#zone 6

[mansorus]

[lizzy-bonnet]

I'm very proud of my little pollinator garden which I've built up over the years mostly from free plants my neighbours were digging up or splitting (and once liberating some seed heads from a flower bed at work). The last two summers especially, it has been visited by an increasingly diverse population: little busy honey bees and fat doofy bumblers and so many different butterflies like this exquisite swallowtail.

I think it's a black swallowtail? Not very good at identification. I've also seen spicebush swallowtail, a red spotted purple and so many monarchs.

Our summers are very dry so most of my garden is drought tolerant native plants, but this lavender was here when we moved in. It was in a very shady spot, all choked with invasive vines but since moving to the sun it has thrived. The bees love it and it pairs beautifully with my masses of pink echinacea (which self seeds with abandon).

I think of my little garden as symbolic in my life. I have been in many places where I have struggled to thrive, because of a bad environment. But with the right amount of sun and water, and with a little care and help, I do pretty well. I get enormous satisfaction from my garden which thanks to neighbourhood generosity and my own time and effort, blooms and grows. I hope when people walk by, it gives them a little joy too.

[bambuita]

Our silkies balancing act 🫣

11/9/22

[lady-book-trash]

[Bearded Iris in bloom]

[inappropriate-aunt]

More Gardening Tips!!

Water your seeds when you plant them so they start germinating immediately! Alternatively, forget to water them and say you'll do it later, then it will eventually rain and technically you will have watered them.

Forget to clear the leaves out of your beds in the fall. Then when spring comes around, they will prevent weeds from growing. Ideally you would have chopped up the leaves and put them back in the beds to decompose faster, but come on now. We know how this goes.

People will say seeds are only viable for a few years, but you can actually just keep planting seeds from five, ten, even fifteen years ago and honestly they'll usually sprout. Seeds are kinda built like that. As long as you didn't get them moldy you're fine. Don't throw out a decent packet of seeds without at least testing to see if any germinate! You can sprinkle some on a wet paper towel and put it in a baggie to see how many germinate and then you have a germination rate so you can plant accordingly. Let's say you do that and half of them sprout. Now you know to sow twice as many wherever you're planting them.

Don't buy miraclegro. It's garbage. Don't buy soil laced with it either.

If you can't grow in the dirt or make your own compost or you need bagged soil for some other reason (no judgement, I use it plenty in addition to other methods), get something that has all the dead, rotting matter listed on the side. It'll be like chicken poop and shells and moss and some lightweight rocks like vermiculite and it'll be great. Probably has some woods chips in it but you'll be good.

Write down what you planted because it's not what you planned originally.

[ullbors]

just been playing around with some graphic styles that i think would be interested for like some promo material for zone 6 (visual novel game im trying to finish)

[resonanteye]

olive trees over winter at 42F

[invoke-parlay]

Literally love these little reminders! I just sowed this last batch of seeds today! I’m realllly hoping I’ll at least get a good bit of lettuce and kale before the frost, I also already have some 2 week old lettuce so I’ll at least get a couple heads 🤞🏼

September 27, 2023

[lauramariescorner]

[mansorus]

Future - LANVIN - creative Director

[afroeurobillionaire]

[bambuita]

Hooked up to a heart ♥️ monitor since Friday for the next 3 weeks… harvested couple days ago… chopped with onions…roasted…vacuumed sealed … and into our new upright freezer they went for 34 future meals. We already had a couple of nights that dropped to the 30’s but I sure covered my hot peppers to pick sometime tomorrow 😆 & I did mail a box of them to my parents.

Peppers: ajvarski, criolla de cocina, pepperoncini, poblano and bell

10/12/22

[lady-book-trash]

[Wild Grass Lily; Ornithogalum umbellatum]

[inappropriate-aunt]

Some things I picked from my garden today. The peaches aren't totally ripe yet but I wanted to grab a few before the storm hit and knocked a bunch down. I'm hopeful that they'll ripen on the counter maybe.

[deus-meus]