Back to Blackberry Homestead Days

November 2, 2025 On October 24 (Friday), I stopped to look at the red pineapple. I noticed some damage to one of purple basil plants. There was a minor windstorm the night before. The Japanese mustard, radishes, and garlic looked good. I need to mulch the garlic. Some sweet potato vines are still growing under […]

Visiting the Huntsville Botanical Garden

October 31, 2025 Happy Halloween! On Thursday (October 23), Bruce and I had a meeting in Huntsville, AL. After our meeting, we visited the Huntsville Botanical Garden. When we lived in the Huntsville area, over 30 years ago, the gardens had just started. They had big plans. It is thrilling to see how those plans […]

Planting Flower Bulbs

October 29, 2025 On October 22 (Wednesday), Bruce and I were sitting in the living room reading. Nox slept beside me on the sheepskin rug. She woke up and came over to me. On the way down to the mailbox, I admired the neighbor’s pumpkin patch. While I can clearly see the orange pumpkins in […]

Lunch with Friends

October 29, 2025 On October 21 (Tuesday), I went out and looked at the garden. It was nice to see how the sprouts were growing. We walked Nox and let her wander around the yard doing Nox things. We headed to Rogerville, AL about 25 minutes away to have lunch with Jenny and Tim. I […]

Harvesting Basil

October 24, 2025 On October 16 (Thursday), I had to take Nox out at 4:43 AM. I was able to get this picture of the night sky. During the day, we walked down to the mailbox and discovered the creek had dried up. I continue to be fascinated by my red pineapple. The bees were […]

Next Door Pumpkin Patch

October 20, 2025 October 13 (Monday): I’ve enjoyed seeing our next door neighbor’s pumpkin patch. It makes me think of the Halloween Charlie Brown special. Bruce moved the birdbath to the middle of the small flower garden when he mowed. He put it right where I said I wanted it. October 14 (Tuesday), we decided […]

Sunrise to Sunset

October 16, 2025 On Friday (October 10), Nox got me up at sunrise, 7:00 am. Nox needed to go outside to pee. While Nox wandered around off the patio, I watched the beautiful sunrise through the pine trees. After Nox finished her stops, she trotted back to me, ready to go inside. Once inside, she […]

Planting Garlic, Greens, and Radishes Before the Rain

October 13, 2035 On Monday (October 6), I took a few pictures of the red pineapple. For breakfast, I made baklava muffins. These were so good; I’ll share the recipe in a different post. In the short garden beds, A1 and A2, I turned in the dirt and compost Bruce put on the beds with […]

Digging Up Daffodils to Move into the Large Flower Garden

October 9, 2025 On Sunday (October 5), Bruce pulled the chipper into the back pasture, next to the branch pile to be chipped. While Bruce feed branches into the chipper, I dug up flagged daffodil bulbs. I had flagged the daffodils when they bloomed in the spring. For protection when chipping, Bruce wears his hard […]

Setting Out the Stepping Stones in the Large Flower Garden

October 3, 2025 Yesterday (Thursday, October 2), I set the stepping stones in place. We had bought nine stepping stones at Lowe’s. I had wanted ten, but the last two stones at Lowe’s looked bad, so I went with nine instead of ten. To put a stepping stone in place, I pushed back the mulch, […]