NINA'S GARLIC FARM

NINA'S GARLIC FARM

Most people wouldn't get excited about

THIS:

Garlic Labels-I Used Rocks Which I Painted With Acrylic and Sealed

or THIS:

Hard to Believe This Was Once A Steep Slope and Now Will Be the Home of my Garlic Farm

or THIS:

Look at the Size of the Late Italian Garlic!

or THIS:

The Elephant Garlic is the Size of a Softball!

or THIS:

Lots of Hay for Mulching-We are Supposed to Have a Very Cold Winter Here in Virginia

But I DO!

Since my grandchildren call me Nina, I thought it might be fun to use that name for my garlic farm. I was really excited when my first batch of seed garlic arrived from Territorial Seed Company over the weekend. I was anxious to dig in and make a dent in the hundreds and hundreds of seeds I must plant. After doing more research, I find that the best time to plant garlic in Virginia where I am, is October. So, I am putting it off for a few more weeks. Last year I made the mistake of planting in September and had several false starts whereas the greens from garlic grew pretty tall in warmer weather and then when we'd have a freeze, they would break off. This happened several times which I believe is why I ended up with rather small garlic. It tasted delicious though!

I painted a sign designating my garden and have painted several rocks in various colors naming each variety. I will spray them with a good sealer before placing outside.

Plans for the future for the garden include 3 tall sculptures of women with baskets. They will be either planting the garden or harvesting. I will use Ferro Cement, something I just learned about recently. After applying cement to my figures, I plan to mosaic their aprons and hats. I'm hoping to get these at least started before winter sets in. I tend to plan very big and sometimes things get done-other times, they stay on the back burner. Unfortunately, these tall sculptures have been on the back burner for several years. Now at least, I have a place I want to put them and maybe that will force me to get started.

I have a few garlic keepers for sale in my Etsy shop. Below are some pictures. Just click on my Etsy shop and take a look. You can purchase directly from there or send me an e-mail if you'd like any one in particular.

Luscious Brown

Rich Blue

Deep Purple

SACAJAWEA NATIVE AMERICAN ALTAR

SACAJAWEA NATIVE AMERICAN CEREMONIAL ALTAR

Sacajawea

Sold. Thank you Leslie!

It's been a busy summer for me. There has been lots of preparation for my new garlic farm and tending my other gardens plus replacing several of my appliances! Of course, I found time to sculpt and just finished a new altar.

Sacajawea was born in 1788. She was of the Shoshone tribe and is best known as interpreter and guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition. Her calm attitude and dispostion during the expedition was recorded by all the men who kept diaries during the journey to the western United States. At one point their boat was hit by a sudden storm and her fast thinking saved all the of the important paperwork floating in the water and also valuable books. If you would like to read more about her, there are a lot of online sources. I liked the way one of my faces turned out because she had a look of steadfastness-I used her in my Goddess Altar and thought it appropriate to name her Sacajawea.

Close-up

I used some beautiful irridized blue tiles and antique mirror in my mosaic of Sacajawea. She features one of my original stoneware clay faces. I decided to give her an ornate and stately headdress as well. She is 5"wide x 5" deep x 13" high. I have priced her at $125.00 The altar can be used for ceremonies or candles or even, as my son pointed out, a beautiful bathroom altar. If you are interested in purchasing her, you can do so directly from me by e-mail. You may also view more pictures of her on Etsy.

Close-Up of Mosaics

It Will Be Hard to Say Goodbye to Swimming

Planters Must Be Brought Inside Soon

Hip-Hop, Portulaca and Nustursium Overlooking the Grape Arbor

Hibiscus

More Nustursiums

Blackberry Wine

I just read a really good book. “Blackberry Wine” by Joane Harris. She is the woman who wrote that all time favorite (of mine at least) Chocolat. Harris writes her story in the viewpoint of...guess what? A bottle of wine! You will love it. I get all my books now on Amazon and it was at a discounted price-I think $1.99. What a bargain.

Well, I'm off to planting my garlic. When the garden is planted, I will show you a picture. Thanks for visiting. More next week.

MINERVA BURNING BOWL

Front View Minerva

Sold. Thank you Angely!

Here is another burning bowl from my “Crystal Woman” series. According to several online sources, Minerva is the name of the goddess of wisdom, medicine and crafts. Her name is linked to the Latin word mens which means "intellect," suggesting the intelligence and inventiveness of this ancient Goddess. It seems an appropriate name for her since she looks mysterious and wise with her crystals at hand for sacred medicine and healing ceremony.

Close-Up

For those of you who are new to my blog, the burning bowl is used at Unity, a non denominational church. Every New Year's Eve, members write down on a piece of paper all that they would like to see leave their lives, such as smoking, weight loss and you name it. The contents are then placed in a large cauldren type bowl and set onfire with, hopefully, all of the problems. It is a belief system, one of which has been used for hundreds of years around the world. I created personal burning bowls several years ago and many say they really work. I'm thinking that I may have to have a ceremony with my own burning bowl soon since I seem to have a dark cloud following me this summer. Lots of major appliance breakdowns, family members with problems and even b-dazle, my art car, gave me a real challenge last month. The brakes went out while I was on the way to the market! As you can see, I survived and will continue. Life goes on so we may as well have as cheerful attitude as we can, no matter what the circumstances. Enough of my philosophies for today.

Back View

Minerva is 5”wide x 5” high x 8 1/12” high. She is an original. I used stoneware clay and stained glass for her basin. If you are interested in purchasing her, I take Paypal or a personal check. You can e-mail me and we can go from there. If you would like to see more pictures, please visit my etsy shop where I have placed a lot of new art pieces recently. I have priced Minerva at $68.

Thanks so much for viewing.

Stained Glass Basin