gc

I love blackeyed peas for New Years day! My mother always served them, good for luck? or was that money? :) gc

WG, I'm as Southern as Red Beans and rice with french bread, gumbo, crawfish pie and boiled shrimp! The New Orleans area is where I'm from, but do have kin in Mississippi. The red beans were so good the other night that I'm having left overs (always wonderful) for lunch today. leafy, I'm sorry about your cat! I know he or she will be missed. I think God put some animals on earth to show us how to love. I lost my dog, who traveled to England with me, the day I landed in New Orleans this trip. God how I miss him and when I came back it was hard because he wasn't there to greet me at the door with his tail wagging a mile a minute :( RIP leafy's cat and Sampson gc Rum, they do taste good! Waysider, I love that song

Hey everyone! I've made it back to sunny cool England and I miss "hot as hell" home. I was in for a shocker when I walked out into my back garden on Saturday, everything is green and lush and overgrown. The bugs have had a field day, but were generous enough to share by leaving some of my veggies for me. Last night I picked three types of lettuce, spinach, radish and some nasturtiums for a salad to go with my red beans and rice from home. gc

I know I should put this in the prayer forum, but it seems trivial in light of some of the requests there. So, If ya'll think of it, I would appreciate prayers for a safe journey. We leave for the airport in 7 hours. Here's hoping the slugs don't eat everything in my garden before we get back. A very happy gc :) :) :)

wg, I have blueberries that look very good. I'm not sure when they will ripen, I guess I should look it up when I get back. I put raspberries, gooseberries, currants and tomatoes all in one bed. Well, I also have parsnips, sweetpeas, poppies and sunflowers tucked it too lol I don't think I've ever heard of black raspberries before. Do they taste much different from the red ones? gc

Hey Twinky, are you going to grow that tomato from out of your compost bin? Some years back I grew tomatoes and something else from seedlings grown from using my compost. I've got potatoes growing out of mine right now! August sounds fine to me, have fun with your July visitor and thanks for the good wishes. gc

RumRunner, that's good to know! :)

Kimberly, I didn't tell you. I've had to cut both of my transpanted fuchsias. There were leaf buds for awhile that grew nicely, but then all of a sudden those leaves dried up and died. I'm believe the stem was too old and weak to transfer water to the new growth at the top. The roots are healthy enough on both plants and have new shoots coming up from them. The one that was a standard has 18 new shoots coming from the roots, the other plant has three new shoots, 2 from the roots and one from the base. gc

This is an update on what is going on in my garden. I have my first pea pod and its beautiful. Little tiny almost flowers on my bell peppers, I want to rub my hands together when I see them. Two leaves on one courgette and three on the other. There is so much going on in my garden on the ground the slugs seem to leave the pots alone, 'cept for the runner beans, they must be worth the effort. Cucumbers are looking good. The potato boxes can not be filled any higher with soil. Lettuces are all strong and healthy. Carrots and Parsnips are growing nicely. Four of my six tomato vines have flowers about to open. Alpin strawberry plants are finally getting bigger, they are such small plants. Leek, green onion, red onion and yellow onions are doing great. Brussels sprouts are finally doing well. Cauliflower, Calebrese and Cabbage all look healthy. French beans have been eaten up by the slugs so many times I think they won't make it. Runner beans are doing well. Garlic looks great. I've been eating on my spinach for sometime now and those are starting to flower, but the younger plants still have leaves. I was able to make a batch of pesto from my four oldest plants, everyone liked it. My sweetpeas are blooming and they smell wonderfully. The perennials haven't bloomed yet, but man! they are thick and green and 1/2 way up my rose arch. All of my roses are blooming and so are some of my dahlias. The first love in a mist has bloomed. Its such a delicate looking plant swaying in the wind. My other arch will look better next year when the passion vine, honeysuckle and clematis will be more established. I've been struggling to get everything planted before we fly out, most everything now is. I have Rubekia, aqualigia, rock daisy and snap dragon left, they will wait the weeks in a pot until I get back. I'll be gone for 3 weeks and the slugs will have free reign in the garden. The birds will get my berries and my cherries will ripen while I'm gone. There will be lots of changes by the time we get back, I hope most for the good. I also hope I have a few blueberries and raspberries left. gc

I know this thread is about Susan Boyle and I really love her singing but this was my favorite performer through Britain's got talent Julian Smith and and my favorite dancers Stravros Flatley and The final It would have been wonderful if they could have danced for the Queen, which is what this show is about. gc

Twinky, I enjoy it so much that my husband has to come find me most evenings. There is a pedestrian street behind our house that been around for hundreds of years called The Abbots Way that I love to walk. I've been told that its so called because it was the path the abbot used in his routine. Its shaded and cool with hedgerows and you never know what will be in bloom. gc edited for goofy spelling error

