October is My Favorite

I've always loved October. Something about the arrival of cooler weather energizes me. I get a lot done in October.

This October I worked on a few projects. Project #1 at the beginning of the month was to bake the yummiest birthday cake for my husband Chip. I chose Macrina's Tuxedo Cake, and it was fabulous. This cake is huge. It goes something like this: chocolate cake topped with chocolate ganache, another layer of chocolate cake topped with raspberries and whipped cream, another layer of chocolate cake and ganache, then the top layer of chocolate cake. All frosted with the most delicious white chocolate cream cheese frosting. Wow. It took me about six hours to bake it and put it together. It was really good but RICH (obviously).

Project #2 was the fall/winter garden. My grandpa grows spinach, mustard greens, turnip greens, and broccoli in his fall/winter garden. Chip and I don't love greens, but we do like spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, and Swiss chard. I bought transplants (the ones I listed plus fennel and leeks) from Mountain Valley Growers. I love this website! I've purchased healthy herbs and perennials from them in the past: thyme, spice islands rosemary, all-purple mexican bush sage. All have performed excellently in my garden. My live transplants were sent via 2-day shipping. I ordered on a Sunday night and the plants arrived that Wednesday afternoon. The packaging is awesome.

I need to buy some fabric row covers. It doesn't get too terribly cold here in central Mississippi. We rarely see low temps drop below 20F, and we're still months away from weather that cold (think February). I am thinking about getting this GardenQuilt cover from Gardeners Supply Company. Anyone out there have experience with this fabric, or can recommend a different one?

Ole Miss Presidential Debate 2008

The scene in Oxford last week was unbelieveable. So much excitement and fun!

Jenny Lewis on Wednesday night was AWESOME. Go out and buy her new album Acid Tounge today, because it rocks. And she rocked it. I'm not sure that I've ever seen anyone have that much fun on stage.

Neko Case on Thursday was fabulous. I've never heard a voice quite like hers. She has so much soul!

Neko Case at The Lyric Oxford

After the show, I saw the Red Bull bus outside of the Library Sports Bar. Ha!

Then Friday brought the big "Rock the Vote" celebration in the Grove at Ole Miss. Chip and I went back and forth from the Oxford Square to the Grove a few times, enjoying every minute of it. Some of the things we saw:

The back of Andrea Miller of MSNBC. Sorry I couldn't get a better angle... Hardball with Chris Matthews was recording live from the Ole Miss Student Union all afternoon. I was seriously hoping Rachel Maddow would be there, too. She wasn't!

Then I saw Howard Dean! Here he is taking a photo with Dr. Conlon. She is a MIS professor at Ole Miss. Dr. Conlon taught me everything I know about SQL. I loved her class! She was super excited to meet Dr. Dean. Her husband, an economics professor, spoke with Dr. Dean for quite a while.

And here I am with Howard Dean. His tie was really cool. It said Obama'08 very tiny across the whole thing.

We toured the Grove and saw all sorts of people wearing buttons, stickers, signs, hats, and costumes professing their love for their candidate of choice. These rednecks are for Obama. In the background are mini-wind turbines set up by Power Vote.

Before we left, I took a photo in front of the Obama tent.

We went up to the Square at about 5:30 PM to set up our chairs for the debate. The city of Oxford blocked off one side of the Square and set up two large screens for the community to watch the debate. The crowd was great. Excited. Polite. I didn't get any photos, though. I was dog-tired from walking all over town and just collapsed in my lawn chair until the debate started. The debate was great. I loved watching it in a mixed crowd like that. From the sound of folks' clapping or cheering, I could tell the debate was pretty much a draw. Maybe the Obama voters were a tiny bit louder. Just a tiny bit.

Most of my readers could care less about what happened on Saturday, but I have to mention it. Chip and I went to the sports bar at 11:00 AM to watch the Rebels take on the #4 Florida Gators in Gainsville. Kick off was at 11:30 AM, and what a game! You can read the highlights here. Rebels beat the Gators 31-30. Who-hoo! What a great weekend to be a Rebel fan!

What's Blooming at a Shower Fresh Garden?

Fall is in the air this week at a Shower Fresh Garden. I can hardly believe it! Monday and Tuesday the high was in the mid 70s. Low was in the low 60s. Isn't that wonderful? Here in Mississippi, we've had summers where September was still in the high 90s. Even on my wedding day in late September 2004 we had hot, muggy weather.

My anniversary is coming up soon. Chip and I are planning to go to Oxford to celebrate the beginning of our fifth year of marriage. Oxford is where we spent our first years together and where we got married. We're planning a dinner for two at City Grocery, then meeting up with friends at the Neko Case show at Oxford's new Lyric theather. Then Friday is the day of the big debate. Yes, the really, really big Presidential Debate. I'm beyond excited that we get to be in town on such a historic day for Ole Miss, Oxford, and the USA! I'll try to take good photos to share with all of you. I might see some TV news reporters. Maybe I'll even get to shake the hand of future President Obama!

I am ready for fall gardening. I'm making a list of perennials I want to try. My veronicas turned black (disease?), so I want to replace them with something new. Maybe liatris (aka gayfeather or blazing star)? Photo from White Flower Farm (not my yard)... Many of my flowers are still blooming their hearts out. The new hydrangeas look really pretty. I am beyond happy about these shrubs. Next year I want to try to get the blooms to stay purple because I love purple.
Purple heart is blooming its heart out, and the bumblebees are happy. This guy gathered all the pollen he could carry.

