Belated Birthday........

My mother-in-law, Joanne's Birthday in Late July...........with our friends and neighbors.......

And the Birthday Gift.........

I photographed these wall decorations and had them printed.  I do my own mounting and framing......

Happy 4th of July!

The mascot at out local liquor store:  The Atlas Bear Says Hello and Stay Safe.......for the Holidays!

Farmer's Market Haul

Our Longmont Farmer's Market has decided to take online orders on Wednesdays for its regular Farmer Participants and distribute the veggies (and more grocery items too) on Saturday. The is a typical weekly order for us.  Exotic mushrooms in the white bags:

Garden Update.....New Tomato Habitats......

I'm working with my usual foursome of  heirloom tomatoes.  But I used to crowd them into the two metal tanks.   Heirloom Tomatoes can get quite large, so we decided to build additional Tomato Habitat:

Above:  New Habitat with the Betalux Tomatoes; Below, the Complete Tomato Habitat,: Paul Robeson on the left and Sioux on the right.

And planted our new little guys, grown at home from seeds.  First My Favorite, Paul Robeson, a smaller purplish tomato:

Next the Sioux Tomato, typically a large red-orange tomato.

And two Betalux Tomatoes, average size fruit on a somewhat smaller plant:

Okay, they don't look like much now.  But we are talking about plants that will be 4-6 feet tall in the end.  Sometimes I've had to climb on a small ladder to pick the fruit.  Bythe way, tomatoes are technically a fruit and not a vegetable.

Shame on You Lafayette!

A commemoration to honor COVID victims began to appear at the Lake near my home.  It included the stone below, which is appropriate because African Americans are disproportionately affected by COVID.

You can see this stone in the full photo below:

A few days ago we paused to photograph this commemoration to those who suffered from COVID.  Here, another view which shows the edge of the 'Brown Lives Matter ' stone:

But Friday I noticed that the 'Black Lives Matter' stone had been removed. The Brown Lives Matter stone remains, but for how long?........SHAME ON YOU LAFAYETTE!

And then, Later Friday Evening I found this Stone of Hope on my Door Step.  I know who Am and Cm are.  Wonderful Neighbors!

Garden Update......My They've Grown!

An Update on the First Plants in the Boxes.  First the Chard:

Now: 

Before:

 Collards Now:

Before:

And some new Eggplants, almost too small to see:

And Finally New Peppers:

Next Update, Our New Tomato set-up......

Gardening Update........

Planted the first set of starter plants.  My Collard Greens and Swiss Chard.  I didn't grow these, but did need to keep them inside until the frost season was past.  Always plant after Mother's Day is the rule around here.

And their outdoor habitats.  First the Chard:

The Collards, below, require more room because the plants will get quite large:

And I planted my Lettuce, although I'm about a month late.  But we'll see what I get before the summer burnout.

Coming Soon, the Heirloom Tomatoes and Thai Eggplants that I did start from seed.

Garden Prep Part 2

Next, find a warm window inside.  I placed this above  heating vent to keep the soil warm:

Cover and install the light............

A few days after my careful preparation of the Nanodome, this is what my gardening prep area looked like: