Every Day I Am…

If you spend a lot of time nurturing and tending your garden, you will understand what I mean when I say… every day I am shoveling, trellising, pruning, fertilizing, watering, transplanting, etc. You kindred gardening spirits will get it when I say I love it!

Grab your favorite beverage and follow me as I go through my day! I promise it will be informative, though tiring!  God knows I am tuckered out afterwards and we all are getting older by the minute!

Strawberries, oh, so sweet fresh from the patch… are you with me?

5 AM -ish. Alarm! I mean, rooster! George is already crowing, telling me to get up.

I stumble out of bed, into the kitchen, make coffee, and check in with Facebook!

I give all my peeps good wishes and catch up on my notifications.

Oh, wait… first, I ate breakfast, (quinoa,) and drank  more coffee! (Great start, great day!)

I spend the next few hours doing the above… shoveling, planting, watering, mulching, etc.

English: Quinua (Quinoa) plants near Cachora, Apurímac, Peru. Altitude: 3800m Deutsch: Quinua-Pflanzen (Quinoa) in der Nähe von Cachora, Apurímac, Peru. 3800m.ü.M. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fast forward. About one o’clock  the smarter half of my brain said, “Eat! Woman!” (Notice the punctuation!) I decided I should (eat), so I stopped long enough to make (and eat) a sandwich.

Sit + eat + surf web = me

Last year on Pinterest I pinned this site and I discovered this wonderfully versatile, high protein, low starch; eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner; food spelled quinoa, (pronounced keen-wah)… which I love. This is my best food find of the year or maybe a lifetime!  It’s almost as good as chocolate. You should try this!

No, I am not affiliated with the quinoa industry. I checked the web for info on growing this seed, and put together a Quinoa board on Pinterest! Lots of good links here!

By the way, quinoa is great in a meatloaf sandwich! Paula, did you know you were eating quinoa in that sandwich? 🙂

I did plant seed! They are already about two inches tall! If you’re interested in locating the seed, leave a comment below!

Needing to watch blood sugar levels, I limit my sugar intake. I have heard about the stevia plant for several years and want to learn more.

Still at the laptop, I searched for stevia. I am growing this plant, too!

I realize there is a controversy about this, same as with saccharin back in the day. I am learning more about stevia!  Supposedly it is sweeter than sugar, but doesn’t affect your blood sugar. I’m thinking, oh yes, sweet tea for me again!

I learned this tidbit about growing the plant. Pinch the top leaves off so the plant will spread. Lots of other species of plants will bush out if pruned this way, too.

Outside again, I prune stevia and pineapple sage. (And then I dug, watered, planted, fertilized some more – you know!)

I filled and started the dehydrator! It’s great for drying stevia and pineapple sage for later use. It’s doing that for me as I work. I love multitasking!

Now the next time I harvest these two plants, I plan to make jelly! I pinned this yummy sounding recipe for Pineapple Sage Jelly from the Herb Companion. Can’t wait to try it! I did make  four jars of strawberry orange marmalade yesterday, yum!

Outside, it  looks like grasshoppers are having a feast on my Mirandy rose-bush. Back to the computer for pest control info.

My Pinterest board on Pest Resistant links

Tiny Farm and Garden has a great post today about controlling garden pests the natural way!

My chicks loved the stinking hoppers. I think they were singing Party Hopping In The Yard Tonight as they were shuffling!

Hey, Fern! Grasshoppers! Come on! It’s a line dance… shuffle, shuffle!

Rose, Dorothy, and Blanche all tuckered, too, after eating all those hoppers!

The evening sun is sinking low, my blessings are calling… and it’s time to raid the garden for stir fry!

God bless you, have a great day, I’m glad you stopped by!

Evie 🙂

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What’s Blooming in Evie’s Gardens!

My children are the special flowers in my garden of life.

The first time I experienced seeing and inhaling this beautiful, fragrant rose I was five months pregnant with my daughter.

I immediately knew what I would name her.

Fast forward to today! I always have called her my rose and she has blossomed into a beautiful flower!  She spends quality time with her children, holds down a demanding job, and still makes the effort to do for others.

Yesterday my daughter, Mirandy was awarded “Volunteer Of The Year” at her children’s school. Not only was she the President of the Home and School Association, she also, as many of you know… has just fought a battle with cancer and won.

This Momma is proud of her blossoms and  loves the pretty flowers growing in her gardens, too.

Here’s what’s happening in the gardens today!

Right now Evie’s Gardens is bursting with spring colors from the vibrant red of the Mirandy rose to the bright yellows of the water iris.

The geraniums fill their space with bright orange petals while lavender brings fragrance and a splash of color.