Catmint and liriope (monkey grass to us Southerners) are also blooming this time of year.

Coleus and dwarf orange zinnias complement the Ole Miss "M" flag in the backyard. Mexican purple sage opened its blooms last week as the verbena winds down.

Mexican petunia continues to put on a show.
I have put out a few mums, as the geraniums I bought back in March for the front door were looking a little worse for wear. Pink mums for me.

A Brand New Fence

Weeks ago I promised photos of the fabulous fence Chip built around our pool pump. Just to recap, this is what the bed looked like back in September 2007.
Yeah, BAD. Overgrown with weeds -- I think there were a couple of gumtrees growing in there. Hard to maintain. Ugly.

We started on this project last fall. To give more background, this bed gets maybe 2 hours of midday sun. The previous owners had planted beautiful purple irises, pretty autumn ferns, purple heart, Stella d'Oro daylilies, monkey grass, and a few azaleas. I'd already moved the azaleas to another bed where they were doing great. The irises and daylilies just did not belong in this bed - not enough sun! I had other plans for the ferns. First I moved the ferns to the porch swing bed. Then I divided and moved the daylilies. Then I divided and moved the irises. The only plants that I left were the monkey grass and the purple heart. After the bed was cleared out, I began executing my new plan: Endless Summer Hydrangeas.

And Chip started the fence:

When the fence was done we added a few vines - star jasmine and clematis - and mulched the finished bed. Look at her now!

Such an improvement! This really took us months to complete. I started moving plants in November 2007. The fence was started in April 2008. And the whole project was completed in August. I say three cheers for Chip on this awesome fence! When he started this I had no idea he could build the whole thing from scratch - he even built the gate! Whoo-hoo!

Catching Up

Some great transformations have happened this summer at A Shower Fresh Garden, and I need to get you guys caught up! Chip built an AWESOME fence around the pool pump. I'll post about that later this week. First I want to show you the almost finished herb garden!

Last summer I wrote about four different sections of my garden that were just atrocious. I've fixed a few of those "Bad and Ugly" beds. I put a veggie garden in where there were dead azaleas before. And on my front porch I've replaced even more dead azaleas with knockout roses . The veggie garden hasn't thrived. Turns out that spot is too sunny for azaleas and not sunny enough to make tomatoes. I've babied my veggie patch all summer, and all we've gotten out of it are some radishes and sugar snap peas. Here's a photo from today.

See? I've got a pepper plant, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, eggplant, even some sad little tomato plants. But the only thing that seems to be growing well is one weird cucumber. If you read the sign in my iris bed, it says, "There are no garden mistakes, only experiments." Yep, I feel like Wallace (from Wallace and Grommet) because I am "experimenting mostly!" I have a plan to fix this. I always have a plan! Well, look at that! The left side of the tree gets tons of sun! Sure, I'll have to convert more of the lawn for garden, but I'm sure Chip won't complain. All I need is another one of those raised beds, because I do love that raised bed. And I'm sure there are veggies that will grow in partial shade. The sugar snaps did fine. Any suggestions on what other veggies will grow in partial shade?

The herb garden transformation is really something. Remember how terrible it looked? Well, take a look at this (June 2007):

First, Chip added a brick patio (March 2008).
Then, I added a raised bed for the herbs (April 2008).
Then, I did some major landscaping. My favorite addition has been catmint (first photo below). I also added cannas that I moved from the veggie garden bed, a lantana that I moved from the front porch bed, and some daylilies that I moved when redoing the bed by the pool pump. Really the only plants I bought new were the catmint, the herbs, a few extra liriope, and a gardenia.

The transformation is almost complete! My grandfather is making us two white benches to place around the firepit on the brick patio. I'll post more photos when I get them. So far, I am really pleased with what we've been able to accomplish! The soil in this bed was hard, difficult to dig, and totally depleted . Compost from my bin was a lifesaver. We've been able to turn this portion of my yard into something usable and its not ugly anymore!

Mmmm... Beer...

Chip's brother went to Oxford a few weeks ago, and then made a trip up to West Memphis, Arkansas for some beer. Why go all the way to Arkansas for beer? Because New Belgium beer isn't widely distributed east of the Mississippi River! (They certainly don't sell it across the bridge in Delta, Louisiana). And if you've ever had New Belgium beer, you know why it is worth driving for.

Scott got us a case of Sunshine Wheat and a Folly Pack. Holy moly, this stuff is good.
The Mothership Wit is FAN-TASTIC! I am in love with white beer to begin with. My favorite is the Kronenbourg Blanc I had on tap in a posh Belgravia pub on our trip to London last year. Mothership Wit is organic.

The Old Cherry was good, too. Tasted a lot like Fat Tire with a hint of cherry fruit. The Folly Pack also had Fat Tire and the 1554 Black Ale.
One of my favorites things about our wedding is that we served Fat Tire & Sunshine Wheat. We drove up to West Memphis a few days before the wedding and loaded Chip's Pathfinder with beer. We threw a blanket over it and prayed we didn't get pulled over while trucking mass quantities of beer over the Mississippi state line.

Last Sunday we sat on the back porch and drank three beers while the rain came down. And then we were rightly buzzing on a Sunday afternoon.