen a bee, not one single bee, and that was what was keeping the pollinization from taking place.

DUH!  I do believe this is why the peaches are not bearing fruit as well.   

So this set me on a seach and a crusade and a query.   First stop,  Good Ol Google!

Query:   Plants that attract honeybees.  

Answer: Lavender Plants  (Good--- I already had a single plant blooming and moved the pot closer to the garden and off the patio)   and

Lamb's Ears  which I do not have but believe I can get that at Lowe's.

Folks, we need bees!   I have ALOT more to say about this, and have planned subsequent posts as I have done minimal research but have found boat loads of info!   

So, stay tuned for more!   

And don't forget.........

BEE PATIENT!   

Sometimes farmers just have to wait for their harvests! 

I am going to turn my findings into a series so stay tuned! 



Oh goodness, I have a new soap to reveal to you tonight as well.   Even as I sit and type it...I still don't know what to name it.  But it's my new fave and will be listed in my shop soon......  here it is unwrapped:

It's totally inspired by my time living in Thailand, and now I see i need some new pictures as these are not even worthy of sharing.  But stay tuned as these will go into the shop by tomorrow!


Have an awesome evening and a beautiful week!


Toodles!