Hello Everyone.....
*Lots of pics!
Just want to post some pics since I've been working a bit on this property/land in accordance to guidance from the Land Spirits......to help heal this place and return it to a potentiality for the Green Enchanted. I spoke a bit in previous posts that I finally figured out what is going on with this land, and how I felt with it, and basically this land has been awfully injured, forced into a type of man-made girdle of production, (farming), and then neglected, along with the spirits of this area both human and non. I had learned when I moved here that horrible things happened to humans some time back and I still felt those spirits here, enmeshed with the land itself that was also still in trauma. I know how this sounds, but it makes sense to me now, so just move on if this is not within your scope.
Since then I promised to help with this land and work it beautifully by loving each individual plant or tree I put in, giving care to each according their needs in a conscious way.....not simply mass planting and plowing through forcing the plant to behave in a certain way, (again farming practices), but nurturing each as an individual.....and I'm not talking babying the plants, I'm talking conscious attention to individual needs which equates to being detailed for each, developing a conversation with each and respecting each one. I have since seen the weather here change for the better compared with the last 2 years of me being here. I can now sense/feel a big difference in this land, and my connection to it. There is no longer a hostile feel though I still get stung by fire ants. When I look out the windows I can feel the land is awake/aware of me being a helpful friend to it. Those angry spirits seem to either no longer be here, or are no longer angry. In fact, in my daily vigilance in observing any slight changes here, I even sense/see a sparkle in the air and feel the happiness of the land, that is reflected in the change of the weather. We've had lovely cool nights all this time until 2 days ago, and the hot days where one does not want to even stand in the shade have arrived, but at least it was greatly delayed to which I am incredibly grateful as are the plants who are happy with the cooler temps. I have started seeds, quite late though, but at least they are going and we'll see what they want to do what this land will take.
I moved here in May of 2018 and two weeks after moving in it rained every single day until September. The neighbors said they'd never seen this much rain in the 13 years they'd been here, and others said this was highly unusual. I thought we were drowning. The temps were 100 degrees plus very high humidity the entire time. I developed serious heat exhaustion, and the stinging of fire ants on a regular basis kept me sick in bed. The next year, last year 2019, we had drought. I don't care what other residents of this city say, this area did not receive but may be 7 days of rain when it should be entirely a Rainy Season for the subtropics. So the plants I had put in, namely 10 topiary hibiscus and 2 weeping willow, died.....and no small plants could survive in those temps and humidity one year then drought and intense heat the next. I did not know what to make of this place. In addition I personally felt alienated from this land, I could not connect and that is the first thing I like to do when moving into a new place is introduce myself to the land and makes friends. It has always worked in the past , but this time I did not really introduce myself, its not really necessary as they know who we are, but I fully expected to be supported in my gardening ventures. I was not. It was quite hostile and eventually I began to see it was indeed personal.....not that I deserved what was happening but the spirits here were extremely angry.
So, as mentioned I finally "figured out" what was happening and stepped in to help because humans and land are intrinsically connected and to do so conscientiously was necessary. So I stepped in a it became a collaboration. There was not much dialog, but I would see the evidence of the assistance on a regular basis, in very specific ways. I was not alone.
I am listening to this if you care to join me:
Anyway, here are some pictures of what is going on here, and it does look better and feel better. This pic is from early February? This peach tree lower left had just a few blooms at this time but we had several frosts when it was very full of blossoms.....which all came too early, it seemed it could not wait for the "official spring time", it simply wanted to blossom, but 3 frosts came and killed all the blossoms except 4 which turned into only 4 peaches. I am trying to sprout those seeds. There is only one cattle panel up and a gazebo in the rear.
This below is all 5 panels up with the tree branches intertwined for both all year round aesthetics and support for vines, and the Welcome Banners are up on 4 trees, and two planters to be filled.
I almost cannot believe I was able to get these panels up and all symmetrical. Such a feat! Each panel has a different veggie, watermelon in front on both sides, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber and pumpkin. The squashes and cucumbers are already producing. The little white "cages" are $ tree baskets I used to protect the young plants from rabbits. They are now removed and the veggies are doing well, slowly growing up the trellises.
I have solar crackle glass lights on each of the 5 panels so as to have light through the tunnel archway for my nightly walk throughs.
