Somewhere, over the rainbow....

Yesterday was one of those quirky weather days.  Kind of cloudy, kind of sunny... Of course all the gardens were dry so watering needed to happen.  Watering takes me about 45 to 55 minutes.... as soon as I was finished... it rained.  Not just rain, but a down pour.  Now I know that we could use the rain, but really couldn't it have started BEFORE I spent almost an hour watering?

Well at least the double rainbow was pretty.

As for the garden, well the first of my sweet peas are blooming on my garden gate... the one I got for Christmas.  Soon this metal beauty will actually function as a real gate... but you'll have to wait for that.

And pink Larkspur... I really love this stuff.  What I didn't know was that it self seeds, prolifically.  Two or three years ago I planted one start... now I have to weed it out of places that I don't want it to grow!  But I certainly got my monies worth.

Speaking of monies worth... my self planted, from seed, white impatiens... up close and personal.

And from a bit farther back.  I like the white... it matches everything else in any garden AND it shows up so well at dusk, on rainy days, cloudy days, sunny days... you name it.

The first zinnia.... finally.  This one is called "Mexican Pinwheel", it's also planted from seed.  The zinnias have been a bit slow to start this year.  Heat lovers without heat I suppose.

And a few shots from around the veggie garden... my Roma tomatoes.  My absolute favorite for making my home canned tomato sauce.  If it's a good tomato year I get tons off of one plant.  Some people insist that we can't grow them around here but I usually don't have any problems.

This year my son brought me a couple of plants from a co-worker that started hundreds of tomato plants from seed.  This lovely is a beefsteak.  Don't ya just love the shape of this one?  And it's HUGE!

Another beefsteak with a nice cluster.  And did you see that orangey-red in the background?  Well that is "red tomato mulch".  It's actually permeable plastic that keeps the plants fairly weed free and evenly watered.  Supposedly the red color helps the tomatoes to bloom.... or maybe it helps ripen them more quickly... I forget but it certainly doesn't hurt.  I used it two years ago and had a bumper crop so I wanted to use it again this year to even up the odds with our lackluster weather.

Purple bush beans... and yes, the beans will be purple too!  Very cool, they do turn green when you cook them.  Not a hybrid but an actual heirloom bean.  Isn't nature funny?

A shot of the onions, leeks and tomatoes.  I grow a lot of Walla Walla Sweets... one of my favorite onions.  I also grow white and red "keepers"... ones that store well.  And leeks?  Well there is nothing like potato leek soup in the fall or winter... all made from my very own garden!  And it appears that I need to get out and weed again!

And for the next few days... showers are predicted. I'll just keep in mind that "Somewhere... over the rainbow, skies are blue...."  (I don't think I need to tell anyone where this song comes from!).... and at least there are no flying monkies to contend with at Red Gate Farm... although after all that weeding I wouldn't be surprised if a witch doesn't appear...

It's almost the weekend and the start of my week long, birthday week vacation!  Yipee!

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