It's Garden Time ... right?!!!!

I love when the seed catalogs start arriving in the mail.

Have you planned your garden?

Ordered your seeds?

Started your seeds?

I'm still dreaming!

With everything that has gone on around here, I am behind

but I hope I get to the nursery and pickup some tomato plants and 

geraniums for the balcony garden.

I'll plant spearmint, basil and catnip (can't forget the furbabies).

I still have oregano and thyme in pots that made it through the winter.

I love zinnias and have lots of seeds including the new lemonade mix from Burpee.

Can't forget the green beans! 

Yum!!!

I hope Spring is springing where you live.

Thank you to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday.

Wishing you well and a JOY filled week.

Mosaic Monday

Mosaic Monday is hosted by the lovely Mary.

Each mosaic is different. Each a story to tell.

You'll enjoy visiting - I promise!

We went to a wedding to today at the River Oaks Garden Civics Building.

The gardens are beautiful.

Built in 1910 and owned by the River Oaks Garden Club since 1942, the Forum of Civics building is of recognized historical significance and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Its gardens provide valuable green space in the heart of the city and are open to the public free of charge.

Initially built for use as a county school, the building was remodeled in 1927 by John F. Staub as headquarters for the Forum of Civics founded by Will Hogg. Hogg, who chaired the Houston Planning Commission, organized the Forum of Civics to develop a comprehensive plan for Houston's public spaces and, in his words, "to stimulate civic pride and to combine forces for the betterment and beautification of Houston." One of the Forum's projects was the citywide planting of crepe myrtles, roses and shade trees, all of which were donated by Will Hogg.

The Hogg estate bequeathed the building to the University of Texas in 1939 with the stipulation that it continue to be used for educational purposes. When the River Oaks Garden Club purchased the Forum of Civics building, the UT Board of Regents stipulated that the Club "carry on the educational work directed primarily to stimulating knowledge and love of gardening, aiding in the protection of native plants and birds, and encouraging civic planting and planning."

In the ensuing years, the River Oaks Garden Club has carried out this charge. The Forum building has been home to horticultural workshops, flower shows, and in conjunction with the annual Azalea Trail, educational exhibits. The Club has also established model gardens on the Forum grounds for demonstration purposes. The first such garden, a Victory Garden, was planted during World War II to encourage Houstonians to grow their own vegetables. In 1955, three formal gardens designed by J. Allen Myers, Jr. and Herbert Skogland were installed. The club later installed two additional, more informal gardens: one of native Texas plants, and another of seasonal plantings.

(Information from River Oaks Garden Club)

Next week: The Wedding!!!!

Wishing you well and a wonderful week!

Postcard Friendship Friday: Monet's Gardens

Our hostess for Postcard Friendship Friday is the lovely Beth.
Today Beth celebrates Mother's Day.

I didn't have a Mother's Day postcard, so I thought a visit to France
and Monet's Gardens at Giverny might be nice.
Tulips abound!

The back of this card reads:
Monet's Gardens at Giverny
A monochromatic island flower bed of soft pink tulips and rose-colored English daisies (Bellis perennis) is planted in front of Monet's house, repeating its color scheme of pink and green.

Pomegranate publishes books of postcards on a wide range of subjects.
You can imagine how lovely "Monet's Gardens at Giverny" is.
Photographs by Elizabeth Murray.

Happy PFF!

Gardening at the Dragon's Gate

I love January. It's the month when all the seed catalogs arrive and millions of gardeners begin to dream about the new plants that will be in their gardens. I understand that the seed companies believe this will be a big year, because of the economy, for first time gardeners who want to grow their own veggies.

My favorite seed catalogs are Cooks Garden and Seeds of Change, but I must tell you about a company I just read about --Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. It was started by a young couple in the Missouri Ozarks. The company is 12 years old and I'm just discovering them. I believe deeply in heritage preservation -- in seeds and livestock (one of the reasons we have an heirloom turkey at Thanksgiving despite the expense). I will add the Baker Creek link to my Link Mania sidebar today! You can visit them here.

I bet some of you thought, when you saw the title for this post, that I was talking about our garden. After all, the dragons do live here! Nope. Gardening at the Dragon's Gate by Wendy Johnson is about Wendy's experience as a gardener at the Green Gulch Farm and Zen Center in northern California. I read this book over the summer slowly devouring it. Everything is here from geology to preparing the soil to farmers markets to mushrooms to insects (good and bad) to, well you get the idea. All of this plus a little Zen. Johnson has spent 30 years at Green Gulch. The book is a celebration of inner and outer growth. I enjoyed the book. It was a little slow in parts -- lets say weighted down with necessary information that I wasn't interested in (even when maybe I should have been). I love the resources at the end of the book that are in chapter order and include references on books, articles, web sites from everything imaginable in the gardening and Buddhist world. It will take me years to read all of the information I have *bookmarked*.

