The Pool Is Open

It seems we've had endless sunny days.
And as a result, the gardens are spectacular.
Please understand that I am not attributing any of the garden splendor
to myself, because, honestly, most of the flower gardens are on 
auto-pilot.


And some are thriving from down-right neglect!


The only gardens for which I take full credit is the shed garden


(because it's new and I putter around in it daily)


and the vegetable garden.
And though it looks beautiful, there are a couple items that have 
disappointed me.


I planted my broccoli early this year, but with the extreme low
temperatures that we had, it took it's good old time in growing.
Now that it is really hot outside, it is finally growing.
The thing is... broccoli harvested in this heat tends to be bitter.


And much of it bolts before it has even formed nice heads.
Note to self: no more broccoli, in light of the current local climate.

The tomatoes and peppers, on the other hand, are going crazy and
there are green babies hanging on most of the plants.
The amazing thing about these is... they all wilted and looked completely dead
after the couple killing frosts we had late in May.
They bounced right back, however.
Of course, they love the heat!

What has been a huge success are the flowers that I started from seed.
Hours of putting tiny seeds into pots of soil,
followed by weeks of watering,
keeping the greenhouse warm at night,
and then transplanting...
have finally paid off.

Globe amaranth for drying...


Hopi Red Amaranth for drying....


Zinnias... well, just because!


And these beautiful pink and white zinnias...💗


With the hot afternoons we've had of late,
the pigs have been coming in from the pasture 


to cool off in their pool.


MaryAnn crawls in 


and then flops over onto her side.


She rests for a few moments, cooling off, then continues
out the other side finishing her swim with a long butt rub
on the side of the pool.  

Meanwhile, Ginger dumps one of the water dishes and makes herself a 
cool puddle.
It's a little crowded in the pool for two pigs!


Ahhhhh.... life is good!

Comments

colleen said…
The pink and white Zinnia is my fav. MaryAnn sure knows how to take full advantage of the pool.
Anonymous said…
So you start your zinnia in pots not direct sow? Maybe that is my problem!!!
Bee Haven Bev said…
Yes, I start my zinnias in February. I fear our growing season is too short otherwise..
Jody in Georgia said…
Beautiful post. I do so enjoy meandering around the farm with you. It surely brightens my day. Thanks so much for sharing your blessings with us as it becomes a blessing to us, too.
jaz@octoberfarm said…
i planted my zinnias and marigilds outside from seed since i strted nothng inside this year. they are doing wonderfully which makes me think i will do this in the future. we are getting very little rain and it sems that all i do is water. your garden makes me swoon!
You need TWO pig pools, one for each girl!
This N That said…
Maryann wins! Ginger needs a pool too! Pretty flowers.