So now instead of this below, .........
Now this is what I see in the mornings, and I love doing my walk through the tunnel archways first thing to check on the growth, tying the vines up and loving what is growing. And the sparkling of the water and sounds of the fountain.
ok moving on, I also got some flagstone and made a table and two benches. I love the stone. I only like to see stone and wood out here, but I wanted a table set that would not corrode in any way.
In the mornings till noon, I see lovely yellow dandelion flowers which I pick and make into a tea.
On four of the pine trees which are placed just towards the back of the property in line of vision from the house, I have Welcome Banners, for the Fae Spirits, and a lantern hanging above each one.
These planters filled out quite a bit, something I'd never really had success with either here on this property or on the previous property, because the heat was too much, but again, its been cooler for some reason.
This is the raised bed which I love because I don't have to bend......here we have lots of scallions regrown from the tips of those we bought. Tomatoes, eggplants, cubanelle peppers, and tarragon. They are all doing well and I've never seen the eggplants do so well before, but they are beautiful just for the plants aesthetics itself.
I had to put some sheer fabric to diffuse the strong sun. Now everything in this bed is doing well.
Some lemon trees I started from a lemon's seed the first year here. They are getting big.
This is a work/dining table we just built. I needed something to keep my seed trays on, so we had all this wood here from john not finishing the porch decking, so I said lets just build the table. It came out gorgeous, and will last more than a lifetime. This is an heirloom for sure.
The table in place now, hold seedlings of lavender, mesclun mix, basil, parsley, cilantro, tomatoes, onion seeds, and flowers of hollyhock, campanulas, foxgloves, sweet peas and moon-flower for the arches. We'll see how the seeds grow. I've done all I can for them, the rest is up to Nature.
The side door with window boxes filled with strawberries....and some large marigold plants, such a cheerful color. All the veggie plants and marigolds we got from the local farmers market.
A small raised bed with kale, and I got grow bags for potatoes, onions, collards and romaine lettuce. I like the idea of grow bags because I don't have to deal with cutting horrid tough grass to get to soil which needs amending anyway. And these bags can be moved and folded up when not in use.
Strawberries in a hanging basket with $tree solar lights in the place of candle holders. It lights up at night.
To the right of the staircase a bed of mint I just let it take over.
To the left I have a variety of lemon verbena, dill, parsley rosemary, thyme, more rogue mint, sage and chives. Doesn't look like much but this 4'x4' bed supplies what we need.
This is a large phantom hydrangea which should have huge white blooms, and a small pink one.
On the front "deck"...tons of Star Jasmine flowers in bloom for months now, and the scent heavenly!
One day when I woke up I saw a horse grazing on our lawn, it's magical!
Why it took me so long to make this post, is I have to go through many loops to get the pictures and to edit them to the right size individually. Since my pc crashed things no longer work as it did, lots more clicking, work and time, so it takes hours to make this one post. That is why.
Note to myself what we're growing: potatoes, onions, garlic, scallions, eggplants, zucchini, yellow swash, cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin (for pumpkin praline cheesecake! :D) kale, collards, mesclun mix, romaine lettuce, swiss chard, strawberries, 12 different herbs, and flowers: hydrangea, roses, hopefully the peonies will come up, dahlias just budding, sweet peas, moon-flower, morning glories, foxglove, campanulas, hollyhocks hopefully, and lavender, I pray all come up. But I have help now :D.
ok, now for the inside of the house:
I love amaryllis in whites and pinks. This one had a spotlight over it and looked magical.
A variety of the flowers I keep in the kitchen passthrough......every week its different and beautiful. These are white lilies and campanulas.
This is texas sage, tulips and hydrangeas.
This is how my bedroom looks these days. I love the branches as I don't have to keep changing them out and when I light my candles at night they create huge shadows on the walls and it feels and looks like a woods. I had guests here recently and they said my house looks like an Enchanted Fairy Forest. Sigh....I have achieved the feeling I wanted.
This is the laundry nook. I love this area.....such a clean space and feeling. I keep the cleaning powders in clear glass so I can mix what I need for the laundry's specifics. I keep flowers here too.
The table by the entry door.....orchids and lilies.
