My Experiment with Bee Balm

I had decided to tear the bee balm out of my garden because I wanted blooms ALL summer…not just the month of July. Then I had an ah-ha moment. You’ve had those, I’m sure. Well, mine was this: when the bee balm comes up in June, cut half of it back as the first buds appear but before they bloom. Let the rest continue to grow and blossom. When these blossoms are spent, the half that was cut will be back up and ready to bloom.

And, guess what? It worked. It worked nicely in the front garden and the back garden is out-doing itself. When the second batch started to bloom at the beginning of August, I cut back the spent plants. Now here we are almost the middle of September and, in my back garden, not only are the August blooms still blooming, but the first batch has come back and I will have a third bloom! How great is that.

The hummingbirds are loving it!

If you are an experienced gardener, you might well say, “Duh! Of course, everyone knows that.” But I’m not an experienced gardener, so I’m feeling pretty proud of myself!

As you can see in this photo, I have all three phases of blooms…spent, still going strong, and ready to burst forth with another batch. This third bloom is thanks to climate change.

My Front Garden

This is a continuation of the post below this one. For some reason, Blogspot is cantankerous tonight.

The tag on these said marigolds but everyone says they are zinnias. What do I know? I just like them.

These are my ornamental peppers surrounded by a crop of purslane. In this drought, the purslane makes good ground cover as well as nice crunchy greens in a sandwich.

This is all of my front garden. Most of the bee balm is gone and next year will be totally gone. I have plans to replace it with another hummingbird attracting plant or plants.

I picked this little piece of decor up at a tag sale for $2 with the thought of placing it in my front garden. However, because of the wood seat,  I don't think it would last long in the weather. I'll find another place for it.

And, finally, there you have it. My summer gardens. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do.

My 2016 Gardens

What is this? It's in my back garden. I did not plant it.

I can’t get over my gardens this year. They are just loaded with flowers! The front suffered somewhat over the four days I was away in July but made a good comeback with a little water and deadheading.

I think I need to thin everything out next year. I don’t need so many phlox plants. All the bee balm is going. In the back, the bleeding heart and sedum need to be cut back.

So here are the pictures of my gardens this year. I start with the deck, go down to the back gardens then out front. I hope you enjoy seeing them.

There are 3 dragon wing begonias in this pot along with vinca. Looks like more than that.

The geraniums just keep blooming and blooming

I had to put chicken wire around this section of my back garden to keep some animal from walking through and breaking everything down. Since I did not see the animal I cannot make any accusations.

The bleeding heart and sedum have crowded out my mini roses.

Everything just exploding!

The other side of the back garden. Most of the bee balm is gone. Phlox doing well.

Don't remember what this is. It doesn't seem to be happy with the bee balm hanging all over it.

For some reason I cannot post my front garden pictures, so that will be in a separate posting.

Recent Forays into the Kitchen

First of all, how in the world did the women in my family do it? My Mémeré Riendeau and Mémeré Robidoux must have spent their whole lives in the kitchen. My maternal grandmother had 9 kids (8 survived infancy) and my paternal grandmother had 14 kids (10 survived infancy). I’m sure that after a while the older kids were watching the babies, but still, all they had time for was cooking and making babies!

What I’m getting at…and I repeat…how in the world did they do it? I spend 2 hours in the kitchen and I’m beat right down to my socks. And I don’t have any kids at home to take care of and I’m through with making babies. (I’m sure that will be a relief to my children!)

The most time I spend in the kitchen is when I’m “putting up” for the freezer. I currently have 5 containers of chicken noodle soup; 8 of veggie rice soup; 5 homemade pasta sauce; 3 beef stew. The last thing I put up was the veggie rice soup and I thought my feet and knees were going to give out on me. After standing while measuring all the spices, chopping the veggies, pressing the garlic, sautéing, cooking the rice, crushing the tomatoes from last year’s garden, combining, and stirring…I was happy to get to the simmering part.

A short rest in my favorite rocker with a cup of hot coffee brought me back to life!

Yesterday I decided I was going to cook some corn on the cob and, with a handy-dandy gadget I have, scrape the kernels off the cobs and freeze them. If anyone out there wants my handy-dandy gadget for scraping corn, let me know and it’s yours. I could not make it work. Out came my handy-dandy sharp utility knife and made short, albeit messy, work of those kernels. I started out with six ears. I ate one for dinner and stripped the other five. The five ears gave me two one-cup servings and I had the left-over one-half cup with my lunch today.

I have decided that of all the foods I have put up for the freezer, the corn was the only failure. And I say that because I wasn’t able to use the gadget; it was very messy, and the yield was less than I had hoped. Plus, the cost came to $1.20/cup. I can buy frozen corn all year round for much less than that. It was successful, however, in that at least I tried, and now I know!

Does anyone want this gadget?

Eating My Garden's Weeds (that's one way of getting rid of them)

Recently I stumbled upon a website about Purslane. As I looked at the pictures I realized I had that stuff in my front garden; I kept weeding it out. Whoa! Wait a minute. It’s edible?

Sure enough. I picked some the other night just to nibble on a couple of leaves. Tasty! So tonight I went out there and picked a bunch more. I washed it thoroughly in cold water and put the washed plants in the refrigerator. Tomorrow I’ll strip the leaves to put in my scrambled egg instead of asparagus. You can eat the stems, too, but I'll just use the leaves tomorrow morning.

One funny thing about this is that we are not allowed to grow veggies or herbs in our front gardens. Well, technically, I'm not growing Purslane. It's a weed that is growing itself. In my mind, I am not at fault.

