Indoor/Outdoor

So I spent today playing soccer and going through pictures so I thought it was time I updated everyone on the beautiful garden! I have tons of new pictures and even a video! Just a panned view of the garden, but here's my outdoor garden and Chris and Kelly's:

Those are my dahlias, and as of Thursday there are five of them! Next year I'm going to try ball dahlias. Those colors are just captivating if you ask me. And the Sunflowers, there's tons of them!!!

My happy little people, they are always asking me to show them flowers and here they are. I even managed to take those sunflowers that were finished and have begun to dry them.

Its a beautiful place that makes me reallly happy. Next time I'm there on Thursday I am thinking I will finish trimming in the backyard and update. I just love it so much. Next year the plan is tulips, hyacinths, and teddy bear sunflowers! God gave us so much, I thank him for that.

THIS! Is my home garden. I just finished grooming a basil and another has met its end. It had the trunk of a tree and was starting to lose all its leaves. There was no harvesting it, but it was so beautiful and brought joy to my home. It is good to have these things around me. Soon they will come indoors. The Lavender will be groomed back to the wood and brought inside next week, to be placed under the lamps that were gifted to me, as well as the baby basils that are beginning to grow. Growing season is almost over... for the outside!

They are growing so fast that I'm going to cry when they start to wilt.

This is the marigold this morning: and this is this afternoon!

The basil is producing flowers and is ready to harvest soon as well! And with that I say! adieu!

Buds and Blooms

This morning started with a tummy ache and thankfully it was solved by crushing some of my dried basil. Its smells filled the air so beautifully and wonderful that I was solved of my stomach ache and went outside to tend my plants between the football plays. Upon going out there, I did two things! First checked for my mantis, and to see if she's chosen her place to make an egg case (she's very good at hiding mind you), and then checked the plants for buds. I was pleased to find!

Emma's marigolds have produced buds and are ready to make flowers. These flowers started in a Vacation Bible School in Sycamore, where they were teaching the kids what plants grow in. If they could plant in sand, dirt, or rocks. Very interesting. Anyway they planted several plants inside paper cups, marigolds, basil, and carrots, as well as pole bean in a plastic bottle. The bean didn't come up, but everything else did and the marigolds are ready to sprout after 2 and a half months. Exciting!

Also after some thinking about it, I let one of my basil plants make its flowers so that I can harvest it again next year and make a bushier plant by only harvesting from the plants that are bushy. They look very nice and smells better. I have a full jar of dry basil now. I am flattening a branch it as well between the pages of my heaviest book. I would love to make some shampoo however. That would be really nice. I just really love basil. I used the microwave to make them as crispy as I could. First time using that method!

On top of that! Our strawberry plants are getting much heartier and I'm glad to say their stems are very strong now! They look extremely good. I'm very proud of them.

More Mantis!

okay so I was reading about the manits, and apparently the bigger ones are females and the smaller ones are males so what we thought was Mr. Matis is in fact a lady, and she has grown huge as you can see from last nights post, BUT! A new matis has arrived on scene. A Mr. Mantis! And he is much smaller than her and brown colored. Very cool. He's on the window hehehee. I wonder how they get another mantis from miles away to notice them?

Mr. Mantis has Returned!

He's back guys! And he's a full inch bigger than he was. I'm really happy to see him here and clamoring about to eat the incests on the plants. *waves* Hi Mr. Mantis!!!