I think that's all for now. I hope you all can see the work I've done. And its such a pleasure to see something growing.
I hope you all have a magical day.
*Lots of pics!
Just want to post some pics since I've been working a bit on this property/land in accordance to guidance from the Land Spirits......to help heal this place and return it to a potentiality for the Green Enchanted. I spoke a bit in previous posts that I finally figured out what is going on with this land, and how I felt with it, and basically this land has been awfully injured, forced into a type of man-made girdle of production, (farming), and then neglected, along with the spirits of this area both human and non. I had learned when I moved here that horrible things happened to humans some time back and I still felt those spirits here, enmeshed with the land itself that was also still in trauma. I know how this sounds, but it makes sense to me now, so just move on if this is not within your scope.
Since then I promised to help with this land and work it beautifully by loving each individual plant or tree I put in, giving care to each according their needs in a conscious way.....not simply mass planting and plowing through forcing the plant to behave in a certain way, (again farming practices), but nurturing each as an individual.....and I'm not talking babying the plants, I'm talking conscious attention to individual needs which equates to being detailed for each, developing a conversation with each and respecting each one. I have since seen the weather here change for the better compared with the last 2 years of me being here. I can now sense/feel a big difference in this land, and my connection to it. There is no longer a hostile feel though I still get stung by fire ants. When I look out the windows I can feel the land is awake/aware of me being a helpful friend to it. Those angry spirits seem to either no longer be here, or are no longer angry. In fact, in my daily vigilance in observing any slight changes here, I even sense/see a sparkle in the air and feel the happiness of the land, that is reflected in the change of the weather. We've had lovely cool nights all this time until 2 days ago, and the hot days where one does not want to even stand in the shade have arrived, but at least it was greatly delayed to which I am incredibly grateful as are the plants who are happy with the cooler temps. I have started seeds, quite late though, but at least they are going and we'll see what they want to do what this land will take.
I moved here in May of 2018 and two weeks after moving in it rained every single day until September. The neighbors said they'd never seen this much rain in the 13 years they'd been here, and others said this was highly unusual. I thought we were drowning. The temps were 100 degrees plus very high humidity the entire time. I developed serious heat exhaustion, and the stinging of fire ants on a regular basis kept me sick in bed. The next year, last year 2019, we had drought. I don't care what other residents of this city say, this area did not receive but may be 7 days of rain when it should be entirely a Rainy Season for the subtropics. So the plants I had put in, namely 10 topiary hibiscus and 2 weeping willow, died.....and no small plants could survive in those temps and humidity one year then drought and intense heat the next. I did not know what to make of this place. In addition I personally felt alienated from this land, I could not connect and that is the first thing I like to do when moving into a new place is introduce myself to the land and makes friends. It has always worked in the past , but this time I did not really introduce myself, its not really necessary as they know who we are, but I fully expected to be supported in my gardening ventures. I was not. It was quite hostile and eventually I began to see it was indeed personal.....not that I deserved what was happening but the spirits here were extremely angry.
So, as mentioned I finally "figured out" what was happening and stepped in to help because humans and land are intrinsically connected and to do so conscientiously was necessary. So I stepped in a it became a collaboration. There was not much dialog, but I would see the evidence of the assistance on a regular basis, in very specific ways. I was not alone.
I am listening to this if you care to join me:
Anyway, here are some pictures of what is going on here, and it does look better and feel better. This pic is from early February? This peach tree lower left had just a few blooms at this time but we had several frosts when it was very full of blossoms.....which all came too early, it seemed it could not wait for the "official spring time", it simply wanted to blossom, but 3 frosts came and killed all the blossoms except 4 which turned into only 4 peaches. I am trying to sprout those seeds. There is only one cattle panel up and a gazebo in the rear.
This below is all 5 panels up with the tree branches intertwined for both all year round aesthetics and support for vines, and the Welcome Banners are up on 4 trees, and two planters to be filled.
I almost cannot believe I was able to get these panels up and all symmetrical. Such a feat! Each panel has a different veggie, watermelon in front on both sides, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber and pumpkin. The squashes and cucumbers are already producing. The little white "cages" are $ tree baskets I used to protect the young plants from rabbits. They are now removed and the veggies are doing well, slowly growing up the trellises.
