Green Acres is the place for me.

Back in July, I first mentioned my grand germination experiment:

I wanted to plant corn for no other reason than the shock value of having stalks growing right up against the sidewalk in front of our house (I've mentioned before, but can not emphasize enough -- we have *no* property. All of our town is pretty much that way, so people get creative with their "land"scaping). I got a late start planting seeds, (1) because we had a really chilly spring, and (2) I had (have) no idea what I'm doing. The planting was really meant as more of an experiment more than anything else.

To my surprise, after a week or so, there were early signs of life in the sunflower "incubator":
And, to my *utter shock* here's what the front of the house looks like today.

Hilarious, right?! The sunflowers started out slowly, but I'm encouraged by the growth spurt they apparently experienced this past week. The corn, however, grew like a weed from the start. When we sit on the front porch (and, since no one can see us behind the corn field) we hear all sorts of funny things. ("Harold....stop the bike...is that?...I think that's corn there!") I'm meeting neighbors for the first time who are stopping to chat and have a good chuckle over our harvest. My young neighbor suggested we have a corn party...and another neighbor chimed in to add that there may be enough to have a full-on harvest festival (I counted 19 ears this morning). There's still some question as to whether there will be actual corn on the ears; you're supposed the plant them in rows to ensure proper pollination (since they self-pollinate, the rows enable them to pass the good stuff from stalk to silk). I gave a gentle squeeze today and I can't say that I feel kernels on the cobs but who knows. At least maybe the sunflowers will bloom in time for the festival. ;-)

Tucked behind some of the stalks in front are other flowers I planted in the spring, still blooming. In addition to wildflower annuals (also from seeds) there's some Black-Eyed Susans and Dianthus (blooming for the third time!) still flowering.

And I have my co-worker Pat to thank for most of it. Pat makes Type-A people like me look mellow, and apparently her out-of-office energy is channeled into gardening like mad...a process that begins in the early-spring by germinating seeds on every flat surface in her dining room and beyond, which apparently thrills her husband to bits (note: sarcasm). She split some bulbs and assorted perennials in May from her own garden and gifted them to me, along with some housewarming May Night Salvia from Lowe's. Here's the bounty that came out of the car...it was like they had procreated on the trip over there were so many:

I pulled out all the greens (re: weeds) you see in the above photos behind the rocks and replaced with the plants and bulbs from Pat's garden. (Thanks, Pat!) I'm told our home's previous owner used to compost the front "yard" (again, using the term "yard" loosely), even though he never really planted. Too bad he didn't, because *man* is that soil rich and fertile. I'm thinking of adding composting to my bag of earth-lovin' tricks next year.

The man of the house is frightened.