Sweet Autumn Journey in Serendipity Gardens

Jo Ellen Roe October 3, 2014 0 Comments

Red oak

Officially, fall  is upon us … and it is beginning to look like fall in Serendipity Gardens. The color palette is starting to change. One small oak tree has turned an early bright red, while other trees and shrubs have a little color at the top or in splotches. A few leaves have fallen early and speckled the lawn.

The sounds have definitely changed as well, from the songs and calls of nesting birds to the rhythmic music of fall insects.  Most of the birds that live here in summer have already begun their journey south. The ones we still see most often are the black-capped chickadees and cardinals that live here year round. ... Read More

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Serendipity Gardens’ New Spiral Herb Garden

Jo Ellen Roe May 6, 2014 3 Comments

Spiral 7

On Sunday, May 4, we built an herb spiral in Serendipity Gardens. Altogether, it took about five hours, but we rested between hauling wheelbarrows full of edging pavers to the site of the spiral. Other than that lifting and hauling chore, it was an easy project.

Here is what the finished product looks like, pre-planting. This view is from the top. The spiral is five feet in diameter. At the bottom, the dirt is two pavers high. We added a row of pavers every three and a half pavers. At the top, the spiral is seven pavers high. The soil stays level with the pavers by sloping up from the bottom row to the top. ... Read More

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A Seed-Starting Fiasco at Serendipity Gardens … and What I Learned

Jo Ellen Roe February 24, 2014 0 Comments

seed-pack-button_001

Sometimes, when you try to grow as a gardener, you make mistakes, and things don’t go as planned. This is what happened to me last year when I decided to grow everything from seed.

The garden experts stirred my enthusiasm for starting my own seeds. I could save money, they said, and have the joy of watching my seedlings come to life.

Accordingly, I resolved to buy only organic seeds and pocket the dollars I would have spent on seedlings. I would be a gardener from the start of each plant to the finish. ... Read More

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Building Compost at Serendipity Gardens

Jo Ellen Roe February 17, 2014 0 Comments

Compost

I told my grandson once that compost was one of the reasons I believe in God.

“Only God can take a mess like this” I said, pointing to my compost corral topped with a recent addition of eggshells, potato peels, and the innards of a couple of green peppers, “and turn it into black gold.”

Right now, Serendipity Gardens is smothered by the deepest and longest-lasting snow in its nine-year history. But underneath all that snow lies its most important component, the soil in which all the plants grow. And the very best way to enrich and nurture that soil is to add compost. Here, in this photo, we have a wheelbarrow full that will become part of the soil in the herb pots. ... Read More

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A Special Birthday Party at Serendipity Gardens

Jo Ellen Roe October 18, 2013 0 Comments

Fire, Nick and Holly

Two of us enjoying the fire’s glow.

Serendipity Gardens is out in the country. One of its features is a fire pit that we don’t use often enough.

Quarterly Birthday Parties

I feel very lucky that my three grown daughters all live close by. However,  finding time and a way to celebrate birthdays has gotten more and more challenging as their lives have gotten busier and busier. Does your grown-up family have a similar challenge? What do you do to make it work?

Our response to the birthday dilemma is to celebrate birthdays on a quarterly basis. Just recently, we had our fall birthday party, with four of us as guests of honor. This particular party was one of the best ever. ... Read More

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