Flowers of Flores

We love flowers and there is no better habitat for them then on the island of Flowers (Flores).



Dahlias to delight the soul and summon flying friends that pollinate all that is good.




A Hollyhock monument that makes the Eiffel tower look trite and over constructed.



Day Lillie's to remind us of the fleeting pleasures that dot our life.



Agapanthus, little purple tufts that catch the morning dew and magnify the rising sun....keeping us motivated when the body aches and the mind is overwhelmed.

More Garden Photos

Although there are too many photos to post, here are a few more peeks into our gardens.

These strawberries are a little out of control! Yet the birds manage to find the berries before I do. I supppose the early birds do get all the goodies!

This is the first year we have tried to grow an open-pollinated tomato, not a fancy hybrid. Brandywine tomatoes are an heirloom type, from which we should be able to save seeds. This way we can stop supporting agribusiness and be more self-suficient.

It is a hot summer, so we try to have some refreshing salad as much as we can. The mesclun mixes are great. We also grow a type called Simpson's black seeded lettuce. They are more tasty than butter lettuces and the ants do not carry the seeds away before they germinate!

Pictured here are the bolted parts of a Chinese red leaf mustard. I cover the seed pods with a netting, the purple stuff, so the birds do not harvest the seeds first. We ate mustard leaves all fall, winter, through to early summer. The heat and more hours of sunlight cause them to bolt, or go to seed. We have been saving seed of this mustard for two years now. They are a true treat in the winter, especially with their spiciness similar to arugula or water cress, when not much else will grow in the open garden.

Early Summer Gardens

Tomato and Basil Garden, with a few Jalapenos and Garlic to keep the baddies out.



Experimental Perennial Pepper garden. Already we have several plants making fruits.



Jerusalem Artichokes and Potatoes.



Roma Tomatoes for canning.

Passion Fruit

This year our plants are making much luscious fruits.



We are planting more vines, and hopefully will have enough to brew and eat fresh.

The are certainly passion inducing plants! Oh how lovely their ripe and round fruits are.

Chicken Update

The 40 baby chicks we bought are all growing quickly and beginning to provide us with a few meals.

Combined with our existing flock and their offspring, we are raising about 60 chickens this year.

They are doing a wonderful job of clearing the land we fenced in for them. Also, the fence makes it much easier to locate the eggs. I love the idea of Free Range much more than the practical aspects of it.