Monday, October 10, 2011

Thanksgiving weekend...what a beautiful thing

Yesterday my whole family descended on my Mom and Dad's house for a lovely turkey dinner. There was laughter, toasting, stories, and general turkey fatigue. Today, my husband gifted me some of his time. We pounded 8' long 3/4" pieces of rebar two feet into the ground to stake up the two dwarf apples. Then he dug the holes for planting. All the while it was pouring rain. I had the gruelling task of pouring the compost into the holes and tamping them in. I was super careful to get the soil level of the potted plant flush with the new soil level.
Murphy's law...the sun came out just as we were finishing up.
Two newly planted dwarf apples.
Now for your viewing pleasure, a pictorial essay of what is going on in my yard this fine Thanksgiving weekend. Enjoy.
One of my sister's strawberries. I thought this one was a goner. I was wrong.

The newly opened sunflower. This is the same one that blew
over in the wind storm a couple weeks back. I measured it
today and it's eight feet tall!

Ripening in the garden. Tomato Lemon Boy.
Cinderella Pumpkin. About ten inches across.
Compost bin. We've been busy.
Japanese maple.
Behind my herb border is this old variegated holly. I planted this when I was in
my 20's. So that makes the holly about 30 years old. I needed to include this
today...I think I can feel winter in the air.

18 comments:

NHGarden said...

The sunflower seems to have recovered - standing so straight and looks so healthy! Love that variegated holly :)

Anonymous said...

beautiful photos erin!happy thanksgiving, Edie

Erin said...

Thank you Edie. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Kim.

Hi NH. Doesn't the sunflower look great. It's hard to believe it toppled right over. Tough plant. I'm glad that you like the holly. I also have a huge solid green. I'll take a picture as we approach...you know...Christmas. My favorite time of year. My son's name is Noel. Nuff said?

Cathy and Steve said...

Everything looks lovely! Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrate a similar holiday at the end of November... would love to hear more about your customs and traditions!

Erin said...

Hi Cathy and Steve...thank you. Traditionally in Canada family get together and have a lovely turkey or ham dinner. It is a time to reflect and give thanks. It coincides with harvest time so people decorate with the harvest. Corn, gourds, pumpkins etc. I am thinking that it is the same for you? I do know that you have the Macy's parade and we do NOT have that. My sister and I watch it on TV every year.

catharine Howard said...

Good harvesting prospects here Erin

HolleyGarden said...

Wow - amazing that holly is 30 years old. I love hollies and their cheerful berries. Your pumpkin is wonderful and the maple foliage is brilliant! Looks like autumn! I laughed at your "murphy's law" - yep, that'd be about right!

Erin said...

My other holly is actually even older. I also have huge cedar hedges, also about thirty years old that the neighbor planted, and I have snowberries. It all makes for wonderful Christmas bouquets and wreaths.

Marguerite said...

8 feet tall! well done. Our sunflowers have slowly slipped more and more to a horizontal level with each wind storm. What was supposed to be a gigantic flower is now only knee height. :)

Chad B said...

Happy belated Thanksgiving, Erin!

Erin said...

Hi Marguerite. I propped mine back up and used a six foot stake. It worked.
Thanks Chad!!

Anonymous said...

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. It looks like your garden did well for the occasion.

Jane and Chris said...

Hi Erin! Lovely to meet you too! I'm excited to find your blogs..which one is best to follow to get all your updates and news?
I hope you find lots of things on the blog...its' a real mish mash...but that's pretty much my life!
Jane x
PS Love your store!

Gardeningbren said...

I missed this post with all the Thanksgiving going on.. Your sunflower has made a magnificent recovery and I wish the very best for your two dwarf trees.

Happy belated Gift of thanks.

debsgarden said...

Hope you had a great holiday! There is nothing to compare to the touch and smell of the earth, to experience the power of creation, to watch a plant grow, and to taste its fruit!

Erin said...

Hi Jane..well thank you. I definitely post most in this, the gardening blog. That may change over the winter. I'm not sure though. I'm a new gardener, so maybe I'll find more to do than I think. The store really is my other passion. I don't know how many cards we have, a couple thousand maybe...good question, I'll have to count tomorrow...and I personally read and select every one. There is no grand plan, I look at it, do I love it, would I buy it...if yes...then it's in!!
I'll have to go in and see if you posted today!!

Erin said...

Hi Brenda. Doesn't it just look great. It's my first ever sunflower so I'm really excited about it!!! It was so fun planting those teeny little trees with the HUGE long rebar. I'm not sure if it's a cordon or not when it will be straight instead of leaning, but I'm going to prune them sort of like a Christmas tree shape.
I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving.

Erin said...

I could not have said it better myself deb. There is nothing like earth. Damp, dark beautiful earth. For the first time in my life...I LOVE dirty fingernails.