Surrounded by Sunflowers & Sunshine @ Magic Touch & Her Gardens

Good Morning.

Wanted to share my wonderful Sunday Morning with you…

Coffee & Computer, to outside surrounded by

Sunflowers and Sunshine!

First up, Smile. Posted for Sunday Squawk over @ Our Fairfield Home & Garden on Facebook. Love Sunday Squawk! Thank you Barb Rosen for all you do!

I am just now getting to enjoy a bowl full of Cherries…Thank you Barb and Denise.

I am ready! I hope you enjoy my post!

Surrounded by Sunflowers & Sunshine

A much needed respite. I decided to work outside this morning. I had not even realized I hadn’t been enjoying my Garden. Last night reminded me how wonderful it is. My never ending list of stuff to do has kept me away from my patio.

The Barefoot Garden being one of them…I have completed the Garden, waiting for the Tomatoes to come in. Other than keeping up with watering,  I have made it pretty much maintenance free…Check out my easy to follow posts over @ The Barefoot Garden and follow us on Facebook to get current updates.

The long shot of the Yellow Honeysuckle. Last night while I was enjoying my dinner from Forno Antico one of our newest places in town, wonderful food, BTW, and wonderful people! I was reminded of what was right outside waiting for me to enjoy. Hummingbirds. A highlight in any Garden. Although the prize goes to Nancy over @ My Small Garden Paradise. Check out her Hummingbird tree pictured here at night… She even posts videos!

This is my practice shot. Camera is ready. Now to capture a Hummingbird, in photograph form, my first one! While we are waiting for a Hummingbird let’s look around…

To my right I have a Smokebush just starting to show its true color. Salmon…

The window box has Red Petunias this year. Although I have plenty of flowers I put up the feeder. It is time to empty it for the summer. I will put it back up come Fall when the flowers start to fade.

Through the Looking Glass….if only we could see what is around the corner.

And here we have the weeds. I placed that bucket there when I should have pulled them. They would have fit in the bucket at the time. Now they are so tall I will need a Wheelbarrow  to get them out to the Compost bin. At least they provide shelter for the critters. Behind that bucket is the turtle pond. Sad to say I lost the turtles to the horrible Winter ! Along with my hybrid Columbine. I have many plants starting at square one. Among them are Beauty Berries, Butterfly Bushes, the Smokebush out front, and my Fig

Here is my Tin-man. A little rusty. He hangs over a much neglected area in the Garden which is slated to become an even better Host Garden for Black Swallowtails. I love Raising Butterflies!

Here is the link to my post on Fennel. DIY to grow your own butterflies.

I am almost out of cherries.

Last of the Garden…Love my Purple Smokebush!

And this has made it worth it!! My first shots of Hummingbirds for the season. I am so glad I had letters to write. It got me outside sitting down!

and…

Not too bad…I got to enjoy the fruits of my labor…I hope you did too…

Next up?A Detox Bath…

And then…

Two baby Quilts to finish…I am right on schedule!

Have a wonderful day!

Watching The Barefoot Garden Grow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Update* The Barefoot Garden

As May ended and June jumped in, The Barefoot Garden is proving to be a success, with a few exceptions.

The Barefoot Garden: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly…

The outside of the Garden is ready to Grow…

Check out the Gate: DIY Garden Gate , The Barefoot Garden How to turn an old door into a gate.

The outside edge of The Barefoot Garden is done. Cardboard and a thick mat of Newspaper were used to cover the sod. I then layered straw on top. It creates a buffer for the Garden.

Need more planting space? Here are a few things we did @ The Barefoot Garden.

Container Gardening at its finest…wait until you see what I did with

A Bathtub,  A Wagon & Buckets….Container Gardening, Barefoot Style

The Straw Bales are sprouting: Straw Bale Gardening, Barefoot Style 

Potato Towers are doing well: Potato Tower @ The Barefoot Garden

Things are starting to Bloom

The Tomatoes are starting to flower

Borage, an Herb beneficial to Bees…

Nasturtium is Blooming. Wouldn’t that look pretty in your salad bowl?

Zucchini is doing well

Lots of Blueberries…Hopefully we will get them before the birds do…

And now for the not so good….

I planted 7 rows of Peas. I placed them at the foot of the beds against the fence. Well this is the only one intact. Some little critter got them.

I am planting Marigolds along the edge to deter them. Mint would work better, but it is way to invasive to plant in a veggie garden. Next year the marigolds will be planted sooner.

Next up we have the Cabbage Patch @ The Barefoot Garden

Along with all of the veggies in the cabbage family comes Cabbage Whites.

One day while working in the Garden, I watched a Cabbage White. It flew over The Cabbage Patch.

*Cabbage White are the only Butterfly considered a pest.

Let me show you why…

 This is what they do. They lay their eggs on anything in the Cabbage Family. The eggs hatch, and the caterpillars eat your cabbage! I pulled off the ones I could find, fed them to the birds, and they dusted with Diatomaceous Earth.

I planted Onions, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme. Apparently they don’t work as well as you are led to believe…

One of the Broccoli plants bolted…maybe I should collect seeds and try again in August.

Last but not least…

This is the Eggplant. Not much hope here.

The Barefoot Garden: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly…

Container Gardening, Barefoot Style

Container Gardening at its finest…wait until you see what I did with

A Bathtub,  A Wagon & Buckets….

The original plan for  The Barefoot Garden allowed for containers. The 36″ pot became…

A 4′ long Clawfoot tub…planted with Carrots & Radishes…

The 12″ pots became…

Tomatoes in Containers

Check out Potting & Planting Tomatoes, Barefoot Style

The Potato Towers were in the plan as well.

Another Container: Barefoot Style, The Potato Towers

And look how they have grown. Click here:  Potato Towers @ The Barefoot Garden

Before long The Barefoot Garden over-flow-ith…We ran out of room…So…

We added Straw Bales to the garden. The Beets & Potatoes are sprouting…

Check out how I did them: Straw Bale Gardening, Barefoot Style

Another solution

A “raised” garden bed, Beets, Lettuce, as well as Red, White, & Black Radishes…can’t wait to see them!

I also added a pot of Chives…

And what to do with Sunflowers in the walkway?

First I planted them in a box

Sunflowers in a box. A great transition until you are ready to plant. Containers can be just about anything.

What to do with too many Sunflowers? Put them in a Galvanized Bucket…

And there you have it! Container Gardening, Barefoot Style.

Bathtubs, Wagons & Buckets….

 

DIY Garden Gate, The Barefoot Garden

Turning an old door into a DIY Garden Gate at The Barefoot Garden

 

 

First you would need an old door…Cut to height

No more moving a bale of peat to enter The Barefoot Garden

Help is here…Say Hi to Stephen…

Had to run to Delphi Supply to pick up hardware…

Strap Hinges (which we opted not to use these), Stainless Steel Screws, and a Latch

First we needed to adjust the opening. We achieved this by adding a 2X4 to the hinge side post.

We used scrap wood to lift the gate from the ground, and used pickets to ensure spacing while attaching the hinges.

While digging for screws I came across these antique hinges in the shed…We opted to use them instead…Fitting. They are probably as old as the door…

We then attached the latch.

The Gate is hung…

Thank you Stephen. Job well done!

And these are my Boys…

They stood at the gate and barked while we were installing the Garden Gate in  The Barefoot Garden…

They are so lucky they are cute…