Here are just a few of the quotes I have taken from the book that *grabbed* me.

"A day of no work is a day of no eating." ~old Zen proverb.

"You enter the garden because you love creation." ~Alan Chadwick (one of Wendy's teachers).

"Plants grow and purify the air, they clean toxins out of polluted soil, they make food and medicine that support all animal life, and they supply the world with fuel, clothing, tools, shelter, warmth and beauty from their growth and metabolism."

"Every garden is unique, quirky, distinct and disobedient, just like every gardener...".

"Watering is a form of courtship...".

"...all four seasons of the year are present in the span of one day. Thus, spring is the dawn of the day, full summer is high noon, autumn falls at dusk and father winter oversees the midnight hour."

And lastly, my favorite, "You are fine just as you are,' Suzuki Roshi used to say (another of her teachers), 'and you could use a little improvement." Me too!

I've had great fun the last couple of days visiting the folks on the gypsy caravan in the One World One Heart giveaway. There are well over 500 bloggers participating. I have almost visited each blog and once I do, I'll go back and spend more time with, I hope, each and every one. The world is full of talented and interesting people. It has been great fun to *meet* many generous souls. You can find the list by clicking on the image on the sidebar. Thank you, Lisa, for putting the gypsy caravan together!

It's Pesto Time

The basil in the garden has been so pretty this year. No bugs! Today I decided it was time to give the basil a little hair cut and make some pesto. This recipe is from THE BEST 125 MEATLESS PASTA DISHES by Mindy Toomay and Susann Geiskopf Hadler.

Classic Basil Pesto
Yield: 1 cup

• Fresh Basil Leaves - 2 cups, firmly packed
• Olive Oil - 1/3 cup
• Pine Nuts - 1/4 cup (I use walnuts - something I seem to always have on hand.)
  
• Garlic - 6 medium cloves, chopped
• Parmesan Cheese, finely grated - 3/4 cup

Wash the basil, discard the stems, and spin dry. In a food processor or blender puree basil with 1/4 cup of the olive oil, the pine nuts, garlic, and Parmesan until thick and completely blended. With the machine running, add the remaining olive oil in a thin stream to form a smooth paste.

I think the recipe should be retitled Garlic Lovers Classic Basil Pesto! A little goes a long way, but it's simple and really good. The authors also include recipes for Rosemary Pesto, Cilantro Pesto, Oregano Pesto, Pimiento Olive Pesto, Black Olive and Tomato Pesto, Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pesto, Spinach and Cheese Pesto with Pimiento, Shiitake and Spinach Pesto with Ginger, and lastly, Dried-Tomato Pesto with Mint.

The authors have written other cookbooks including: THE BEST 125 MEATLESS MEDITERRANEAN DISHES, THE BEST 125 VEGETABLE DISHES, THE BEST 125 MEATLESS MEXICAN DISHES, THE BEST 125 MEATLESS MAIN DISHES, and THE BEST 125 MEATLESS ITALIAN DISHES. The copyright date is 1992. Every now and then I go through my cookbooks (another one of those collections that I have) and start giving them away or sending them to the used book store. I just haven't been able to part with my "BEST" cookbooks. They are little gems filled with surprises and good stuff.

Tomato and Red Onion Salad

Better Homes and Gardens Magazine has a delicious looking and easy recipe called TOMATO AND RED ONION SALAD. Here it is straight from the July 2008 issue:

• Choose as you please a variety of heirloom and farmstead tomatoes - whole, sliced, and cut in wedges - for a colorful salad.
• Prep: 25 min. Stand: 25 min.

• 1 medium red onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 8 cups tomatoes, cut (about 3 lb.)

1. In a medium bowl combine 4 cups ice cold water and 2 teaspoons salt; stir to dissolve salt. Add onion slices; stir gently to separate rings. Let stand 20 minutes; drain.
2. Meanwhile, for Sweet-Sour Dressing, in small bowl whisk together vinegar, sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper. In extra-large bowl combine tomatoes and drained onions Add dressing; gently toss to coat. let stand 5 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.

Some of our balcony tomatoes are in the bowl and peeking her little nose (as usual) into whatever is happening around the house is our little imp Miss Riley. Riley has an almost twin brother, Rocky. The ruler of the house is Teddy (Theodorable). They each have their own story (for another time). All three cats have well trained staff!

