Living simply beautiful Nursery and farm

10/07/2025

Working here today in what I now call Chippers cottage aka our little check out shed . I named it Chippers Cottage for a frequent visitor of mine. I usually have the door open and nature music playing or something soothing .An inquisitive chipmunk likes to visit as I sit quietly sorting seeds or hanging flowers to dry. He pops in and runs out .At times I have caught him trying to bury a hazelnut in a pot or 2 lol. I enjoy seeing him and so far he hasn't a nuisance . Its such a beautiful day today I hope everyone is out enjoying nature in one way or another. The flower harvest has been so good this year .Here are a few pics of them and some of the new seed packets we designed...

09/28/2025

Today I discovered something I am so excited about I just had to share. About 24 months or so ago I needed shade in an area sooner than later. After researching I decided to plant a Paulownia tree. I have always loved their purple flowers and their huge leaves. I was lucky enough to find one locally from Edith Emerson aka Edees Cottage Garden seeds. The tree was a baby about 12 inches tall. I planted it as soon as I returned home. Its now 25ft approx 24 months later. It takes 8-15 years for the purple blooms so I knew I had to be patient. Today im looking up at the top as im watering and something looks different. I zoom in with my camera and OMG! Im getting blooms. I am so excited I just had to share! I hope to have some starts available from this tree next year fingers crossed. Happy gardening!

09/22/2025

I love squash! This Green Ayote Squash is my new favorite! It has green skin and green /yellow flesh. It has a smooth texture when cooked. It would be great in baked goods or plain. We love it with just butter salt and pepper. The flavor has a hint of sweetness with a bit of melon just delicious.It produces a good amount per plant . This will be a staple in my garden each year. 😋 We will have seeds this fall and stars in the spring.

09/22/2025

Harvesting Celosia seeds...Celosia is a fascinating flower great for drying for crafts, making tea & making dye. No 2 are the same and they have a velvety look and feel . To harvest the seeds they need to be dried. The seeds are located in the neck of the flower once the flower is mature. When dry a gentle brushing with your fingers help release the seeds that haven't already fallen out. We will have dried celosia and seeds this fall and plants next spring. Happy gardening !

09/20/2025

Each year I like to find and try new breeds of plants edibles and non edibles. This year I tried a few rare melon types. This one is a keeper. With our weather here a smaller melon seems to be perfect as it takes less time to grow & ripen. This is a Kajari Melon. When it's ripe the stripes turn orange and green and it practically falls off the vine. Inside the flesh is green similar to the honey dew. Its small enough to be a personal size but it would make super cute and delicious dessert cups if filled with some other small fruits or vanilla ice cream . Its good just plain as well. We will be growing this again next year and we will have seeds available this fall as well.

09/06/2025

I'm glad I gave Celosia a try...seeds will be available at the end of fall.

Loving Celosia