searching for meadows

bonny. she/her. growing flowers and food. nurturing native meadows

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#doctorsinthehouse #gardening #sunflower https://www.instagram.com/p/CDT7vphDeYA/?igshid=1gijdg6sceef1

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Making a salted sugar bath scrub tonight with lavender and rose petals grown in my own garden. As much as I love our incredibly handy food processor there is something about a mortar and pestle that is relaxing beyond belief. I think I may want an even larger set (this one has a 2 cup capacity) someday for making pesto and guacamole ❤ #doctorsinthehouse #diy #roseandlavender https://www.instagram.com/p/CB_3O1MgXo5/?igshid=1mhfd6f61toxh

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I adore yarrow. This plant is ridiculously chill and so very accommodating. I have it coming up in the top soil we spread over the front yard last season and it tolerates so much abuse and just goes on with its plant life. Hit it with a lawn mower? Whatever it will just bloom again but at 4 inches high. Transplant it into your herb garden in the middle of June under a blazing hot sun? No problem, it won't even wilt, just says "sweet, new home!" That's to say nothing of the medicinal properties of this plant which can staunch blood loss and alleviate itching. Anyway, yarrow is wonderful and my garden will never be without it now. Next year I may add some started from seed in a few fun colors just to enjoy it even more. #doctorsinthehouse #gardening #yarrow #perrenials https://www.instagram.com/p/CB4G8u-AQbT/?igshid=1s64pyisgk1ob

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Absolutely thrilled to have the ability to buy honey straight from my neighbor today, so we'll be eating the honey from the same bees who have been collecting pollen from our yard 😍 #doctorsinthehouse #eatlocal #honey #honeybees #cloverlawn https://www.instagram.com/p/CB3kVjsA9cW/?igshid=goiefopvd44m

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The garden is alive in the rain ❤ First strawberries, yellow roses, and monarch butterfly caterpillars. #doctorsinthehouse #gardening #savethepollinators #magicinthemundane https://www.instagram.com/p/CByEETMglGV/?igshid=1oshuy1bi7fhs

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Somehow I have become that lady who pulls over to harvest the Salvia growing out of the cracks in vacant lots in my city. I'm okay with this. I'll have to wait and see if any of the cuttings I planted with rooting hormone will survive, in the meantime I'll just enjoy the view of this gorgeous plant drying in my window. #doctorsinthehouse #herbs #dryingherbs #urbanforaging https://www.instagram.com/p/CBgYg2ugm9v/?igshid=1kgzrpcuettrm

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Lemon lavender shortbread cookies ❤ #doctorsinthehouse #baking #herbs #cookies #eatmoreflowers https://www.instagram.com/p/CBLxd6ogGOW/?igshid=so72zbzig76x

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Just wanted to share how lovely the covers are on these classic paperback editions from Bookishly 😍 Bookishly is a UK based classical literature subscription box but they also sell their books with signature dust covers sperately and I couldn't resist these. To be honest, there is not a single edition of Jane Eyre that I have the power to resist (except that weird Barns and Noble exclusive; why the red end pages, just why???) And I have somehow made it to the age of nearly 28 without reading either Anne of Green Gables or Alice in Wonderland and I plan to amend that immediately. #doctorsinthehouse #reading #bibliophile #books #classicliterature #janeeyre #alicesadventuresinwonderland #anneofgreengables #bookishly #dustjacketlove https://www.instagram.com/p/CAvEMucA1IA/?igshid=1bp4esf4kf4v4

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Randy: "Why are there like 5 breakfast-in-bed trays on the Amazon wish list?" Me: "I couldn't find exactly what I wanted but I want a tray for carrying dishes and food out to the picnic table. My mom always used a wicker basket." Randy: "Well why don't we just make one?" Campfire tray: concept, design and hardware installation by Randy; sanding and staining by me. #doctorsinthehouse #diy #coupleprojects https://www.instagram.com/p/CAl9P7ygLxd/?igshid=jstnpgbtf2cv

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For anyone like me who adores monarch butterflies and milkweed and wants to know why they can't just transplant inconveniently placed milkweed from their lawn to their butterfly garden: this is why. The tap root on milkweed is incredibly long and becomes damaged when you attempt to dig it up, most of the time the plant doesn't have roots attached to it anymore and with a broken tap root it will die. Randy dug up this little darling while digging fense posts; check out the ratio of plant height to tap root length, yet another reason native plants are so important- they have adapted to their surroundings. Since this particular plant still has roots I have planted it in the butterfly garden and have my fingers crossed that it may survive. #doctorsinthehouse #milkweed #savethemonarchs #nativeplants https://www.instagram.com/p/CAlZ7Hzg_a3/?igshid=ocblvqh8j3w0

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Taking a break now that the sun is directly overhead but we've made lots of progress this week. The butterfly garden in the front is fully planted in raised beds, the bee garden has its "beesponicble" garden sign, and Randy has started on the "people garden" fence which will hopefully keep the deer from devouring every pepper plant this summer ❤ #doctorsinthehouse #gardening #gardentoeat #gardentofeed #gardenforwildlife #savethepollinators #nativeplants #puremichigan https://www.instagram.com/p/CAiWwUUgpsZ/?igshid=8soh3xly41p6

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We had a surprise visitor while building the garden fence today ❤ He watched us and the kids for a while and then went on his way. #doctorsinthehouse #makewayforturtles #boxturtle https://www.instagram.com/p/CAiMwoHDfRM/?igshid=1spxfwy5y7p6y

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Garden progress update: since it feels like rain the kids and I hussled to get another butterfly garden bed filled and planted in the front yard (Randy and the kids bought me a native butterfly garden from the Muskegon Conservation District with local plants grown at Weesie Brothers Garden Center in Montague for Mother's Day ❤). We also made another Oriole orange feeder for our hungry guys since they keep scaring the hummingbirds away from the feeder. In the "people garden" the carrots and radishes are thriving thanks to my husband's inventive idea to plop the green house directly over the raised bed during the final frost. And in the bee garden by the road everything is loving all this rain and has grown several inches. The bird bath we made from a bowl that belonged to Randy's grandmother is working well; we have an additional hanging bird bath from Whitehall Products on the feeding station but the birds seem to enjoy having two. #doctorsinthehouse #garden #butterflygarden #beegarden #savethepollinators #plantnative #shoplocal #meadowsnotlawns #gardeningforwildlife https://www.instagram.com/p/CAX7eHdAxaM/?igshid=10fweokqzx4b2