Luffa

It's always fun to try something new in the garden.

Like this luffa plant. It will grow luffas; you know, like the bathroom sponges. They are the fruit of this plant. Kind of like a gourd. They grow inside a papery husk, which can be removed to expose the sponge-like interior. If left on the vine until late summer, they come off dry and ready to use in the bathroom.

Pretty exciting, right?

So, here it is. Just starting out. It has lots of growing to do.

that ugly stage

Future Fireman?

We stopped at Firehouse Subs for a quick lunch the other day, and they have complimentary firehats for the little ones. Liam, of course, had to have one, and it is enormously entertaining.

slithering

A few months ago, installing a doggie door seemed like such a great thing to do. I grew tired of the cats scratching at the front window, demanding to be let in. Or out. Or back in again. The same story for Dahlia and the back door. I began to feel like they were demanding too much of me. So, we installed the doggie door.

And now Coleridge brings in anything and everything he catches. Remember the robin? Well, that was a pleasant surprise compared with today's little number:

Aah!!!

I do not like snakes. Especially in my house. At least I was right there when he brought it inside, and I didn't find it later coiled around Liam's leg or something.

But still. It was a snake. In my kitchen.

I snapped a quick picture, then swished it to the laundry room and out the back door with a broom.

Then I googled it. To be sure there wasn't a poisonous snake now lurking in my backyard.

Turns out he was a harmless worm eater. A Prairie Ringneck Snake.

I found a great Arkansas snake identification page called Herps of Arkansas. Apparently, there are a lot of snake varieties in our area. This is making me even more squeamish than the little one in the kitchen. There are a lot out there...

Oregon Snow Peas

Nothing says spring like fresh snap peas.

This year, we're trying snow peas, and I can hardly wait to pop one into my mouth. Snap pea pods are my all-time favorite road trip food. They have all of the crunch without the weight of the usual greasy fare. These should be ready just in time for Memorial Day weekend :-)

peaches

After last month's cold snap, we thought this would be another summer of fruitless trees. But our peach tree is brazenly proving us wrong. The fruit is still growing. Becoming more and more peach-shaped. There are dozens of them.

We check on the fruit everyday. Envisioning the summer of peaches ahead of us. Juicy goodness.

in the garden

It seems that I have been spending every spare moment in the garden for the past few weeks, although you'd never know it from my blog. Oops. I'm going to make an effort to post more frequently. Especially since everything changes so quickly this time of year.

Yesteray, Gabriel finished moving the enormous pile of mulch in our front yard that we had delivered from the city. A full dump truck of it. It is now spread throughout the yard, and we both have the scratched forearms, sore backs, and dead patch of front lawn to prove it. But the yard looks fantastic, and the much will keep the weeds under better control.

So, here is what the yard looked like this morning:

Raised garden beds, all finally planted

Another raised bed, serving as the boundary for the chicken run.

The side garden.

The pond

So, that's the big picture. Today.

I'm going to try something new here and post a "plant of the day" everyday. It'll be fun to see how quickly things grow and to be reminded of what all is growing in my garden. And sometimes, what isn't really growing :-)