Big (hair) Love

I’ve been wearing my hair like a Mormon cult wife recently. I don’t know why exactly, I just started casually braiding while watching TV the other night and there it was, a big pink and blonde French braid à la Big Love down my back. I guess I kind of like it (?) and it does keep my hair out of my face while I am in the garden.  But then this morning I had a thought, is this how it starts? First you move to the suburbs, then you start gardening, then a French braid starts feeling like reasonable style choice, than pretty soon you are begging your husband to bring on a sister wife to help with the farm and fulfill the lord’s plan? I don’t know. Maybe I should go back to hipster pigtails, what do you guys think?

Happy Friday flower

A salesperson at the East Bay nursery once told me she didn't think we have enough sun for dahlias, but clearly she hasn't seen our front yard. It's like the surface of Venus out there, and the dahlias dig it.

If you can't beat 'em....

I was tired of battling all the wild blackberry in our garden that mostly comes from the neighbor's yard behind us. The neighbors don't do any gardening whatsoever and have monster 8' high!*  bushes that spill over the fence into the area behind our shed.

So I decided to just train those suckers up on a trellis! So far it looks like we have a few pints of berries coming, with tons more flowers on the way. YAY!

Here is another shot, that is less pretty, but gives a better idea of how many berries we have coming: 

And these are only a small portion of what's really there. ( it's just the sections that I could somewhat attractively capture in the frame.)  Thankfully I have Simon around to bake a pie later this summer when they are ripe. I'm a terrible baker, but I LOVE pie.

*see how I totally just used the right mark for feet- I'm learning!!
 

The internet told me...

Hanging tinfoil in the trees around the garden scares away the crows. 

The internet was wrong. The crows are still harassing me, and every other living thing within a 5 mile radius.  Also, in case you were curious, they don't give a tiny rat's ass about CDs hung in the tress. Even if they are old scratched White Stripes CDs. Crows do not fear Jack White, or his Sister/Wife. 

PS. Did you notice the cucumber plants in the background of the first photo? They are now about 6"  high, so growing, but you know, not really needing that enormous trellis.