Whole Earth Festival

Last weekend my mom and I went to the Whole Earth Festival.  There were great booths on eco-friendly companies and information how to green up your life.  I didn't take any pictures of the booths, ya, that kind of skipped my mind.  I took pictures of a weird sculpture I liked and some pretty poppies next to one of the booths.

The most exciting part of the day, by far, was giving blood.  I love giving blood.  I think it's great to help others, but that's not the real reason I love donating.  I actually enjoy the blood giving process.  The phlebotomists (blood takers) are so appreciative of you.  What can I say, I'm a sucker for people who like me.  I like the nervous feeling before they stick you with the needle, it makes me feel alive.  I even like watching the bag fill with blood, it is amazing to think we can lose that much and be fine.  Then afterward they feed you and sometimes give you gifts.  What's not to like?

After I was done with the blood people my mom and I went and got strawberry shortcake from the Gaia Hotel booth.  It was delicious.  I forgot to take a picture of that too. 

It was a great day and I'm really glad that Redding is making an effort to be more green and get everyone involved. 

Evening in the Garden

Tonight after a delicious dinner by Chef Judy and amazing lemondrops courtesy of bartender Willow, my mama and I decided to take a trek down to the garden to survey everything after last night's storm.

I realize that marigolds are not that exciting to most people. They were the first thing I ever grew from seed so they have a special place in my heart. Not to mention the way they protect everything around them by attracting good bugs. What's not to like? All the marigolds I grew from seed this year were collected from last years crop. I have done this now for two years. See how well my marigols in the pot are doing. They look happy to me.

We headed down to the first plot. This is my third year of growing squash, but it never fails to amaze me the way they grow so quickly. I think they secretly want to take over the world. This year I am growing cinderella pumpkins, butternut squash, cucumbers, and spaghetti squash. I took a picture of the beginning of a little pumpkin, atleast that's what I think it is. There are a few on there. I have only grown pumpkins once and only one tiny little pumpkin showed up, so it was only a partial success. I'm hoping for more this year. Plus cinderella pumpkins are supposed to be awesome, they are flatter and have big lobes. We shall see if they are the fairytale pumpkin they are cracked up to be.

Lastly, we went down to the second and final plot to check on the rest of the tomatoes and snap peas and carrots. The tomatoes are getting huge and they are even beginning to flower. I also showed mom how to remove the sucker limbs between the branches which of course left us both smelling like tomato plants. That smell is so particular. I was telling her how I dream about in the winter, not that I like it, but it reminds me of summer. Everything looks good, in fact there might even be enoughroom to plant my last cucumber plant down there. He wants a home desperately and he could climb the fence down there.

As we headed back up to the house my mom's dog Zoe wanted to know why the snap pea plants don't have any snap peas and to be honest I would like to know too!