Category Archives: plants

Gardening during a pandemic

2020 has been… stressful, to say the least. One of the things that kept our spirits up over the duration of the spring and summer was tending our garden. We’ve gardened in years past, but this year we went about it with more intention. Not to mention, with quarantining, we had much more time!

While Ray focused on vegetables, I put my efforts into flowers. I planted zinnias (the easiest and most prolific summer flower), strawflowers, and globe amaranth.

We replaced our air conditioner in August, which caused us to pull up some of our garden a littler earlier than expected (but honestly, it was worth it.)

We have big plans to extend our garden, add some raised beds, and lay down rocks for next year!

Flowerbed Progress

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About a year and a half ago, Ray and several of his friends rebuilt our front porch. It’s beautiful and I’m still 100% in love with it. During that process we pulled up several large bushes that had been planted along the front of our porch area. I was glad to have those ugly bushes gone, but then the front of our house started to look real bare.

In March we cleared out the area right in front of the porch. We dug weeds, tilled the soil (and oddly enough found lots of seashells mixed in the ground), added compost, added more top soil, added bricks to mark off the bed, and added a plastic covering to avoid weeds.

Now, I do want to create a proper flower bed with a mixture of seasonal foliage and flowers… but for right now I’m fine with more of a shabby cottage style bed. I need big, bright, colorful flowers that will last throughout our sweltering summer. On the same day we cleared out the flower bed, I started my zinnia seeds. It was crazy to watch these tiny seeds germinate within 6 days!
You can see the progress below:It might be too late in the season, but I would like to add some Delphiniums behind the zinnias, along with a few variegated hostas along the sides of the bed. I’ll keep you updated on the progress!

Life Update: Summer 2016

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With Infinity Con only a few weeks away, it’s been busier than usual at the Hancock house. Here’s some of what’s been going on over the last month (actually, here are the things I’ve photographed, haha):– A few weeks ago my sister, mom, and I went to the annual Blueberry festival in Wellborn, FL. I love small-town festivals, especially when they revolve around food. Once, Ray and I stumbled upon a super tiny Potato and Cabbage festival! We had to stop and enjoy the small town fun! Back to the Blueb fest- it was a great (but hot) time! We enjoyed a delicious blueberry pancake + sausage breakfast served at Wellborn Baptist Church. We then rode a trolley over to the fest which was awesome since we didn’t have to fight for parking. There were booths selling blueberries, blueberry plants, blueberry jam, etc. along with the typical church and political booths you generally see at these kinds of festivals. The only purchase I ended up making was a jar of Serrano pepper jelly.

– We also made a stop at our favorite plant nursery in north Florida, Nobles Greenhouse and Nursery. Nobles is like an oasis in the middle of Live Oak, FL. They have fruit trees, herbs, roses, hedges, succulents- you name it!
– After our car accident we were in desperate need of a good reliable car. We’re so thankful we had a good friend looking to sell her car! We’re really happy with our new (to us) accord!

Our 4th of July was spent working on Infinity Con, volunteering at our local fireworks celebration, and enjoying Sonic treats.

I believe that gets everyone up to speed!