Category Archives: Uncategorized

February 8, 2026 · 7:33 pm

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIEND

Last week I mentioned my plans

To cut back a section of Hellebore.

I’m pleased to say it’s done.

Lots of buds were discovered

Under all those big leathery leaves.

And they are reaching for the sun

More and more each day.

It’s early for me to have this task completed.

The truth is I had help.

It came in the form of a new friend.

Christina is visiting a neighbor.

She mentioned that she grew up

Gardening with her grandfather

And later managed a flower shop.

Now…I don’t let just anyone

Lose in my garden

Especially with pruners in their hands.

But when I offered her gloves

And her response was

“No, I like to touch the soil.”

I knew she was trustworthy.

We spent a glorious February afternoon

Getting to know each other

As we uncovered God’s first gift

Of the season.

New friend.

New season.

Hope.

Happy gardening,

Gail

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February 5, 2026 · 8:22 pm

First Blooms

Our weather has gone from last week’s artic blast

To Spring

Or perhaps we should say

False Spring.

The first of the year.

With days in the 60’s and 70’s

For the foreseeable future

It’s oh so temptimg to dive into the garden.

In the past I’ve made myself wait and wait

Destracting myself with seed sowing.

I’m still sowing seeds,

But this winter I’m letting myself

Into the garden early.

Today with pruners in my pocket

I began to cut back last year’s leaves

On the Hellebore plants.

There are four shady sections of Hellebore

Throughout my garden.

Truth be told I only cut back the leaves in the front section.

Since the other three are tucked at the back

And the blooms are barely visible.

Those I use for cutting

Since Hellebore are the first blooms of the season.

I love having them in my house.

They are a bit tricky to hold in a vase.

So be sure and prick or slit the bloom stems

So they can stay hydrated.

And share a few with friends.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a garden.

Enjoy the sunny days

Gail

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January 11, 2026 · 7:44 pm

SUNRISE

Growing up on a farm

“in the middle of nowhere”

Has it’s advantages.

Stepping onto the front patio of our home

Gave me a view from sunrise to sunset.

A completely unobstructed view.

The prairie offers that to anyone

Who takes the time to look.

My father always took the time to look.

He was a farmer first and foremost

So early morning was his time.

He took endless photographs.

My sister, Ann, now lives in that house.

And stands on that same patio

Early in the morning.

She fequently adds to that collection of pictures.

So what better way to begin a new year,

And hopefully a return to regular blogs,

Than with sharing a family sunrise tradition.

Gardening will start soon

Baby cabbages are already sprouting

In the garden house.

Winter jugs will be seeded

With the hope of spring.

And I’ll happily have dirt under my fingernails.

But for now I’ll marvel in the beauty of the prairie

And the luck of living here.

Gail

Photo credits Ann Denney

Uncategorized

IT’S BUG SEASON

Labor Day weekend mentally marks the end of summer.

Some even consider it the beginning of fall.

And since the heat dome has finally moved away from here

The temperatures are peaking most days in the 80’s.

What a relief.

It’s been a long hot summer

For just about everyone.

I would like to submit another option for this season.

Bug season!

Despite all the heat

It’s another buggy year.

Orb weaver spiders have been popping up for weeks.

John even found some at the farm

Who have all ready filled their eggs sacks.

Almost evey day I see a praying mantis.

This morning I rescued one from the inside of the kitchen window

And found another on the door as I took the first one outside.

Their are bees and wasps and moths and Monarch butterflies

Along with the occational hummingbird.

I love the buzzy feel of the garden

At this time of the year.

So how did I get so lucky.

Well, I do live on the Monarch migration path

But there is also intentionality about it.

First you have to give up spraying chemicals.

It’s important to put up with bugs and let them

Find their own balance.

If we stay out of their way

They will do just that.

Then we need to make sure they have food.

That means growing pollinator friendly plants

And extending their bloom well into the season.

Zinnias and Cosmos planted in July,

Deadheading Verbena Bonariensis and tall garden Phlox

Letting the Cockscomb bloom….and bloom.

Water is also important.

If you don’t have a bird bath

Saucers with rocks or pebbles to rest on

Will be greatly appreciated

By everyone.

We are, after all

Part of this one glorious community.

Happy bug season.

Gail

I aologize for my unplanned lengthy sabbatical. I spent over a year writing stories of my life for my family. They gave me a subscription to Storyworth. It was great fun to answer their questions and record my story. If you like to write or spin a tale check it out.

CABBAGE UPDATE

This is the third winter

Of my seed starting education.

I guess if it’s a college course

I’m a Junior!

And honestly, I feel like I’m making progress.

As of today I have 128 cabbage “teenagers”

Since last week they were potted into

A bit bigger pot and seem to love it.

When I began the process

Of popping them out of their toasty cell homes

They were actually root bound.

