Category Archives: season

Jun5

The Ambiance and Menu

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The ambiance and local menu tonight was colorful.  My huge kitchen is decorated with vases of our cut flowers and the fireplace mantle is overcome by beautiful blue hydrangeas from my parents’ yard.  Dean & I’s  dinner plates were filled with roasted spring root veggies and beef  farm fresh by friends who allow their cattle to graze in their farm’s natural pastureland.  I sit on my patio listening to the evening chatter of the birds and crickets until the summer night sky is dotted with fire flies. I needed some beauty in my life today.

My feline companions bat at the moth and June bug on the patio screen hoping to get a hold of them.  Celine and Lily will need to stay inside as the neighborhood Great Horned owl visits our tall backyard maple tree some evenings.  This may be one of those evenings.  We protect our animals from harm with barriers like screen doors.  Maybe similar to how our God sets up boundaries for us.  I take in the beauty of our green friends, the plants we care for everyday.  Tonight I will not water or trim or plant.  I will sit and enjoy the greenery.  They endured the sudden hail storm yesterday.  Our elephant ear , banana trees, and birds of paradise have ripped leaves now.  These plants will come through after some shedding.  Is not life like that?  We get hammered by hard blows,  unwarrantly and needlessly.  Yet, we rise again to be ourselves, probably better people for it if we allow.  Thank you God for the beauty my eyes behold tonight, and the reminder that the heart heals.

Jun1

Today & Every Morning

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I work in the county seat of Clayton, Missouri, the  hub for many financial institutions, businesses, and the government offices for St. Louis County.  Every morning when I arrive next to the Police Headquarters building, a peregrine falcon calls from the Commerce Bank building, which is at least 20 stories high.  It is a destinct call, and it echos between the other tall skyscrapers.  Today was no exception.  Although I appreciate the photo of the week challenge, to take  a photo of this peregrine falcon would show up as a speck in the photo as I do not have  a  zoom lens.   I cannot enter the rooftop of the bank building.  I am sharing an online photo of a peregrine falcon found on the city hall and courthouse in Minneapolis.   I have yet to see this falcon and his companion up close other than through binoculars.  I see remnants of where they have been, torn feathered wings of pigeons along the sidewalks and on top of my 5-story building.  Someday I may witness an attack in flight.  Until then, I enjoy the echos of their calls to each other.   They seem to need each other. 

 

May29

How Many Hands?

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How many hands does it take to tear down and haul the parts for the Deanna Greens and Garden Art 1300 square foot greenhouse?  Well, it was Dean and I plus 10 family members and 4 friends, so that makes 16 able bodies, 16 smart brains, 32 sure feet, and 32 working hands.  The temperatures hit a hot & humid 95 degrees on the tear down day, typical summertime weather in St. Louis, Missouri.  Iced water, soda, and beer waited in coolers, and our lovely landlady brought us iced wet cloths for our necks and heads to keep us cooled down.   Freshly made sandwiches for lunch and home-cooked BBQ pulled pork with coleslaw for dinner.  More than anything, it was the attitudes that got us through.  I never heard a word of complaint, and no injuries were occurred at this Memorial Day holiday weekend project.   Tear down on Saturday, clean up on Sunday, and Monday hauling the greenhouse parts to Defiance, Missouri.  I am proud of this team!  Dean & I have the rebuild the next 3 or 4 weekends, and more help promised.  God is good!  And so are His people!  We are thankful!

May25

Sunhat Weather

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Summer time is here!  It is the Memorial Day holiday weekend, and the forecast promises sunhat weather.   High 90’s, sunny, &  humid, and we are moving our greenhouse!  My prayers were for no storms and lightening, but I was not specific about my temperature request.   90% of our plants are moved.  Tonight we have more hanging pots to cart to their temporary residence, our backyard!  Our neighbors probably think we have flipped or saying “Dean & Anna are flower children for sure!”   My grandson exclaimed, “It’s a jungle out there!”  I keep wanting to get beyond this move, dreaming of a slower pace, less plants, and more time to care for them.  It will come!

May22

God’s Hands On Earth

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I ponder the Photo Challenge of the Week: Hands.  I keep coming back to the famous art work by Michelangelo’s “Hands of God And Adam”.  Adam literally means “earth” in Hebrew, what God called His first man.  This Hebrew word is derived from a word which means “to be red”, ruddy color like man’s skin or the Akkadian word “adamu” meaning “to make”.  According to Genesis, Adam was made from the earth “adamah”.   

With gardening, I feel the presence of God in all my senses.  I touch the dirt, the living earth.  I smell the basil as I plant it in the terra cotta pot, and hear the raindrops fall on its leaves.  My eyes and heart see the delicate pink hibuscus blossom opened wide to the sunlight peaking above the green tree tops.  And I taste the goodness of God when I indulge in my salad greens.  God is good!

