beautiful growing things

i spent a large part of today in the garden, wandering around and staring at everything. it’s so meditative.

peas are elegant. that’s the word that always comes to mind when i study the way their vines curl.

this bee was very friendly. she hung out on the lilac bush for about 20 minutes putting up with my lens right in her face.

record bowls make excellent planters.

there was a huge hail storm today. thunder and wind and everything. i watched it pummel the garden and considered dashing out with some cardboard or towels, but i knew it would be over before i could rig protective contraptions. it didn’t damage anything except the poppy blooms.

i’ve caught and released over 40 spotted leopard garden slugs in the last week, some of them over 6” long. they’re adorable but they had to go. bastards munched every single one of my sunflower sprouts, and a few bean sprouts too. so every night i’ve been combing the yard with a flashlight and plucking them…at first i was collecting them all in a big plastic cup then releasing them in a grassy/weedy area down the street, but now i’m just tossing them over to the other side of the stream. very gently. it’s a nice soft grassy landing so i don’t feel too bad. and really, how many garden slugs get to experience flight?

this is minnidar, the new garden mascot. she was a graduation gift. hopefully she will be an effective scare-slug…or maybe she’s like the pied piper of slugs, leading them all away in the night with her flute. that must be it.