Dragonflies everywhere!

In the summer our backyard is a buzz with hoards of hovering dragonflies! Its largely due to a nice little pond we built and all of the flowers and such which draw in more then enough for 1000s of dragonflies to consume. This is perfectly fine with us because the guys have a special place in our harts, something of a spiritual creature in our own little mythos. I drew one that landed on a stalk of corn a while back and I'm missing my backyard friends right now so I post while we sit moving firmly into Spring here.

I have also suddenly realized that I have never posted my art work here and it seems especially remiss since I list sketching as one of my blogs interests AND the drawing is garden related. Time to get on that eh? I have a few more garden related works to post so more will follow!

Growing Soil

I've actually grown my soil! I started my garden just 2 years ago with some small mostly sandy, lifeless soil. I've added many layers of compost, mulch and a bit of organic components. And just the other day as I was planting cauliflower seedlings I found an earth work in my garden bed!

I'm pretty darn excited! I've managed in only two years to turn what would pass as beach sand into loamy, brown living soil. Did I say I'm excited? I just thought it would take more then two years. Can't wait to see how the cauliflower do!

Got Squash!

The squash is really growing! I've pulled about 4lbs of squash from the garden already and there is more out there then we'll ever be able to eat! I'll probably share some our to friends.

Check out this huge monster! This squash is well over a pound, not bad and totally grown organically! My soil has really improved from last year which makes me quite proud. I've added some organic improvements but, also lots of mulch and dark compost from the compost pile!

Fruit Cup

This morning I went out to toss some stuff into the compost bin and collect up the ripe blueberry! It's pretty cool to wander out the back door and gather up food while there is still a blanket of fog hanging over the yard. It was peaceful and cool with the light energy of the waking world as the birds provided a jovial, musical backdrop.

Yea, my fruit cup isn't really much, I only have to very young blueberry bushes and a hand full of strawberry plants, but they tend to produce a couple of bowls full of fruit each season. I'm often amazed at how many mature plants it can take to produce one bowl of berries. I think it takes a great deal more land to produce berries then other foods though I haven't checked the yield per sqft. What always amazes me more is when I'm at the fruit stand and there is a huge container of blueberries sitting right next to dozens of other containers and my mind instantly starts computing the number of bushes it takes to fill the containers, wow!

On the garden front, It shouldn't be more then another day or two before I start harvesting squash! I have a nearly ripe squash already out there and at least 6 more that are a week out! Fun time for some curried squash soup, or just curried squash, or maybe even little bruchetta squash? Humm so many options

Things Are On The Grow

So my vegi garden is growing great! Over 2/3 of my seedlings have been in the ground for over a month now and things are really starting to fill in. I love it when the plants start to really fit into their place, filling out and starting to show signs of flowers. It's reassuring to know that you did things right and all that optimism about a good harvest is looking possible.


I took some pictures of my hillside beds which measure in at about 192 sq. ft. of growing space. I also grow herbs and eatable flowers around the backyard amungst annual, non-eatables. This years vegi crop will consist of black beans, okra, cantaloupe, carrot, 2 types of onions, 2 types of tomatoes , cucumber, yellow squash and sunflowers! Yum!

My Nasturtiums are blooming! The lower bed is brand new, just built last week. I also have a shot of my black bean forest, fun huh?