So now instead of this below, .........
Now this is what I see in the mornings, and I love doing my walk through the tunnel archways first thing to check on the growth, tying the vines up and loving what is growing. And the sparkling of the water and sounds of the fountain.
ok moving on, I also got some flagstone and made a table and two benches. I love the stone. I only like to see stone and wood out here, but I wanted a table set that would not corrode in any way.
In the mornings till noon, I see lovely yellow dandelion flowers which I pick and make into a tea.
On four of the pine trees which are placed just towards the back of the property in line of vision from the house, I have Welcome Banners, for the Fae Spirits, and a lantern hanging above each one.
These planters filled out quite a bit, something I'd never really had success with either here on this property or on the previous property, because the heat was too much, but again, its been cooler for some reason.
This is the raised bed which I love because I don't have to bend......here we have lots of scallions regrown from the tips of those we bought. Tomatoes, eggplants, cubanelle peppers, and tarragon. They are all doing well and I've never seen the eggplants do so well before, but they are beautiful just for the plants aesthetics itself.
I had to put some sheer fabric to diffuse the strong sun. Now everything in this bed is doing well.
Some lemon trees I started from a lemon's seed the first year here. They are getting big.
This is a work/dining table we just built. I needed something to keep my seed trays on, so we had all this wood here from john not finishing the porch decking, so I said lets just build the table. It came out gorgeous, and will last more than a lifetime. This is an heirloom for sure.
The table in place now, hold seedlings of lavender, mesclun mix, basil, parsley, cilantro, tomatoes, onion seeds, and flowers of hollyhock, campanulas, foxgloves, sweet peas and moon-flower for the arches. We'll see how the seeds grow. I've done all I can for them, the rest is up to Nature.
The side door with window boxes filled with strawberries....and some large marigold plants, such a cheerful color. All the veggie plants and marigolds we got from the local farmers market.
A small raised bed with kale, and I got grow bags for potatoes, onions, collards and romaine lettuce. I like the idea of grow bags because I don't have to deal with cutting horrid tough grass to get to soil which needs amending anyway. And these bags can be moved and folded up when not in use.
Strawberries in a hanging basket with $tree solar lights in the place of candle holders. It lights up at night.
To the right of the staircase a bed of mint I just let it take over.
To the left I have a variety of lemon verbena, dill, parsley rosemary, thyme, more rogue mint, sage and chives. Doesn't look like much but this 4'x4' bed supplies what we need.
This is a large phantom hydrangea which should have huge white blooms, and a small pink one.
On the front "deck"...tons of Star Jasmine flowers in bloom for months now, and the scent heavenly!
One day when I woke up I saw a horse grazing on our lawn, it's magical!
Why it took me so long to make this post, is I have to go through many loops to get the pictures and to edit them to the right size individually. Since my pc crashed things no longer work as it did, lots more clicking, work and time, so it takes hours to make this one post. That is why.
Note to myself what we're growing: potatoes, onions, garlic, scallions, eggplants, zucchini, yellow swash, cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin (for pumpkin praline cheesecake! :D) kale, collards, mesclun mix, romaine lettuce, swiss chard, strawberries, 12 different herbs, and flowers: hydrangea, roses, hopefully the peonies will come up, dahlias just budding, sweet peas, moon-flower, morning glories, foxglove, campanulas, hollyhocks hopefully, and lavender, I pray all come up. But I have help now :D.
ok, now for the inside of the house:
I love amaryllis in whites and pinks. This one had a spotlight over it and looked magical.
This is texas sage, tulips and hydrangeas.
This is how my bedroom looks these days. I love the branches as I don't have to keep changing them out and when I light my candles at night they create huge shadows on the walls and it feels and looks like a woods. I had guests here recently and they said my house looks like an Enchanted Fairy Forest. Sigh....I have achieved the feeling I wanted.
This is the laundry nook. I love this area.....such a clean space and feeling. I keep the cleaning powders in clear glass so I can mix what I need for the laundry's specifics. I keep flowers here too.
The table by the entry door.....orchids and lilies.
I think that's all for now. I hope you all can see the work I've done. And its such a pleasure to see something growing.
I hope you all have a magical day.