Known as the bastard garden and long an area for dumping stuff (composters, empty trash cans, leftover bricks, tree branches, dying plants), the space behind the shed was getting pretty overgrown. This photo is from May, so you can only imagine how much more the brush and trees have grown since then:
And this is a shot from last year (before we got the floor into the shed and organized all our crap. It's a terribly shady photo, but hopefully you can see the trees in back of the shed:
Because now they're gone:
I think finding the tire back there spurred Lee into cleaning up this area that has been annoying me since we started gardening. We're going to create some sort of leaf bin back here, perhaps partially anchored on that tree trunk. The two slabs of old concrete and big rock were too big for Lee to move by himself and we're not sure where that leftover poured concrete came from, but think it might be from when we had the patio put in. Lee's going to see if he can dig it up:
And speaking of digging up...Jim, you were right, apparently we did grow that tire:
And while Lee did all the heavy labor, I earned the not so big bucks working away at my computer. I did take a couple of breaks over the past few days (few and far between, very busy at work right now), but during one break I spotted this swallowtail way down at the end of the garden on an aptly named butterfly bush:
I only got off two shots before it flew away, but wow was it a beauty:
A little later the same day I found this Monarch on a zinnia in the patio garden:
And this bizarre spider near the double-lounger. It's less than a 1/2 inch long:
Anyone know what it is? I can't find anything like it online:
We've finally fallen out of the high 80s/low 90s and Lee feels like cooking again, which is good since our kitchen table looks like a farmer's market. Last night he made a frittata with our own zucchini and lilac bell pepper plus not our own onion and garlic:
A delicious Black Russian tomato, our own golden oregano, and more of that lilac bell pepper plus not our own Yukon Gold potatoes (can't wait to try ours though!), fresh mozz, fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano, and eggs:
Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is just looking at this photo:
And there's a leftover piece in the fridge!
Oooh that frittata looks awesome. Nice job on clearing that yard area. That is so cute that you found a little car in that area!
Posted by: meemsnyc | August 19, 2010 at 01:28 AM
Good morning, Heather. I love a challenge, so sitting here with my coffee I searched bugguide.net and found your wonderful spider. She is a Micrathena gracilis, the Spined Micrathena. Yours is glossy black, but others have more white on their abdomens. She (guys don't make webs) is harmless to humans, but what a looker! Gorgeous.
You might consider creating an account and submitting your (excellent) insect and spider pictures to bug guide. It's a pretty useful resource.
Posted by: Jan | August 19, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Meems -- You must be a night owl like me! Lee was very proud of himself, he came and got me from my computer saying, "Jim was right!"
Jan -- You rock! And that's a nice compliment. I was so freaked out by the alien spider that my hand was shaking pretty badly trying to get close enough for a good macro shot.
Posted by: Heather's Garden | August 19, 2010 at 11:25 AM
I have just had a look at the frittata, how delicious are you still making them, perhaps post the recipe.
Garden looks great.
Posted by: Kerry | April 12, 2012 at 08:57 PM