A Very Relaxing Weekend Gardening

I had a wonderful weekend. I made a real effort to slow down,  enjoy the days off, and to spend time in nature. Saturday I planted most of the snapdragons and begonias. I went to a neighbor's garage sale, and bought a few things from him for the garden.  For $13.00 I got two used gardening tools: a long handled metal rake and a hoe. I also bought a potted loquat tree. There was a baby loquat tree in the soil with it, as well as a small rose bush. The pot was kind of heavy for me, because of my replaced hips, so I wheeled it home on my Burley Travoy shopping cart/bike trailer. I hesitated to purchase it a few years ago, because of the price. It's an expensive and  very quality bike trailer. Boy has it come in handy! I use it all of the time. It's so much better than lugging things around,  and straining my back, like I used to do.

The weather has been glorious. It's such a relief not to be barely existing in that sweltering heat that we were having. I hope this weather lasts. It's heaven! I scooped up  some of my homemade compost from the backyard, and brought it into the front garden. After digging some holes for the transplants, I added water, compost, and soil from my neighbor's pot. There is such a difference in the consistency of our soils. I combined them together. His holds moisture much better than mine does.

The sunflowers look spent, so I will be pulling up the last of those today. I planted some more amaranth seedlings that had come up from my compost pile. Some of them are as tall as I am! They are quite impressive. I love them, because they reseed themselves, they are easy to grow, and they can handle our brutally hot temperatures. The birds like them, too. One of my neighbors asked me as he walked by,  "Stephenie, what are the red ones?" I explained that they are actually a grain, used in cereal, and gave him some seeds. He's an excellent gardener. I also harvested some berries off of a mystery volunteer plant. It turns out they are choke berries. They taste absolutely delicious! They remind me of a cross between a blueberry and a blackberry. One of the forest teas that I drink has them listed as an ingredient. I recognized the photo of the flower, and that's how I figured out what they were. I didn't want to be eating something that was poisonous! They have a lovely little white star shaped flower, too. They are so easy to grow. It's amazing how many attractive and unexpected plants from seed  land in my garden. I think the birds spread them. I also planted the paw paw tree that grew from  my compost. It looks very green and happy.

On Saturday afternoon I went to a crochet group that meets at our local library. There were just a few of us there. It was nice to chat, have a cup of tea, and work on some socks. They will be a gift for the knitter who gave me so much beautiful yarn.   

Yesterday I took Lana and the neighbor's puppy on another hike. There are some great new trails in our area. We took a lovely drive through Sand Canyon, too. I came home and spent a lot of time reading. It was so relaxing, and it felt good to be home at the cottage. I pulled up the balloon curtains so that I could see the snapdragons in the window boxes. I love that look.  How was your weekend?