Irises of many colors bloom painting the gardens with beauty only God can offer!

I love finding unique ways to grow things. (And I recycle!) These are the insides of a couple of old stoves that do not meet safety requirements, although the plants don’t care. Sedum does well in bricks and the Dianthus adds a brilliant pop of color!

I prefer my farm TV to any show on the tube! Between pets, chickens, goldfish, and wildlife, it is quite entertaining!

Some of my favorite chicks!

It’s a chick flick starring Rose, Dorothy, Blanche, Fern, Fannie, and Flo!  These chicks are happy because I built them a chicken run today!

Strawberries, tomatoes, onions, cukes, squash, peppers, okra, lettuce, and sweet potatoes all grow happy with herbs inter-planted! Hope my Stevia does well. More on that later! Excuse the water hose, it’s a work in progress!

Don’t forget to mulch… it’s getting hot and dry time!

Follow us on Pinterest and join us on Facebook! Thanks for stopping by. Visit again, and watch our gardens grow! Have a blessed day!  Evie

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Water Features in the Garden!

My daughter’s Mirandy’s last chemo session was yesterday. Three days from now I will be flying back to Oklahoma… to my little homestead in the trailer-hood where it is time to begin working in the endless gardens. Maybe some day we will have time to fish at nearby Lake Eufaula!

Every season has its end and thank God… the dreary season of cancer is behind us, and spring is springing! So are the weeds in Evie’s Gardens!

I am impatient to get my hands dirty, and excited to see how things have evolved since I have been away for over four months. And thinking that thought, I wondered how much my fish in my water garden have grown.

No, this one isn’t mine, although that would be nice. This beautiful Koi pond belongs to The Water Garden, located in  Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Water Garden's Koi Pond

While we do have plans to build a pond,  for now I enjoy my fauna in a smaller, more humble body of water. Okay, it’s a stock tank!

Living in the country I tend to have critters to deal with in all my gardens. I always worry about wild animals like raccoons having my fish for dinner. I go to certain lengths to protect them, like using netting in the following picture.

Adding a water feature is easy to do, and makes for many enjoyable hours of  entertainment!  You can use a number of things to make your water garden unique such as this:

Old Water Pump Makes Great Addition to Yard!

A small container of  plants or a bubbling water fountain can bring a conversational focal point to your yard. It’s fascinating to watch fish play in your water garden while aquatic plants are fun to grow. Here are some plants to grow in the shade  in your water garden.

Here’s one that you can plant without a water garden! Although you can make a great glass of mint tea with it!

The crew at The Water Garden has lots of great information and products to help you with your aquatic plant care needs. They will even tell you how to plant and divide them! Check out their website out for products, plans, and advice for your water gardens!

For those of you who know me, you know, I like to eat! Many aquatic plants are used by humans as a food source. Here are some edibles that you might want to grow for your own consumption.  

• Wild rice
• Chinese water chestnut
• Indian Lotus
• Water spinach
• Watercress
• Bulrush, reedmace, or cattail
• Water-pepper
• Wasabi

More on this later. Until then, check out Wikipedia for a large list of edibles that grow in water!

Water features entrance young and old alike. You can begin by simply adding a container with water plants such as these!

It’s amazing to see plants happily thriving in water, when it is so easy to over water your indoor plants. If you are on a tight budget, start small, and build your water garden slowly. Even a small one is fun, and one day, who knows, maybe yours will be the best of all!

More on water gardens later. For now, I am going to enjoy some precious time with my favorite flower in my life’s garden, my rose, Mirandy before I fly away!

Of course, take precautions with children around water, and never leave a child unattended!

Thanks to The Water Garden, Lowe’s, and the Public Domain for sharing such great information and pictures with us!

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Mint

When Jennifer was referred to me as to the person to go to about the herbs she wanted to grow, first, I told I would re-pin some pins from my boards.

Then, I thought I should write my post about it, and share it with more of you.

So here goes.

The first herb I want to share is Mentha, also known as mint. There are many types of mint from apple to wooly,  probably  a lot more that I don’t know about. It smells good, it is wonderful to cook with, and it’s good for your health!

Mint is very easily rooted, just top it off leaving about four leaves and a couple of leaf joints below that intact. Stick it in the ground, making sure the bottom leaf joints are buried. Keep moist and it will root. It will also root if you pull up a stem, strip most of the leaves and bury it sideways, shallow. Actually it can be very invasive, so be careful!

Personally, I love it as a ground cover, and I don’t care if it spreads. In fact, on any given day, you might see me tucking some in the ground, spreading that joy around!

Mint thrives in partially shaded, moist soil, but also does well in the sun.

