So no doubt some of you who are regular visitors to the site have noticed that things have been a little lackadaisical when it comes to new postings over the past several months.
Well, the truth of the matter is, it’ll probably remain that way for a few more, because now I’m suffering from sleep deprivation!
Still no clue what I’m on about?
Well, then let me introduce you to the newest addition to my wee family:

Sierra Elizabeth was brought into this world on September 17th at 8.19pm. She weighed a measly 5lbs1oz, but is already quickly making up for that.
Of course she already has shown us what a difficult child she is going to be, because she decided to come along right when the season premier of Survivor was on!! I guess we’ll have to forgive her for that one though.
In all seriousness though, she is so precious, and I feel so honored to be her Dad. I hope I can bring her up right in this world and that her and her older brother both have a wonderful life.
So there you have it, now you know why I’ve been, and will probably continue to be, a little pre-occupied for a while. I’ve been tending to a whole different crop!! So you’ll have to forgive me the next time you are in the store and I look a little bleary eyed, or even like I may just fall asleep right there where I’m standing.
I vaguely remember that at some point babies do actually start to sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time. When exactly does that happen again?
Of course I must also point out that I am such a dedicated employee that I even had my Guilford Garden Center shirt on while in the hospital!

We sell quite a lot of vegetables and herbs throughout the Spring here at the garden center, and this Spring was no exception.
We discovered, however, that one couple were buying quite a lot to plant outside their recently acquired restaurant, and so we promised ourselves that we should return the favor and go and sample their cuisine some time.
Of course Spring went on and we kind of forgot all about it, but we tend not to forgot about the idea of trying some new food for very long around here!
So, recently, we sent out a scouting party (ok, ok, we just sent Linda) to pick us up some food from the Lindley Park Filling Station, with the thought that if the food was no good at least we had taken the time to patronize an establishment that had the decency to patronize ours.
Well, it turned out to be quite the opposite.
The food they serve at The Filling Station is exceptional! Every one of us had something different to eat, and every one of us were delighted at how good it tasted.
Every item tasted fresh, and the preparation was nicely done. I had the Pinecrest burger, and it was cooked to perfection!
The menu is quite extensive, and I think it’s fair to say that they have something for everyone, including a great variety of salads, burgers, sandwiches, and wraps. They also have a bar for those of you who visit when your not on the clock!
So, if you are ever over at the corner of Walker and Elam, give The Filling Station a try, I know we’ll be over there again!

That sounded a bit harsh, that title, didn’t it?
Unfortunately it’s the truth…ok, let me explain further…every year at this time of the season a perennial that is outside our front gate bursts forth with color, and everybody that comes in to pay us a visit wants to know what it is and how much it costs.
Well, what it is is Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Ok, that’s that part answered, but why can’t you buy it?
(more…)

Well, it’s Memorial Day weekend, and for those of us unable to go out of town, it’s proved to be a great time to finish planting for the summer.  By now the pansies have, for the most part, bit the dust and it’s hard to pretend otherwise.  I’m sure there are some of you who have them in the shade and are thinking it’s a waste to get rid of plants that are still pretty, and I know it’s no fun having to pull up the pansies and throw them away with those cute little faces staring at you, but it must be done.  Not only will the yard look better, but there’s still time to get the summer flowers you want before selections dwindle down. 

Another thing I’ve noticed this weekend are the weeds and the bugs that have already invaded!  You’d think they would let us enjoy the fruits of our labor for a while before they attack, but no such luck. (more…)

We figured it was about time, so we went ahead and planted our vegetable bed. Now some people may not find that particularly enthralling, but we’re very excited about it.

So far we have some tomatoes in there, as well as a few different varieties of peppers, and a couple of cucumbers.
Dave also put some bean seed in there but I suspect they already went the same way our pea seeds did. A tasty breakfast for the birds! I’m glad to see that Dave over at Leave me alone I’m digging is having better luck with his. Of course, you never know, maybe the birds have been nice and left us a couple.

The next thing we will do is put some herbs along the front, and of course we have had the blueberries in there toward the back for a few weeks now. The green you see in the back corner is our Romaine lettuce, it’s done really good for us. I just wish somebody would invent some lettuce that produced at the same time as tomatoes!

Anyway, we’ll keep you posted on the progress. Hopefully we’ll have a bumper crop to show off this Summer.