That’s all.  :)

is coming up beautifully! Delali will be one happy cat.

Made this over the weekend… my favorite!

I have garlic pushing through. Hooray!
I’ve read, however, that it will take a year for it to actually produce. A lesson in patience… courtesy of GARLIC!!

I set out MORE seeds today. I think I need a 12-step program for my garden fever.
Zucchini
White radish
Okra
Wheatgrass
Parsley
Aloe

The ones pictured are started using toilet paper tubes, an old cupcake liner cup, a vitamin bottle cut in half (used both halves!), and a salad container. Love giving these things dug out of the recycling bin a new life!

Awesome Goodwill haul yesterday… Sweet apothecary cabinet that I’m going to paint and store my essential oils in, Ben Seibel teacup, FANTASTIC pagoda-style double boiler, HUGE bag of wooden beads for a top secret project. Score!
(Click photo to see more fantastic thrift finds!)

Look…  This one has a scar across the side which, in my eyes, makes it just about perfect. Hearts in nature make my joyful heart very happy.

A potager garden is basically a utilitarian garden with things growing to be used in the kitchen but not at all lacking in pretty-ish features.

Although my garden has yet to be transplanted to the great outdoors, I do hope it will have many pretty-ish features.  As for being utilitarian, that it will definitely be!

I will be feasting on zipper cream peas, Christmas lima beans, Johnny Jump-Ups, bell pepper, ghost peppers, basil, parsley, dill, kale, gold and red beets, bok choy, chamomile, spinach mustard greens, chard, cucumbers, green onions, elephant garlic, mint and several varieties of tomatoes.  And, I still have hope for some other edible flowers that are taking their sweet time in budding up.

There are so many amazing things that come from gardening.  Firstly, it is just plain fun!  And it is so rewarding to go outside and pick what will be for dinner and know exactly what went into it’s production (in this garden… nothing but sunlight, good soil, heat and a bit of chamomile tea!) And, even more than that, it is such an amazing miracle to plant a seed in soil, do a few loving things for it and see it pop up and do precisely what it is meant to do in exactly the right time.  Such an amazing and perfect plan and such a privilege to witness!

Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden.  / saying by Robert Brault

(The top picture is not from my potager garden although… I do intend to craft a sign similar to that one.  :))

And I wonder why birds flock to my yard…
Someone, either of the human or bird variety, stole the last “nest helper” I had… woe to me. BUT! I got this wee apple basket today at a friend’s yard sale and cut out the basket bottom and wove the front and back with wire, making sure to press down all the pointy edges with pliers. Filled it with selvage fabric, dryer lint, cheesecloth scraps and hemp string and will hang it in the back yard with all my other bird utopia items.
Yes, friends, you can even repurpose dryer lint. Hooray!
P.S. Hang it close enough to another branch so the birds can perch while they make their nest material selections!

Easiest bird-feeder ever… requiring only THREE supplies:
Wooden chopstick
String
Half an apple
Spear apple with chopstick and tie string so the whole thing will hang evenly.
Voila! Hang on a high limb for birds to nibble away at! Nothing easier…
Psst… Chopsticks come in pairs and one apple will make TWO halves. Double the happy, well-fed birds!