I wanted to show you a picture of lavender that was past picking time. See below that the buds have opened up to a beautiful tiny flower? This lavender is actually past its prime for picking. When this dries the flowers that have opened will turn brown. | In this picture you can see that the buds on this lavender have not opened but they are full and ready to open. This is the appropriate time to pick lavender. The lavender will maintain the best smell and will last almost as beautifully as if it were freshly picked. |
When I finished there I went into the vegetable garden and hand weeded the carrots and parsnips. Hubby had tilled and hoed until indeed, it looked fabulous. He and I are having a hard time adjusting to how we had to plant this year. We are creatures of habit and we always plant early, everything at the same time, harvest it all and then till the garden under and get it prepared for the Winter. This year, because of the rain and the animals we have our garden out in what feels like "pieces". We will have early corn and late corn, early and late beans, which is normal for most gardeners. I suppose it’s just a matter of adjusting our minds to the new look. It will probably serve us better in the long run - we’re just those kind of people that like to "get ‘er done" and then not worry about it any more. This will be different.
I got my very first green peas EVER!! We’ve never grown peas and I’m not too sure we will plant them again. I guess we just don’t do peas very well. It must take row after row after row for people to get enough peas to actually eat!! It was a delight to open up the peas and shell them out. I have 9 little peas!! I froze those babies. I’m not wasting a one of them. (Hubby just rolled his eyes and grinned.) I’ve got more to come on and at this point, if I can just get 2 good servings I’ll be happy.
I’ve some really, really great news. For the last couple years the honey bees have pretty much been missing from our place. This year we have honey bees. I was so happy to see them back!! The first few years we lived here they reigned as kings and queens in my lavender but then all of a sudden - no bees. We haven’t had any here, in any number, for 3 or 4 years now so it’s good to see them humming around busily.
The coolest thing happened yesterday morning. We were sitting out on the deck and a baby deer, what looked to be a brand new fawn, (spots and all) still a little wobbly, ran into our garden and walked out into our yard and across our cement driveway. It seemed to be all alone because no larger deer was in sight at all. I’d never seen a wild one that young and never out and about by itself. It was a beautiful sight. I sure hope it makes it.