It has been wonderful and sunny here in Plymouth, the plants have been in heaven and I could sure use an a/c in the evenings. I absolutely love that it stays light until 10. I'm trying to put all of my seedlings into the ground before I fly home. I still have rudbeckia, rock daisy, snap dragon, love in a mist, columbine and some unknown that the birds planted. My annual and perennial sweetpeas and my peas are doing well, the annuals and peas are starting to bloom. My climbing rose which has been climbing up one of my arches for a year now has finally bloomed. Its pretty and pink with a subtle sweet scent. The perennial sweetpea is climbing up the other side. Actually, it hasn't starting to climb up the arch yet, its just growing tall trying to grab ahold of anything it can. This past autumn I dug out a beautiful fuchsia that was too large in the top tier front garden. While trying to get at the roots I knocked down the wall my husband built, ooops. So for months I've worked building a new one. I've pushed it back a little over a foot making that tier more narrow and the wall taller. I've finally finished it last week. Now I'm sifting back soil so I can begin planting in that front bed. It really looks good, I'm proud of my work! I want to put flowering scented shrubs that attract bees with a row of smaller perennials behind them, and some that will hang over my wall. My choices today are rosemary, lavender, fuchsia, rose and a pretty shrub I took a cutting of last year that has small pink flowers. All of my veggies are thriving. What has surprised me most are the bell peppers and the cucumbers. I can't remember who told me to try yellow and orange peppers. I planted yellow, orange and red and they seem to be thriving. Both the peppers and the cucumbers I've kept under the sun tunnel so they have stayed warm. The last couple of days I've been able to move it to the side the temps are so high. twinky, I've planted three more courgette seeds and managed to save one plant. One seed has sprouted and they are in a large pot, finger's crossed. I sure hope you make it here while I'm here, I'll be gone for 3 weeks to visit my family. I can't wait! gc

uhm, this is the In The kitchen forum, must be late there ;) gc

mmmmmm a pot of beans! with a hunk of warm corn bread. I think I'll have to try that grilled ham thanks :)

Twinky, do you remember last year their was something going on with the manure/ It was the feed for the cows, it had some type of pesticide on it. At the end of it all it damaged all the plants it was put near. Any connection there? gc

It sounds like a great time Kimberly! I didn't do anything for Memorial Day, but we are planning a get togethers when I go home, a bar-b-que and possibly a crawfish boil. It will be huge since the size of my family is huge. I don't think we've ever done a ham on the grill before, how is it done? gc

I'm having a hard time giving the slugs good beer, maybe that's why I've not tried it for the past 2 1/2 years. When I'm back in the states I might pick up a couple of cans of American beer, which I think tastes icky, and bring it back here to give to the slugs! They have Bud here, but I should be able to find something cheaper to bring back :) gc

I'm going to try that, thanks. Beer and oatmeal, it sounds like a good meal! gc

now I see, I thought I read something about using oats, but when I went back to get more information I couldn't find the site. Is it Oatmeal that you used? gc

Waysider, that's a good look. Its a friendly looking avatar :)

WG, I've had so many people tell me about this one, I'm going to try it. Last night the slugs got my last 2 courgettes :( gc

Thanks!

Kimberly, what about slug hunting, is that on your list too? :) I'm thinking about sowing some seeds for a fall harvest. I going to get pots ready to be sown into in early June. I'm traveling home in the middle of June, Yeah!!! so I want to get some seeds potted up before I go. By the time I get back to England those pretty little head will be poking out of the dirt. We had hale yesterday, but thankfully its not the size I'm used to where you end up with roof damage. It did little damage. My brussels sprouts still look poor. I might just replace them with my surplus plants. The slugs have eaten 7 of my courgette plants! I only alloted them 5, I guess they didn't realize ;) My runner beans are looking good. I've put up a teepee in the pot, its going to look pretty when they are up tall and flowering. How is everyone else doing with their plot? gc p.s. Did I tell ya'll I'm going home to visit??? I'm flying out on June 13th, I can't wait! I can't wait! I can't wait!

Twinky, very cool to hear that God teaches you while you are in the garden. I too have had God teach me there. I've always had a hard time with sudden and/or drastic changes and God showed me that sometimes its very necessary and healthy. I was weeding in my front garden in Louisiana when I realized that some plants weren't doing well where they were. I began to move some about so that they had more room to grow or so they could get more light or shade or what ever the need was. By the time I was finished my garden looked better, was healthier and I realized that it was ok to make those changes in my life that were needed and I was easier for it. Thanks for sharing your story! :) Sorry if this is gc

Twinky, it must be cooler in Plymouth. We've had a couple of days when I could wear shorts, but mostly its been too chilly out. I have 8 courgettes too and I'm keeping all of mine. 5 for the slugs and 3 for me! I'm determined that this year I WILL get more than 4 courgettes off my plants. :) My mouth is watering for zucchini (courgette) bread. I looked up the lollo rosso and it looks beautiful. I've got some Oriental Salad seeds if you want to do a swap :) gc