If you don’t want it to spread, bury a twelve inch deep barrier of some sort in the ground between your plants and where you don’t want it to grow. Mint makes a great container plant.

I love to brush across it and spill the fragrance. I am particularly fond of chocolate, lemon, and pineapple mints. What am I saying? I love them all. Spearmint, peppermint, the works.

Basil is even related to the mint family, and just as easy to grow.

Most prefer using mint leaves fresh, but you can dry them also for teas, potpourri, and other uses.

I harvest mine by cutting the tops off with a pair of scissors when it gets taller than I want it. This makes it bushier and it seems to spread faster! Some say harvest twice a year, some say harvest throughout. I do it when it is convenient for me.

Grab sicssors and cut a handful of peppermint with stems and leaves. Bunch together and turn  the bundle upside down. Secure with a rubber band, or whatever you use. (I use clean pantyhose cut in one half inch circles from the legs of the pantyhose.)

Hang upside down to dry in a dry place. It doesn’t really matter where. Dry them over your kitchen sink, in the window, in the pantry… just so it’s a dry place. When  completely dry, store in a airtight container.

Here again, frugal me… I recycle Folger’s coffee cans.

Mint is repellent to many pesky insects. I keep it in my cupboards to repel mice. Some say ants don’t like it. On my DIY board there is instructions for making your own insect repellent using peppermint essential oil.

Here is a link for making your own essential oil with herbs. Sounds fun. Maybe when I get back home I will attempt this.

I do enjoy cooking with peppermint oil, and always have some drying for uses around the house. I love peppermint tea.

Come on over, I will make you a cuppa! I’ll even make you a peanut butter sandwich!

Wikipedia has quite a lot  about mint, so instead of repeating what they say I will link you in!

If you have any good tidbits about mint, please share in the comments.

So what do YOU want to know about next?

God bless you and have a great day!

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Hi, It’s Just Me!

For those of you on Pinterest… just thought I would introduce myself and share a  few flowers in Evie’s Gardens! For those of you who read my blog… I  am back!

If you follow me on Pinterest, and wonder who I am and why I pin such diverse objects, let me introduce myself.  I’m Evelyn aka Evie. Passionate about life in general, I wear many hats. A gardener and crafter at heart, I incorporate both.

My yard and greenhouse are usually full of handmade, recycled, DIY objects. My many family members and my friends are the perks in my life. I enjoy making peanut butter sandwiches… aka… random acts of kindness.

I started this blog last year, then my computer crashed. My daughter was diagnosed with lymphoma and my husband was diagnosed with skin cancer. So… the blog was put on hold.

Unfortunately all of my Evie’s Gardens files were lost when my computer crashed. So I must start over. 😦

Computer is fixed. Life goes on. (Still haven’t retrieved all my files, but we are working on that.)

My news years resolution was to embrace the life God has given me, to live it, love it, and laugh and enjoy it and definitely be thankful for it!

No worrying about what ifs, no dwelling on why I didn’t. To do what I am led, no questions asked!

This is  my granddaughter Ashley. I have challenged her to eat healthier.

We’re working on this! Click on the picture and see what Doctor Oz says about healthy foods!

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We are making healthy choices this year!

When cancer strikes your family you question your mortality. We have a challenge to eat healthier! We are doing this daily in the choices we make!

Let's get healthy!

If my grandson Cooper can hoola hoop, I can, too!

My daughter Mirandy received the results for her pet scan. Halfway through chemo, the cancer has shrunk in half! Yeah, I’m praising the Lord!

Team Mandy

 This is my daughter Mirandy (front row – center), her family, my son and his family, and me!

This guy on the right is my husband. At this time I am staying with my daughter in IL while he remains at home in OK.

We are just a small part of Team Mandy. There are so many who support her through this battle in her life. We had t-shirts made as a gesture to show her we care, and they are proudly worn in Illinois, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas! Go Team Mandy!

Even though we are having some bumps in the road, life is not going to get us down! We are fighting like a hoot! (Mirandy, aka, Mandy’s nickname)

I Pinned This!

I tried out the aluminum foil ball for the dryer that is supposed to get rid of static electricity. It didn’t. If anyone else tried it and it worked, tell me what you did right and what I didn’t!

If you would like to follow me as I go through my life in Evie’s Gardens… jump on board.

I’m you will find something that interest you, whether it is gardening, spiritual, crafts, food, DIY, kids fun, or just some good humorous fun! Please get involved!

Glad you dropped by.

Today I just wanted to introduce myself.

Hope your day is blessed beyond belief! ~Evie

In remembrance of  MLK… “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”~Martin Luther King

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