[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Maru

Pushing electric isn't so bad. It's when we get into summertime with the heat with high humidity and temps in the high 90s-100s (38C+). I want something I can raise/lower easily and having less noise is probably nice? I've built up some strength I've been working a lot with manual tools so hopefully I can do DIY a bit later in the year.

Little Maru is getting a garden box/planter soon and we're going to teach ehr to plant her first buds I bought some cedar planks for it, just waiting for weather and the right moment to start something together.



Sounds like only a few weeks away before it becomes very colorful, then

…yeah I know what you mean about being able to raise and lower more easily…such a lovely thing to make Miss Maru her own little garden and teach her to care for her plants……things like herbs and vegetables are a great starter, aren’t they …for her to follow that path and connection from garden to table…happy gardening months together ……

[Maru]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…yeah I know what you mean about being able to raise and lower more easily…such a lovely thing to make Miss Maru her own little garden and teach her to care for her plants……things like herbs and vegetables are a great starter, aren’t they …for her to follow that path and connection from garden to table…happy gardening months together ……

Do you do a lot of yardwork/gardening, Ammi?

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Maru

Do you do a lot of yardwork/gardening, Ammi?

…do you mean like regular maintaining garden work, Maru…is that yard work…?…I try to do as little as possible and have a fairly low maintenance outdoor space…which I haven’t always been able to in the past but this time it’s starting from scratch so we’re able to figure that into it as we develop it, which is lovely…

[Maru]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…do you mean like regular maintaining garden work, Maru…is that yard work…?…I try to do as little as possible and have a fairly low maintenance outdoor space…which I haven’t always been able to in the past but this time it’s starting from scratch so we’re able to figure that into it as we develop it, which is lovely…

That sounds like it'd be worth it, tbh

We live in a subtropical climate so it's difficult to not have things grow (and grow out of order) so I have about 4-5 varieties of grass growing on my property... waiting to see which ones survive the summer duel

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Maru

That sounds like it'd be worth it, tbh

We live in a subtropical climate so it's difficult to not have things grow (and grow out of order) so I have about 4-5 varieties of grass growing on my property... waiting to see which ones survive the summer duel

…bring on the turf wars……

[LaLaLand]

I've bought a few packets of seed, only cheap, just to see if I can get some flowers and a bit of colour going in the garden. It's nice again tomorrow so will get onto it then.

One's a "wild meadow" mixture, one's strawberry plants and the other's cacti but I've just realised that's indoors only! D'oh!

On the lookout for some sunflowers to plant too.

[Maru]

Color is going crazy here and my lawn also is filling in very nicely after the repair work I've done with it. St Augustine runners (a type of warm grass here in the States) is spreading after transplanting in areas that are bare.

Sharing some pictures from a local trail at dusk...

[Ammi]

…gorgeous……what are those white/wild flowers, Maru…?…

[Ammi]

…we reseeded parts of the lawn that were damaged but the pigeons have moved in and keep eating the seed…

[Maru]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…gorgeous……what are those white/wild flowers, Maru…?…

These are wild carrot, I believe. They grow everywhere here near waterways and just wetter grassier areas. One of my neighbors must like it because someone mowed everything but the patches of wild carrot that appeared in their front lawn. Nice and tall privacy barrier, too.

Originally Posted by Ammi

…we reseeded parts of the lawn that were damaged but the pigeons have moved in and keep eating the seed…

Oof. Reseeding is expensive here. We throw hay or some other hay like material over to protect seeds. It helps them to not move around too much either.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Maru

Color is going crazy here and my lawn also is filling in very nicely after the repair work I've done with it. St Augustine runners (a type of warm grass here in the States) is spreading after transplanting in areas that are bare.

Sharing some pictures from a local trail at dusk...

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Maru

These are wild carrot, I believe. They grow everywhere here near waterways and just wetter grassier areas. One of my neighbors must like it because someone mowed everything but the patches of wild carrot that appeared in their front lawn. Nice and tall privacy barrier, too.



Oof. Reseeding is expensive here. We throw hay or some other hay like material over to protect seeds. It helps them to not move around too much either.

…yeah I think it’ll be expensive when they keep eating it as we seed it but we will send them the bill for it all…

[Maru]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…yeah I think it’ll be expensive when they keep eating it as we seed it but we will send them the bill for it all…

There is a bird bill shaving joke somewhere in that, I reckon...

[Cherie]

Beautiful pics Maru, I was going to ask what the white flower was, but Ammi beat me to it

[Ammi]

…@Maru ….I was just reading that wild carrot flowers are excellent imitators of insect life so attracts pollenators easily…especially bees…

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…@Maru ….I was just reading that wild carrot flowers are excellent imitators of insect life so attracts pollenators easily…especially bees…

We get them in the Welsh countryside, especially nearby the coast. Are they not in England? (I’m sure I’ve seen them in England).

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

We get them in the Welsh countryside, especially nearby the coast. Are they not in England? (I’m sure I’ve seen them in England).

…yeah I think that I have seem similar but not such a large flow of them as that, which is really quite stunning……the ones that Maru posted are probably the natives to North America but there are European varieties as well so most likely grown in England…

[Maru]

I went back to the trail and got some good photos...

