27 Comments

Wow. Your garden is full! No grass.

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Thank you, Cheryl! Full disclosure, there is more grass than I'd like this year-- I'm just selective with the photos!

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So lovely! Down here in the NC Piedmont May took our garden from its winter shabbiness to looking now like it is fully operational. Tomatoes are a foot high, peppers about half that. My Japanese indigo is already giving plenty of leaves for fresh dyeing, and the candy roasters are beginning to climb their trellis. Poppies are nearly done blooming, larkspurs still going strong. And how do I always forget how many shades of green there are!

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Thank you for reading, Bethany! Your garden sounds absolutely gorgeous, especially your mix of veg and flowers.

I'm so thrilled that you're growing Japanese indigo! My husband & daughter are staying in Tokushima, which they've been told is a major center for indigo dyeing. They had just returned from touring a dyeing center, & were able to create designs and dye fabric. I'll post photos from them in the next post.

P.S. What are candy roasters?

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Candy roasters are a type of winter squash common in the south. Ours is a “Georgia” candy roaster

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PS, thank you for all the lovely comments this week! Especially with your being short-handed in the garden…and the crazy gardening pace of May takes no prisoners!

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Thanks, I'm sooo behind in reading my favorite writers! You're right, though...I read somewhere "It's not you; it's May." Which is so true.

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I thought it was the butler? 🤷‍♂️

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Ha! Likely so. In the pantry with a frying pan, no less.

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In May, one’s garden demands priority over everything else, right? Plus you have your bees to care for—I hope that’s going great!

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So true! The bees are doing great so far.

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I’m delighted the new bees are off to a great start—may they continue to flourish under your care!

I love your analogy about “slowly then all at once”…never more true than with May dandelions. I look at my garden full of the jaunty blossoms, and imagine the early bees foraging happily—then it seems like overnight…oh, noooo! It’s wall-to-wall dandelion seedheads, with their fluff blowing into my bare-soil veggies beds!

I always appreciate and get inspired by your pics! I’m a wee bit envious of your thriving raspberries…I had promised myself to get them going again in my garden, then didn’t follow through. But there *is* always next season 😊

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LOL, it is a very applicable phrase for dandelions!

I can't take credit for the raspberries. They were here when we moved in, and all we do is trim them back in the Spring.

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The apple blossoms are beautiful! And great shot of the bumble bee.

My garden is winding down for the summer. I've learned not to sow anything just to watch it struggle during the months of 110F and higher, but right now I have a couple of Early Girl tomatoes that are doing great and so is the kale and all the different peppers.

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Thank you! I'm hoping for apples this year after the tree produced none last year.

Wow, I don't think I could manage a garden in such oppressive heat. Happy for you that you have some delicious veggies going!

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The short 6 to 8 inch tall, Dutch white blooming clover is the ultimate pollinating food source.

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That's great! I did notice last year that it was a favorite with bees.

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May 17
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I help a professional beekeeper in the fall. I don’t know why iPhone dictation it’s such a conspiracy against me! 🤣🤷‍♂️🙈🙈🙈

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I've decided that auto-correct is a deliberate malicious tool to keep us all irritated.

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It’s a conspiracy! Turn on prediction with auto correct, talk about synergy!! 🤣

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I’m not professional I help a professional beekeeper with 1800 hives. I hate how iPhone dictation toss this word salad. As if I don’t make enough mistakes myself?

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That must be super interesting work!

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That's so interesting! Love how you have this vast amount of knowledge & drop your pearls of wisdom in the comments. 😎

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My “vast amount of knowledge” is nothing but a hint that my vagabond existence. I’m curious.

Please don’t take better than average observation skills and a photographic memory for “smart” ….

I’m a lot of things. I doubt that is one of them .😉

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You're humble but I remain unconvinced. All you've done is write a description of your particular intelligence.

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That’s a vicious rumor and please don’t be spreading it. I’m just a dumb Farmer. ;)

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