I guess there are a few varieties of Purslane. What grows in my garden (notice I didn't say I was growing it) is pretty much flat along the ground. Some of the older plants start to spread upwards, but I like the younger ones…delicate flavor. Actually, tastes like grass.

There are a lot of health benefits to eating Purslane; Vitamin A being a major benefit.

You can go to this website to learn more or just Google it on your own.

Today's Bike Ride...nothing went as planned!

My neighbor, Krystal, and I were supposed to ride today. Last minute she had to go to a funeral. The original departure time was 9 a.m. but since I was riding alone I left as soon as I was ready...about 8:40.

We were supposed to ride the new section of the Airline Trail in Willimantic. Since I was now riding alone, I decided to ride, instead, part of the Hop River Trail from Andover to wherever it went now. The bridge over Route 316 was installed a few years ago and the surface was improved. I wanted to see how far it went (or ride 5 miles out) whichever came first.

I parked at the trail on Burnap Brook Rd. in Andover. This proved to be a good decision.

From here it's about a mile to the Route 316 bridge. I had not ridden beyond the bridge before...because the surface was narrow and lots of stones. I recently heard it had been improved so I had to see for myself.

The new surface is hard packed dirt with stone dust. Good riding until I notice it was getting bumpy. There is only one explanation for that...horses. The hooves make small indents and it feels like I'm riding a jackhammer. Not fun. However, I keep going.

Most of the gates have soft sand, a couple inches deep, in the area of the narrow access opening, which can be disastrous if you don't see it in time. If you are riding a mountain bike it probably is not a concern. I ride a hybrid.

At about the six-mile mark don't I meet the horse and its rider. Nice guy for the most part. Has a negative attitude about the East Coast Greenway. And I did mention to him how hard it was for me to ride when his horse chops up the surface. He really didn't care (none of them do). He did tell me that those folks who parked their cars in front of the barriers (because all parking spaces are full) are now being towed. What are these folks thinking? The gates need to be clear in case emergency vehicles need to access the trail. And he also told me I was about 1.5 miles to where the trail surface changes and ends shortly thereafter.

So I continued to the end...a total of approximately 7.5 miles. 

Now I have to go back. The trail is a slight up grade for the return trip. Not bad though. However, it is getting hot and I'm getting tired. Thank goodness for the pediatric electrolyte drink! At the 12.5 mile mark, I had to stop and drink the bottle I had with me. It made me feel better, but the last 2.5 miles was a little scary. I kept talking to myself, telling myself that quitting was not an option. I had to make it back to the car.

I did make it, obviously. I loaded my bike on the rack, locked my stuff in the car and headed down the embankment to Burnap Brook.

I sat on a rock and immersed my feet in the cool water. I splashed water on my face and over my head. Oh, my! Did that feel good! Then, squishy sneakers and all, I trudged back up the hill (I was so tired), stowed my stuff properly, made sure my bike was secure and headed for home.

What Does it Feel Like to be 80 Years Old?

I know many 80-year-olds and it's different for each of us. Most of us are still very active; others aren't. None of us are what I would consider ‘spry." That's a word used way back to describe little old ladies that tottered along and called everyone "dearie." It was also the brand name of a hydrogenated cooking oil going as far back as those little old ladies. Check with me in about 10 years to see if I’m spry yet (little old lady, not hydrogenated oil!).

I can only answer for myself.

Physically

I'm very fortunate to have a relatively strong, healthy body. I do have a few aches and pains and some stiffness of joints now and then, but by and large, my body continues to serve me well. The gym is still essential for strength training. Between my PCP and my Chiropractor, I am able to keep going. I can still take care of myself, keep house and cook for myself. I tend my flower gardens for three seasons and shovel snow in order to clear a space to feed the birds during the winter.

I can still go for walks, although somewhere around 3 miles I start to stagger. I cannot run for the life of me! My preferred method of self-propulsion is my bike. I can still do 15 to 20 miles, but not every day. When Kathy and I rode the Erie Canal bike path in 2008 we were doing 40-50 miles a day and after eight days it sucked the life right out of me. Right now, 15-20 is a good ride.

Mentally

As far as I know my mind is totally intact. Some folks might tell you I'm crazy, but that's because they don't understand (or choose not to understand) what I'm talking about…or they are one of my kids. But that's OK. I don't have a good memory; never had a good memory. Even as a kid, I saw no reason to memorize or remember anything. If I needed information I could always go to the library and look it up. Obviously, this was way before the internet.

Spiritually

I have definitely grown spiritually. I no longer practice the religion of my parents. I went looking for a more direct contact with God and decided I did better without the "middlemen" who were more prone to punitive rules that made no sense to me. I chose a loving God and I continue to learn the Laws of the Universe that seem more reasonable.

Wisdom

According to ancient tradition, at 80 the Crone becomes the Hag, a Woman of Wisdom. You may call me a Hag if you wish. Years ago I was taught that knowledge is only knowledge…until it is shared. Then it becomes Wisdom.

Ok. What do I do with my knowledge when those around me don't want to hear it?

Even though this was taken in 2008, nothing has changed

The Wisdom, in this case, becomes showing by example. Nothing has ever been taught by cramming things down someone else's throat. So I live my Truth in hopes others will catch on to what I have been trying to show them.

Do I have all the answers? Oh, my no. What I know I could put in a small thimble and rattle it! There is so much more for me to learn and I am in the right place, at the right time, surrounded by the right people to help me continue to the next level.

I turn 80 on May 25th.

So! What does it feel like to be 80 years old? It feels F A N T A S T I C!