That has never been the case for me.

I think the credit goes to having the grow lights much closer.

It’s really the only big change this year.

But there are a few tricks I’ve picked up

Over the past few years

That are improving the end result.

For years I had a problem with “damping off”.

It’s a fungus that kills a happy baby plant.

They just lay over and die.

Very disappointing.

While listening to one of the endless gardening

Podcasts or YouTube videos

Someone made the comment that Chamomile tea

Is a natural fungicide.

So now my seedling babies and I enjoy tea together

On a regular basis.

I simply put a tea bag in my wonderful mister

And one in the watering can.

I don’t want to jinx it but so far not a casualty this season.

Another great help are timers.

Since seedlings like about 16 hours of light a day

These are great for turning that off and on.

I also plug a fan into a separate timer

To go off and on every 30 minutes

About 10 hours a day.

The fan also helps with fungal growth

It’s big job is to act as a gentle breeze

Strengthening the stems of the plants.

Everything is watered from the bottom

Once it has sprouted.

I set the pots in everything from old cookie sheets,

To rejected boot bin trays

To saved carry out containers.

Yellow sticky traps come in handy

For all those gnats that will eventually come.

I’m sure there are more tricks to learn.

For me that is the joy of all of this

Picking up tips and tricks

And the continual learning.

You have to be willing to fail a little along the way

But then there is the joy of getting to try again…and again.

Gail

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Tagged as Cabbage, Seedlings

January 22, 2023 · 9:05 pm

LET’S TALK LETTUCE

With the warm winter we are having

At least so far

People are getting antsy to plant something.

Yet, it’s basically too early for almost everything.

There is one group of vegetables that might work now

No guarntees though.

Greens

Greens like the cool seasons.

So here in zone 7a

That means spring and fall.

My favorites are arugula and leaf lettuce.

But all kinds of greens like it cool.

I like to plant it on the edges of my flower beds

And in my big pots

Planted on top of the tulips I buried in November.

My favorite is a leaf lettuce mix

From Johnny’s Selected Seeds

Called Allstar Gourmet Lettuce Mix.

Simply rough up the soil a bit

And sprinkle the seeds.

Then run a rake gently over them

And pat it down a bit.

Keep the soil damp while it germinates.

You can do this in several places

At two week intervals.

By March or so you will have plenty of fresh greens

For you and whatever bunnies may come your way.

Granted it’s not full on gardening

But it’s a tasty way

To start the season.

And isn’t it amazing how something as fragile

As lettuce

Can withstand the tougher conditions of winter.

Life is like that sometimes.

Gail

PS Cabbage babies keep sprouting!

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January 15, 2023 · 8:19 pm

TINY MIRACLES

As I reported last week

I’ve started my indoor gardening season.

This is my third year for starting cabbage.

Just this week I read that the germination rate for cabbage

Is near 100%.

Wish I had known that before I planted 140 cells with seeds.

Sure enough within three days over 100 of those seeds had sprouted

And today I am the proud mother of 126 baby cabbages.

YIKES!

At least twice a day

Coco and I journey to the garden house

To make sure they are OK.

So far everyone is happy.

Now I don’t expect each of them to make it to maturity

But I probably will be looking for homes for some of these

Since I will have more than even Faith Farm can handle.

This week I added Flat Italian Parsley and Sweet Peas

To the line up.

So far they are still dormant

Which is fine with me

Giving me an excuse

To check on things.

Just as I was ready to plant an indoor lettuce crop

I noticed a tiny miracle in my garden.

The luscious crop that was a victim

Of the pre Christmas Artic blast

Is coming back from the roots.

Never did I imagine that.

Both areas are planted against the edge

Of the brick patio

Giving them warmth

And one area is well protected from the north.

But really

Surviving -20 degrees!

There is a richness that comes

From these tiny miracles.

For me it adds to the depth of joy

In the cold and sunless days of winter.

Wishing tiny miracles for you this week.

Gail

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Tagged as Cabbage

January 8, 2023 · 7:21 pm

AND SO IT BEGINS

While our gardens are taking their

Long winter’s nap

Most gardeners are dreaming of spring.

The volume of seed catalogs we receive

Only makes us yearn all the more

For those first few days

When we know winter is fading.

Over the last few years

I’ve been filling this void

With indoor seed starting.

Each year I get a bit better at it

But I still have much to learn.

This year I’m improving the light

Available for seed germination and growing.

Thanks to a generous gift of LED lighting

From my friend Jenny

And a Christmas gift of a seed starting station

From John

I have a new found hope

Of even better results.

The first thing up is always cabbage.

Here in zone 7a cabbage plants need to be out

Between February 15 and March 10.

So last week their tiny seeds

Hit the dirt – so to speak!

It felt good to have my hands in soil again

Even if it came from a bag.