Fun story: I lost my red dog leash which, I was semi-attached to, no pun intended. I used to walk my dog that passed infrequently with it and while it's not as good for her small brother, "It just worked"... I guess whoever picked it up really needed a leash that day. At least I'm 99% sure someone picked it up. I caught their perp walk in the background so I know someone was at least walking that spot and it T's off to another area there so could've been someone coming from behind the trails and I'm 100% sure where it was dropped because I let child hold it (she asked) and that was dumb on my part... I opened my car trunk and noticed the pink leash that I really walked my girl in more before her anxiety got intolerable, so maybe I don't need 2 leashes to remember her... I'm just in that weird grief stage right now where every little thing reminds me of her and memories flood right back. So losing even silly things like that adds to the feeling the loss.

But yes, this little trail we often walked with her and "Little Man" (my chihuahua, LM is a nickname for him) with that red leash in particular... he was so happy to be out and I usually take his leash off so he can go "be dog..." ... it's very nice back in this spot and he stays out of trouble, so (not walking into dangerous weeds and such)...

I stepped in an Fire Ant bed trying to get the bumble bee shots so I had to walk for the rest without shoes until they vacated... that was fun, but the ground was a bit sandy from being worn and very comfortable actually... the parts without prickly plants which is common in hot areas of the country... something about heat makes the plants angrier, I wonder why.

Anyway, photos...













Bumble Bees (Click/Tap to Zoom):

[Maru]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…@Maru ….I was just reading that wild carrot flowers are excellent imitators of insect life so attracts pollenators easily…especially bees…

They have a certain odor especially when there's lots of them, so maybe that plays a part?

They have another name also apparently: "Queen Anne's Lace"

How to Grow and Care for Queen Anne's Lace
https://www.thespruce.com/queen-anne...-guide-7111019

Edit: @Ammi Oh fun I found this just now. There's two flies on the plant:

[Benjamin]

Aww, Maru. Giving you a big hug. So cheeky too somebody has picked it up and kept it.

The photos are beautiful. I love bees so much too, so will always love photos of them.

[LaLaLand]

Gorgeous photographs!!

The seeds I planted three weekends ago have gone nuts.

I've got 16ish sunflowers all about 2 inches tall that I now need to individually pot (donating some to friends and fam), a load of wild flowers blooming, strawberry plants coming up also as well as three cacti starting to sprout! Not bad considering they were just little 50p packets of seeds from the shop.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by LaLaLand

Gorgeous photographs!!

The seeds I planted three weekends ago have gone nuts.

I've got 16ish sunflowers all about 2 inches tall that I now need to individually pot (donating some to friends and fam), a load of wild flowers blooming, strawberry plants coming up also as well as three cacti starting to sprout! Not bad considering they were just little 50p packets of seeds from the shop.

My sunflowers are doing well too. I learnt my lesson a few years ago when I planted 20 seeds thinking not all would take, they all took. Had to try find pots for them all haha.

This year I planted just six (3 yellow/3 red).

My various basils, potatoes, rocket, chilis and tomatoes are doing well so far too. The dill and tarragon, not so much. They’re growing, but very slowly.

Also my jasmine is going wild again too, it’s huge now from when I got it 2 years ago. Can’t wait for that to flower again. It’s my favourite summer smell (alongside cut grass/bbq).

[Ammi]

…^^^…sunflowers are such fun to grow and keep measuring through their growing cycle because they really do grow to adulthood quickly…they’re one of my favourite flowers…putting a jar of sunflowers in the house is a gorgeous thing……

[Ammi]

… @Maru….awww, with the leash ……maybe your little dog was somewhere in that story and somehow saying…let the leash go to another dog now and start a new memory of love because wherever it is and whoever is using it…will never take from the wonderful walks we have…those things are in the heart and not in the leash……

…honestly, your photos are absolutely stunning…little baby Maru must get so much joy in looking at pics that her mama has taken……

[Maru]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

Aww, Maru. Giving you a big hug. So cheeky too somebody has picked it up and kept it.

The photos are beautiful. I love bees so much too, so will always love photos of them.

Yeah... but maybe they needed it more than I did. I keep a few leashes. I couldn't find the red retractable I use for my smaller pup, so that's the only reason I had taken that one that day. It was a lot to hold onto with camera gear and other random things small child was handing me ()... and then my socks&shoes when they were invaded by ants...

@ bees
I'm looking at doing beekeeping at some point. I already have a good spot picked out. It's a matter of deciding when to do make the investment and pick up some Nucs. I'd need 2 at least so if I never needed to move resources around...

These are my favorite channels for beekeeping (and salvaging colonies from places they don't belong):

https://www.youtube.com/@davidhaught84
https://www.youtube.com/@628DirtRooster

Originally Posted by Ammi

… @Maru….awww, with the leash ……maybe your little dog was somewhere in that story and somehow saying…let the leash go to another dog now and start a new memory of love because wherever it is and whoever is using it…will never take from the wonderful walks we have…those things are in the heart and not in the leash……

…honestly, your photos are absolutely stunning…little baby Maru must get so much joy in looking at pics that her mama has taken……

Thanks <3 (everyone else too)

I think you're right... and when I thought about it, she had terrible anxiety so maybe leashes weren't her favorite thing anyway. She was a black lab mix, so it wasn't down to her breed. But that's why we loved that little trail, because I could take her off safely and her and little man could walk around quietly around sniffing and trotting without real concerns of bothering others and vice-versa. Lots of different things to smell back there also.