Please Don't Throw Me in the Briar Patch

I got a wild hair yesterday and decided to take on the tangle of vines and prickers that line the entrance driveway. I call this area 'my nemesis' for a good reason. I got a little bit of it cleared yesterday but came away with multiple scratches and a puncture in my palm from the thorns on some of the vines. An inch-long thorn went through my thick leather gauntlet gloves to poke into my left palm. It appears that I may want to wear long sleeves and two pairs of gloves for this area. Live and learn. In clearing some of the overgrowth I found an area that is edged with wood as if a patch of garden used to be there. It was a true Secret Garden moment; yet another surprise that hard work has yielded. I can't wait to completely clear that area and plant something welcoming and pretty to draw people in.

When I got tired of fighting the brambles I headed up to the tower entrance and tried to pound the garden edging into the rocky soil. That only worked in a few places. So the edging is lopsided and is driving me crazy. But, I didn't have the time or energy to straighten it out.

I brought the surviving seedlings to plant in the children's garden. I started out with about thirty seedlings and ended up with only about six consisting of five sunflowers and one basil plant. While I was planting them, the super sensitive stems of two of the sunflower seedlings snapped. I'd have to say that the dwarf sunflower plants did the best of the two types of sunflowers I tried to grow.

In happier news, I picked three cucumbers from the children's veggie garden and four baby yellow tomatoes. I'm hoping to have more tomatoes (there are only seven right now) so I can chop them up with the cucumbers for the Fourth of July cookout at the church on Sunday after the worship service. The pineapple heirloom tomatoes are ripening slowly so I won't hold out any hope that one of those will pull through for me by the picnic. It would be nice though.