I’ll start Italian Parsley and Basil this week for Faith Farm

And a winter lettuce crop for myself

Since the pre-Christmas -20 wind chill

Took out all that was planted in the ground.

I think of gardening as one grand experiment.

Often pushing the limits

Or defying the “rules”.

I’ve accidentally done that this year

With the fact that the last of the spring flowering bulbs

Are just now going into the ground

Taking full advantage

That is the grace of God’s great earth.

Gail

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Filed under Basil, Cabbage, Community Garden, Gardening, Herbs, Lettuce, Oklahoma Gardening, Seed Catalogs, Seeds, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Winter Garden

August 7, 2022 · 4:43 pm

PROPAGATING

One of the things I love to do when traveling

Is visit local gardens.

So on our recent family trip

To Newport and its Jazz Festival

We headed for Bellevue Avenue

And the mansions of the “Gilded Age”.

They are spectacular.

Unbelievable really.

Actually, a little too unbelievable for our taste.

There likely were elaborate gardens

At one point.

But not so much today.

There are however seas of hydrangea

Blue mopheads, green limelights and

Of course, Annabelles.

But I like real gardens

The kind that are a bit messy and unkept

Like mine.

Luckily Elliott discovered Blithewold Mansion and Gardens

Down the road in Bristol, R. I.

Though Blithewold was built during the same era

It has a completely different feel.

I feels like a family lived, played and gardened there.

The estate is currently 33 acres.

It is filled with a cutting garden, vegetable garden

Water garden, bamboo forest, rose garden, greenhouses

And an arboretum.

Generally, I head straight for the flowers

And they were wonderful.

Many of the things I grow

And others I’ve long been curious about.

It did not disappoint.

But the trees are what captivated me.

In particular the Giant Sequoia.

Now remember, I’m on the east coast

Not California.

I know, I was a bit confused myself.

I don’t remember how the first one came to Blithewold

But Marjorie Randolph Van Wickle Lyon the daughter who grew up here

Took it upon herself

To learn to propagate them.

And propagate she did.

The origianal Sequoia is now 90 feet tall.

There are a dozen more on their estate

All of which are the product of Marjorie’s ingenuity.

It seems she created so many that she gave them

To guests who visited.

I like this lady.

So let’s think about this.

A young woman

Born in 1883

Into an era and a social strata

That shall we say

Didn’t encourage women to do

Well…anything.

Yet, she decides to propagate

GIANT SEQUOIA !

Marjorie never had children

Yet she left a legacy that will last generations.

So as three generations of Wynnes

Explored her home

I couldn’t help but think about the legacy

And memories

We create each day.

Hoping that we will leave such a lasting legacy.

Gail

Gardens

FLUID CRYSTALLIZATION

There is a section of my garden

Where I don’t have many perennials.

I have given it over to self seeding annuals.

Poppies and Larkspur in the spring

Are followed by Cosmos, Cleome, Cockscomb and Zinnias.

This does however result in a few empty spaces.

For years – decades really – I have planted Zinnias in those places.

This happens later in the season.

Usually mid – June through Mid – July.

So when the first round of volunteer Zinnias

Get mildew

And they will.

I have a second fresh crop for fall.

This accidental plan

Has worked great for years and years.

Then comes this summer.

The first round of Zinnia seeds

Planted in mid – June

Have sprouted and started to bloom.

But the second and third rounds

Simply won’t sprout.

I’ve tried different varieties

From different companies

At different times

And zilch!

Then I read this week

That because of this relentless heat

The soil is too hot to germinate seeds.

Seriously…how can that be.

Think about that for a moment.

It’s a really scarey thought

Since growing food

Requires lots and lots of seed germination.

So, once again, we must adjust our knowledge

Of what works

And what no longer will.

Which brought to mind a book I’m reading.

“From Strength to Strength” by Arthur C Brooks.

In it he talks about the “fluid intelligence” of our 30’s and 40’s

And the “crystallized intelligence” of my stage of life

And ways of sharing our “crystallization” (my word) that will lead to happiness.

So my “crystallized intelligence” of decades in the garden

Needs to become a bit more fluid

To adapt to nature and the changes we are forcing on it.

But that is really how nature works.

Witness the life of poet Mary Oliver

Who walked the woods and shorelines of her home

Writing books and books of poems.

Leaving behind a depth of “crystallized intelligence”

For the world.

Maybe it’s the generations of Presbyterians in me

But I’m thankful I don’t have all the answers.

About gardening

And about life.

There is still space to grow.

Gail

If we don’t change we don’t grow. If we don’t grow we aren’t really living.

Gail Sheehy

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Filed under cleome, cockscomb, Cosmos, Garden Planning, Gardening, Larkspur, Nature, Perennials, Poppy, Seeds, self seeding annuals, Timing, Uncategorized, Zinnia

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