2023 Update!

 Five years ago, we moved to the edge of the Chihuahuan desert of southern New Mexico. To say it's been a challenge here is not a lie. We bought a 1966 mid-century modern rancher in town and found soooo many things that the inspector just happened to overlook. It's taken us five years go do the repairs, modernize this house (REAL AC!) and design and start planting the gardens here in this previously chemically bombed place where trees were burned in bonfires and other activities. 

I think it's looking good, considering we've had a "heatwave" of 30+ days over 100.

Of course, that's pretty much what we're used to, coming from Texas where we lived through over 65 days of over 100-degrees, back when we were remodeling our old house in Taylor.

As some of you know, I specialize in herbs, and it turns out, herbs do very well here in NM. Lack of rain sometimes is an issue, but with three rainwater barrels, we've done just fine.

I plan on renewing this blog, perhaps moving it elsewhere. We'll see. Right now, I have social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. 

Stay tuned as I sort through photos and give you a little picture of our NM urban herb farm.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Update on Earthly Gardener

Dear friends,

It's been a long time since I've blogged. There are many reasons; the main one is that we've moved from my home state of Texas to New Mexico. Las Cruces, NM, in fact.

Moving to NM has literally been a dream of mine since I first visited here when I was a young woman. Like, for over 40 years! Finally, after my horrible health fiasco, and my husband's cancer diagnosis, surgery and CURE, he made the pithy statement--If not NOW, then WHEN?

And I said, I'll start packing. :-)

And we did. Suffice it to say, it wasn't easy. We had a 1930s cottage we'd renovated that we had to sell, an additional backyard cottage and garage to empty out, loads of garden decor I wanted to keep, AND five cats to move.

But we did it--after one humongous garage sale and lots of help from friends, and an amazing Realtor (Debbie Kovar in Taylor), the house sold super quick. The long journey by car wasn't easy. Have you driven across west TX? LOL. It takes forever.

So I'm finally unpacked, getting used to another old house--a 1966 rancher on a large graveled lot--and planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Stay tuned for more in my new adventures in growing in a much dryer climate. I'll be starting a new blog at http://desertbohemian.blogspot.com.

P.S. I'm loving this weather here!

Happy trails,

bobbi c.
The Desert Bohemian

Ways to Support Garden Birds in Times of Drought

Here at Catnip Cottage, the headquarters for the Earthly Gardener blog, we are all about the birds, bees and other little critters and are always looking for easy things we can do to support wildlife.

Cardinals LOVE black sunflower seeds!

That's why I enjoyed this short article from Horticulture magazine. Take a look; it's a short read with some easy ways to support garden birds in the time of drought.

http://www.hortmag.com/headline/ways-support-garden-birds-times-drought

Since my surgery and subsequent *hospital-acquired* infection, I've been avoiding a lot of the heavy garden work. But I was finally able to plant some fall cukes and squash this week. So some progress was made, although a tiny bit. That's why I love my galvanized tub garden and raised wooden bed; it's so easy to bop outside, poke a few seeds in the ground, then bop back inside without a lot of fuss. :-)

Sometimes that's all you can hope for. :-)

Happy gardening!

bobbi c.

Shiplap Headboard made from Antique Pine

We call ourselves the Shiplap Cottage here since our whole house is encased in it. Literally, both sides of every wall, the outer siding, etc. We were shiplap before #shiplap was cool! LOL

I hoard scraps of the stuff. And I'm especially glad I saved the scraps we removed when we moved the French doors from between the bedroom and living room, to the dining room/kitchen.

Yep, big old antique longleaf pine boards, nine-inches wide.

I've recently been downsizing our furniture, repainting older pieces, moving them around, and even replaced our large bed with a queen-sized. I wanted a simple, wooden headboard to go with the simple Ikea storage base we bought. We already had the dark brown side tables, bought at World Market years ago. The art (to be replaced with an original painting) was a Goodwill Store find. The vintage red pillowcase is a pattern I love, and covers a throw pillow. (Yes, we moved the lamps closer to the bed. LOL)

And this is what we ended up with!

I had to increase the contrast so you can see the individual boards. Unlike a lot of folks, we put the boards vertical instead of horizontal. I'm thinking that eventually I'll do a horizontal wood feature of some kind on the wall behind the bed. If you take a peek at the right corner, you'll see the original antique pine floorboards, too!

Like everything here, it's a work-in-progress!

happy trails,

bobbi c.

Where the heck have I BEEN?

Dear friends,

Some of you have wondered where I've been. Since posting about my flower bouquet back in February, I've had an unfortunate sequence of events, as Lemony Snicket would say.

I went into the hospital in late March for a "routine" surgery. Eleven days later I had a raging infection, was rushed back into emergency surgery to "scrape out the oogie bits," two days in a row I had surgeries. Yes, three surgeries in less than three weeks! I ended back in the hospital for five more days until I was stable enough to go home.

I was sent home with a strange contraption called a WOUND VAC attached to me. In my drugged state, I saw the name of the thing, the Vaculta, as VACULA, and so I started calling it Count Vacula. It literally was a huge sponge thingy crammed into my massive lower abdomen wound, with constant suction provided by a pump I had to wear around my neck or near my person for four months. It was a mess, I was instructed not to let it leak, I was encased in horrible allergenic adhesives and huge pieces of sticky stuff from my belly button to god-knows-where. The pump would ramp up and "purr" when happy, but make horrible noises when not, usually after midnight.

But, Dear Reader, I survived! I've learned much more about wounds, scabs and scars than I ever thought I'd have to, I learned how wonderful home health care nurses can be over their 25+ visits here, three times a week to change the toxic bandages until I was almost healed. I learned how many infections happen in hospitals these days (WAY TOO MANY!), and how many people die from them. Sigh.

Oh yeah, and how many hospitals DO NOT report these like they're supposed to!

I'm just now, almost five months later, able to go outside and water my container garden. I can't pick up things, dig things or stay outside in this Godforsaken Texas heat for more than a few minutes.

Needless to say, it's made me more motivated than ever to downsize the yard maintenance and continue my experiments with growing things in containers closer to the house and water supply.

This plant is happy right now!

So, until fall, or cooler weather (snort), stay inside, drink lots of liquids, eat some watermelon! 'K?

Happy trails,

bobbi c.

Birthday Flower Bouquet

I can stretch a bouquet longer than almost anyone I know. This one started out as a Valentine's bunch, and lasted til my birthday, yesterday. I do use the "stuff" they give you to prolong the life of them, and cut the stems periodically and change the water.

This was a little "doo-dad" I found yesterday. Love it! It's perfect for those single blossoms, and I can use my antique collection of Mason/Ball jars if I want. This one came with the jars.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Tuesday Texas Cottage Garden Inspiration

Dear peeps!

My post from yesterday stirred up such a flurry that I thought I'd post more garden photos. We had some rain last night, so everything is fresh, smells good and clean. It's a bit cooler, but signs of spring are poppin' out everywhere!

Enjoy!

bobbi c.

Cenizo (Texas sage) attracts a LOT of busy bees when it blooms--every time it rains.

A little visitor to the garden. I named him "Hector."

A little porch-side pocket garden in a previous home. Unfortunately, new owners ripped it ALL out. WHY do people do that? Stoopid, I guess.

Esperanza blooms. LOVE this yellow. Also known as Yellow Bells.

This prickly pear LOVES this iron pot. This was several years ago. It's much larger now.

Little corner grotto garden. Blooming sage in pot, gazing ball, cement bunny. All of which moved to our new home.