Even the blackest thumb can grow zucchini

Two weeks of brutally hot weather and the garden took off like a rocket.   Just over night two cave man club sized zucchini grew as well as the pickle cucumber crop (phase 1 anyway, still lots of blossoms on those vines!!)  Made 2 loaves of zucchini bread, 2 more are on tap for this evening. 

Lessons in canning pickles:

1. canning food you grew yourself is fun!!!
2. mandoline slicers are VERY sharp
3. the little handle thingy that you are supposed to use to hold the vegetables is there for a reason
4. my finger that is missing a big chunk hurts a lot (no, there are no finger parts in the pickles)

We planted 4 watermelon plants in the first raised bed that haven't done SQUAT since planting, 6 weeks and they are still 2" high.  The rinds and seeds that we tossed in the compost pile however are doing very well.  Maybe next year we'll plant the whole garden in the compost pile.

Spring is the time for GARDENING!

We put the seedlings out a month ago and nothing was happening until the weather got hot last week, suddenly overnight everything shot up.  Hopefully we can keep the bugs and critters out!

We also started the long and slow project of tiling the basement floor, the tiny bit we have done so far looks good, it should be complete in a year or so.

Spring is in the air

The raised beds are full of soil and the "corn patch" got its first tilling.  The peas are already about 3" high and the tomato and pepper transplants will go outside this weekend.  Next week is vacation time so everything should be planted by end of week as well as all that spring yard work we have been ignoring.  It is very exciting after years of not having a garden to see food growing again!

Well I have been a complete loser at updating this lately but the gorgeous snow we got last night was worth a few pictures (before it all melts this afternoon).  Hard to believe but we'll be planting the garden seeds soon too!

Wakin' to a winter wonderland

We went to rock out with the Avett Brothers on Halloween night then raced home to beat the anticipated snow storm.  Woke up Sat morning to this postcard beauty.

Bebe isn't sure what to make of this, Api just yawned and went back to bed.

The beauty of fall...

A few pics from our house, the next couple of days are peak here.  Squint at the 3rd one and you can see our cabin peeking through the trees.

We went to vote yesterday just around the corner from the house and were greeted by this stunning view of the Smokey Mountains to our west.  If our house were up another 25' higher we could see this out the back windows.

We always wondered what was over the other side of the ridge behind us, this is it.

And this is looking at our neighborhood from the ridge at the firestation behind us (where the picture of Pisgah was taken, facing the other direction)

Fall is creeping in

It amazes me how much change there is in one day, we get up every morning and venture out to get the paper and it's a wonderland of color "hey that tree was NOT red yesterday!"  Another week to 10 days and we should be at full peak.  Here's a little taste from this weekend.