Sanctuary Garden

Once we decided that the garden will be a memorial to Musashi what was next? It was list time. What did we really want in the backyard that would make us happy? What were we looking for? SANCTUARY in very big letters.

• We wanted a garden we could enjoy all year.
  
• We wanted a garden that was critter friendly.
  
• I wanted a place for herbs and maybe a few vegetables.

The list went on and on. About the same time I was reading a book titled THE SANCTUARY GARDEN by Christopher Forrest McDowell and Tricia Clark-McDowell. This little book helped me gather my thoughts and feelings.

I admit the whole garden process has been an experiment. Some plants haven't worked at all and were replaced. One plant I had to have was roses. One of Musashi's favorite places was the balcony where he would sit under the roses and watch the birds, squirrels and people. The first two plants were a red rose and an apricot rose on either side of Musashi.

The garden has grown. We planted in containers and moved them around until we found a spot they liked. We have two lime trees that are in the ground and a tangerine and satsuma orange that are in containers. Green beans, herbs (peppermint, cat nip, lavender, rosemary, sage). Red and gold Ixora. Plumbago. Purple trumpet vines. Penta of all colors. Amaryllis. Camellia. Gardenia.

Musashi's Garden is a garden of comfort. We share this small space with critters we like to watch. We have successfully provided a habitat and features to attract different birds, toads, frogs, butterflies. It is a special place that we enjoy year round.

Gardens talk to you. All you have to do is sit and listen. The special sound the leaves in the trees make when the wind blows. Birds singing and calling to each other or letting us know it is time to hurry up and put food in the feeder! (We don't feed them on the ground anymore.) Squirrels chattering. Wind chimes. Water in the fountains. The buzz of a bee or mosquito. At night the sounds of the toads and frogs.

Gardens have the power to heal, soothe and stimulate. Did you know the word "paradise" comes from a Persian term for garden? We have our own little paradise right here on earth.

Musashi's Garden

When we moved into our home nine years ago our postage stamp backyard was all grass. My husband and I learned quickly that weed wacking the grass was not the way to go! We both agreed that buying a lawn mover for what little grass we had was silly and grass wasn't what we wanted in the first place! We hired various companies for suggestions about what to do with the space. The bids we received were for amazing amounts of money or simply designs we didn't like. We decided to take the plunge and do what we felt like doing.

We hired someone to come and remove the sod and rototill where we wanted planting space (part of which is in the five foot utility easement). My husband (Dick) spent time with pencil and graph paper designing the brick walk and patio he was going to build. The work went slowly - mainly ideas only - until our beloved kitty Musashi passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Our garden became a loving memory to Musashi - Musashi's Garden.

Good Morning!

Good Morning! When I wake up I try to do the same things every morning. It's my attempt to get the day off to a good start. Up on my feet and open the shutters to take my first look at the day. The world still exists outside my window. The grass is green. The sun is shining. The trees shading the earth. Thank you for another beautiful day. Do something good with this day!

Then it's out to the balcony to water the tomatoes. Tomatoes on the balcony? Yes! We have a postage stamp back yard which is lovely and I'll share that with you another day. Several years ago we tried tomatoes in the back yard -- in the ground and in containers. I believe we enjoyed one ripe, red juicy tomato. The rest were eaten by Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel and their offspring. Really! We watched them early one morning taking even the green tomatoes off the plant and eating away. I decided this year to try tomatoes in containers on the balcony and I'm happy to report that it seems to be working. We have a dozen tomatoes so far. Delicious! Nothing like a home grown, no pesticide (and all of that) tomato. I did notice yesterday morning that one of the ripening tomatoes had claw/tooth prints. It was still on the plant this morning. I'm leaving it just in case the Squirrel family wants to continue to munch. I keep telling myself "compassion for all living things". "You have enough. You can share with these critters." I don't eat THEIR acorns. Next year we will plant more veggies in more containers on our balcony garden.

I also try to read a brief poem or words of wisdom from a favorite source. Then I'm really ready to say "Charge! Full speed ahead!" Here is a favorite from a small book edited by Jack Kornfield called "Teachings of The Buddha".

DHAMMAPADA

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
How can a troubled mind
Understand the way?

Your worst enemy cannot harm you
As much as your own thoughts, unguarded.

But once mastered,
No one can help you as much,
Not even your father or your mother.

from the DHAMMAPADA, translated by Thomas Byrom

Wishing you a bright and beautiful day. Good morning!