Two-Shower Days

Wednesday and Thursday were shopping (food, plants) and planting days.

I promised a picture of the Asian Jasmine groundcover I’m planting, and Lowe’s had a big bed of it as it turned out. You can see how it will put down a solid, low mat in sun or shade. And this bed still had some of its little white flowers blooming.

After shopping for plants and amendments, I was famished. So I stopped to make my dinner, which I eat in the middle of the day. Getting the major meal of the day out of the way allows me to sew later at night as its easy to fix a light supper with food that is on hand before watching tv and hand-sewing.

I’ve never tried this particular mix of veggies to sauté, but as I use what I have, this mixture emerged. I had beet greens on hand from some beets I bought for my blender drinks. (Beets are a powerhouse food, cooked or raw.) I started with veggies that needed longer sautéing in, this day, beef fat. I diced a small raw beet, carrots, sweet onion, red pepper, a zucchini for more bulk, garlic, and herbs from the garden. I added some of a dried oregano mixture and salt. I added the chopped beet greens last and just turned them in the hot mixture until they were thoroughly wilted. Then I added store-bought flat-leaf Italian parsley chopped fine and just mixed it in as a final garnishment.

Voila! I had red veggies. And, enough for two meals. While cooking the veggies, I grilled a steak. This mixture is kind of pretty with its intense red. I’m eating the rainbow here, for sure.

Yes, everything went to outdoor room, along with my current book and a freshly made espresso made with honey and raw cream for dessert.

After planting the long row of Asiatic Jasmine on the shady side of the house, I was hot and sweaty and tired. And I needed the second shower of the day. For sure.

On Thursday, I tackled planting the Stella D’Oro day-lilies, the Buddlea (Butterfly Bush), and the Endless Summer hydrangea along the sunny side of the house. It was hot, with the feel of a storm coming in, but the sea breeze was steady and cooling.

Planting these three (5 with the 3 Stellas) looks simple. But it is NOT. Digging here is really, really hard–due to the big veins of clay that lie beneath whatever topsoil there is. Some of these veins of clay are so pure and are such pretty colors–like a vivid aqua or a rich cream–that they would really entice a potter. But it takes real muscle and patience to carve out a planting hole in this ground. I’m putting in a lot of amendments (sand, organic soil meant for ground plantings) and mixing it with the clay, but…I don’t know. Clay like this can on the bottom of the hole can form a kind of bathtub that holds water around a plant’s root ball.

To loosen the cement-hard clay, I tried soaking the planting area with the hose and letting the water sink into the clay. That helped, as when water hits clay, the clay kind of softens and, even, melts. That has been a problem with the four new gutter drains. Where the water emerges, big holes start to form. Thus, I’m hoping this idea will put the water out onto the grass and away from raw dirt under the pine straw.

After getting the new plants in the ground, I needed another shower. For sure.

I’m writing this post on Friday morning and will post it tomorrow. We got rain in the night Thursday, and today is cloudy and cool. Alex is here mowing and will put down a bit more fertilizer on the new grass. It’s a good day for that if we get more rain. He’s going to put down more pine straw for me when he comes next too. And he’s offered to help me dig holes for bigger plants when I buy them.

Here are the new herbs I added to the mint (top left) I planted–basil and flat-leaf Italian parsley. The basil is an annual; the parsley is a biennial, so blooms and seeds the second year. The mint has all sorts of new growth starting now.

The drainage spout additions seem to be working. There are no new holes in the ground.

And today, Friday, I’ll take it fairly easy–a walk with my music and sewing on the longarm.

These two Wyoming quilts are washed and dried and are cooling thoroughly on the living room couch until I pack then up and mail them on Monday.

I keep hoping the fabric on the couch skirt, which got crushed in the move, will sort itself out. But so far…NO.