Monthly Archives: July 2025

Garden Decorations

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While building the raised beds this spring, I also wanted to make the garden a place of beauty and maybe have some things for the grandchildren. I have often read Annabelle the poem “Fairies,” by Rose Fyleman, and some of the references there have shown up in the garden. So here’s a bit of a picture gallery.

I have a weathervane and a few more items to install. Hopefully soon!

This sign marks the garden entrance.
Walking down the main garden path, the focal point is the “Tree of Life, on the barn.
The “Tree of Life” was purchased as a “Fair Trade” item and created by artisans in Haiti. It was chiseled from an old oil barrel and hand painted.
There are three “Rabbits who stand about and hold the lights,” as homage to the “Fairies” poem by Rose Fyleman.
A Lunaria sign marks the way to the “Moonbeam Path” and Lunaria as talked about in the Lunaria stories I am writing for the kids.
A Solar LED glowing turtle hides in the Mint Garden.
These crystal globes sparkle beautifully in the sun and are illuminated by Solar LED lights after dark.
The illuminated globes after dark.
A fairy sitting on a moonbeam greets you at the front of the garden.

Intruder

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It started a couple of days ago with the tops of my Zucchini plants chewed off and a couple of tomatoes-on-the-vine half eaten. The incisor marks on these zucchinis point to a large rodent, likely the infamous groundhog. He must not have liked the zucchini, as he bit through the skin and stopped.

I bought a Trail Cam but haven’t set it up, yet as I will need to install a post to mount it on. Did I really expect to get by just by foiling the rabbits.

First Batch of Tomatoes to Hope Ministries Food Pantry

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I tool the first batch of tomatoes over to the Food Pantry at St. Anne’s today. I let Annabelle pick them this weekend and I told her the story of how they go to feed people that don’t have enough to eat. I planted a bed of tomatoes just for the food pantry. Produce from other gardeners in the parish is starting to arrive, too.

First batch of tomatoes to the Food Pantry picked by Annabelle.
The bed planted for the food pantry produced the first tomatoes this year even though it was planted later than the others. I think we had a little help from Sr. Lorainne.

Abundance!

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We’ve had temperatures i the 90s for the past couple of weeks and it has pushed the garden along. I picked the firs of the Early Girl II tomatoes on July 3 and had tomato toast for breakfast. This is almost two weeks later than last year, and I think due to the cold weather through May and into the first couple of weeks of June. The difference this year is that the plants are loaded with larger tomatoes and there will be a large number ripening soon, but the container garden is slow. I was behind on fertilizing but got that done over the weekend.

I picked a variety of vegetables and made a 4th of July Fritatta.

The First Tomato

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The first tomato ripened around July 1st. Because of all the chaos of trying to get the garden finished, Natalie returning from Europe, and 4th of July festivities, I did not record when the first tomato ripened. I think it was a Champion, not an Early Girl II. That’s about a week later than last year. I think the cool May and early June slowed down the ripening process.

The plants are vigorous and loaded with Tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes aren’t doing as well as I haven’t fertilized yet.