The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun

– Napoleon Hill

Love

Zoe and I were laying down. I had my arm around her and I smelled her hair.

Me: You smell like chocolate cake.

Zoe sniffing my armpit: You smell like stinky toes.

Asparagus

Started here (actually here)Now they look like this

This American Beauty Bush will be planted nearby as soon as the night temps are consistently above freezing.

Although the day started out a bit chilly we ended up in the upper 70s and found our long-sleeved shirts almost too much while we played on the playground this afternoon.

We also took a trip to my fav local garden place The Natural Gardener where I got myself a nifty new sun hat and a ton of poppy seeds. Oh, poppies. There's something magical about you even in your legal form. I bought Icelandic poppies, California poppies, giant orange poppies and the gorgeous red poppies that Natural Gardner sells from their own seed.

I'm going to dig a bed for them along the east gate of the backyard leading down to the driveway. By March they will be a 3' sea of red, orange and white.

ACE Computers - No sales, no trespassing

Well, that's one way to do business.

Thanks for the warning

Late Fall Garden

Sugar snap peas from the garden. I'll plant these again next season. They are crisp, sweet and easy to grow. The girls even eat them sometimes. Zoe also thinks they are great for creating letters.

We've been doing a lot of planting during this lovely fall weather. We've added 4 or 5 red yuccas, 3 trailing rosemary plants, a couple of Mexican feather grasses, the succulent below whose name I have forgotten with the insanely bright pink flower...

We also have quite a few plants still in pots: 2 American Beauty Bushes that will be planted in the backyard, a trumpet vine for the back fence, a Pride of Barbados, 2 yuccas, and a white trailing Lantana.

Oh, and I planted asparagus in the backyard! They are mostly roots but just wait until next year. They are going to be beauties. I've got more plans for this area of the backyard. I'll post "after" pics soon.

Before

This ground is incredibly difficult to dig. I hit limestone almost as soon as I start.

We've had a few nights with freezing temperatures. I lost the soybeans, but other than that everything seems to be doing just fine. The row cover makes me think of Halloween.

The stick that Paige and Zoe fought over while I was creating the new bed in the backyard... Because it's the only stick worth playing with, right?