May16

Media Coverage

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Blooming and green plants, and planters, these have been my focus for the market the past couple of weeks.  Mother’s Day weekend went well.  I anticipate this coming weekend to be another great day at the market.  Rain or shine, the families come to buy local!  The Lake Saint Louis Farmers’ and Artists’ Market made the “Show Me St Louis” show on April 30.  And I am proud that the Deanna Greens and Garden Art booth shows up on the segment after about 1 minute into the video.     I am servicing a woman and her daughter in this short clip.  Here is the link: 

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=318235

 

May11

Restlessness

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I have been everywhere and back this past 10 days.  Yes, it has been that long since I posted on my blog.  Besides my full-time job and everywhere it sends me any given day, I have spent time with family, and of course at the greenhouse.  The greenhouse is not so crowded these days.  Yeh!  We have been selling many botanicals, perennials, and herbs, mostly at the Saturday farmers’ market.  Our wild-looking tomato plants have not been a hot selling item.  Not because of their looks we do not suppose, but because the township where we sell does not allow its residents to plant vegetable gardens!  Yes, you read that correctly.   I could not believe what I heard residents saying.  So our healthy, long-stemmed tomato plants have made new homes in organic farm fields as well as in family and friends’ yards where they are wanted.  Our farmers’ market clients have swooped up bedding plants and hanging planters.  Our greens are loved by others besides ourselves!  With my restless personality, we have started moving some other plants out of the greenhouse to our yard in preparation of our move Memorial Day weekend. Our “momma” plants, a huge arrowhead, rabbit’s fern, and red-leaf  philodendron are sheltered under the Japanese maple near our front porch.  The beautiful geraniums made their way to the wagon in our front yard.  And the Kingston ferns are loving the filtered sunlight under the big sugar maple.   My husband put up the screen house in the backyard ready to put the little plants on tables inside after this busy Mother’s Day weekend.  It the midst of all this activity, one evening I found an immature robin bird sleeping in the “momma” red-leaf.   It was awaken by my watering.  He scurried away from me in short flight, but hung around the front yard.  I think this robin bird became as restless as I feel.  He was not around the next morning.  So happy our plants made  a home for him while he was learning to fly.  Just hope the neighbor tom cat did not come around. 

Apr18

How Was Our 1st Outdoor Market Day?

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We loaded up the Deanna Greens and Garden Art van with perennials, a few houseplants, and loads of tomato and herb plants the Friday night before the opening of the outdoor market for this growing season.  And it was the first at the Lake Saint Louis Farmers’ and Artists’ Market.  We knew the forecast, and it was pretty accurate.  As I drove down the highway about 6:40am Saturday morning I approached “midnight”.  The darkness was lit up with lightning, and the wind terrific.  I prayed “Please God no tornadoes!”   God heard my plea and had mercy on me!  Dean & I were soaked putting up our new tent and unloading our green inventory.  But our plants loved the rain when sheltered somewhat from the gusts of wind as neighboring tents went up.  Not quite like the greenhouse! But the tent, their temporary home, held up through the wind and rain.  Our featured garden art were handmade pottery from my sister-in-law, Joan Bates and my sister’s photo cards.  We managed to keep them dry.  And the people came with umbrellas and ponchos!  Amazing how a community can get so excited about a farmers’ market!  St. Louis news media showed up to capture the event despite our bad hair day!  Look for Deanna Greens and Garden Art on Show Me St. Louis.  Airing time to be posted later.    It was a good market day for us!    Check out more details of the LSL Farmers’ and Artists’ Market:  http://www.lakestlouisfarmersandartistsmarket.com/

Apr13

Opening Day of Outdoor Farmers’ Market

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Deanna Greens and Garden Art will feature lovely 10″ hanging planters of perennials at the new Lake Saint Louis Farmers’ Market tomorrow held at The Meadows Shopping Center from 8:00am – 12:00 noon.  We have Boston ferns, geraniums and vinca mixed, geraniums and swedish ivy mixed, dragon-wing and charm begonias, and coleus planters and pots as well as heirloom tomato and herb plants.  This is the first outdoor market for us, and they are predicting storms, not just rain!  Hopefully, the patrons bring umbrellas or do not mind getting wet.  I know the plants like fresh rain water.  No high winds, please!  Our new tent as well as all 24 other vendors’ tents will be secured with 40# concrete weights at each peg.  Also featured will be hand-crafted photo cards and ceramic pots made by St. Charles County native artisans.  Come join opening day of the spring farmers’ market!

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Apr2

Sea Shells

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My stepson visited the South Padre Islands during his spring break.  He shared this lovely photo.   These sea shells have so many different designs, arranged in the sand based on species, time, water, sun, the whole life system.  Below is a poem sparked by the photo …

Our lives are like sea shells in the sand. 

Arranged on a palette, seemingly haphazardly.  

A beautiful seascape with the ocean, sun, wind,

and sparkling sands highlighting.

Small, significant, striped, or speckled shells.

Ridged, in the rough, raw, reckless, and ruffled.

Omnipresent, opaque, oval, and an oyster’s home.

 Is your life smooth sailing right now? 

Or does it feel hollow echoing sounds,  

reminders of voices from the past? 

Storms interrupting life?

There  is a Pearl awaiting discovery.