The mystery is solved of who or what was eating stuff in our garden … anyone lend me a shotgun??of

Off to Rhinebeck for brunch .. getting a lift on Muzzies shoulders to the farmers market ..Then to the garden centre to buy plants for the front yard .. .. back home to her favourite little chair ..Rob and Malcolm check out the vintage cars at Duchess County park .... and then back to plant the shrubs .. two very tired but very happy gardeners at the end of the day!… and a drink on the porch at the end of another super day

Chloe took it upon herself to be in charge of the bedding plants this weekend.  It started in Homebase when she dictated which ones she did and did not like and therefore which we could and could not buy, and was followed up by pretty strict orders around the garden on what should go where.  It was nice to see, however, that the power didn’t go totally to her head and she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and get stuck in with the workers.

Megan, on the other hand, opted to chill out indoors, and made it very clear where her loyalties lie.

Continuing the green fingers theme …. Chloe helping Grandma Muz make a hanging basket for her mummy  Note that Dee had to be involved!! … and not afraid to get her hands dirty!… and then back inside with little sister!… oops .. who is missing? … Dee of course … that’s better!

Chloe helps Daddy water the garden (in her new crocs)…

I think it’s safe to say Emma spent more timing posing with the rake than she did actually raking, but everyone else got a lot of work done…

They say the couple that rakes together, stays together… though we don’t know what they say about dorky couples who rake together in matching sweathshirts.

Step one, send your husband out to the garden to see what he can dig up…

Step two, pause to admire the squash that’s finally growing now that Baci has taken care of all the groundhogs…

Step three, follow husband around the garden with a camera to record it all for posterity…

Step four, serve and enjoy! (The bit of grit in the lettuce only served to remind us how fresh it was…that’s clean dirt, after all.)

It’s been an exciting week in the garden at 152 Pitcher Lane (not sure we’ve ever used “exciting” and “garden” in the same sentence before!). This morning, the “trained arborists” (that’s what they call themselves) showed up to plant the tree that was a present from Bob and Susan:

It didn’t look so little before we put it next to that massive pine! The short-term plan is that it will grow to hide all those ugly dead branches (brilliant idea, Malc!) and the long-term plan is that it will eventually replace the big pine. We can’t wait to see what kind of reaction we get from next door when we burn that bonfire!

Over in the vegetable patch, everything’s growing like crazy and Rob also planted some sunflowers (in the foreground, ignore the monstrous weeds in the corner):

And behold, our first cucumber! If Emma looks a little sheepish, it’s because it’s very hard to pose with a cucumber while trying to make sure that the photo doesn’t come out looking dirty!

Here’s our vegetable garden in action! Tomatoes in the back (note the supersized stakes), lots of different kinds of lettuce, some “erbs,” cukes, zukes, and a few other things… and the fabulous fence, of course! Nothing’s made it past it yet.

This is the front right of the house: the new bush in the background and the orange blosson closer to the front. We’ve had rain every day this week, so everything’s coming up roses! (Literally: That’s a rose bush in the back there — behind the orange blossom — that we added while Maureen was here.)

This is the side of the house, near the picnic bench.

This is along the back fence, where Maureen planted approximately 103 hostas!

Another view along the back fence…