Pics of grapes and basil b4 harvest

[rawpriestess]

Well, there comes a time of year where we reap what we sow, and we are now reaping massive amounts of basil and grapes

We have a High Priestess Temple, which is also our grape arbor, we have 6 different kind of grapes growing in harmony on our temple.

Here are a few, also we have tons of basil growing, you can see a bee in the center of the pic, having fun with the flowers, our basil plants are about 4 feet high, and we are dehydrating them one plant takes up 3 Excalibur dehydrators to dehydrate, and takes about 16 hours.

One batch from three dehydrators yields about 6 dried cups of leaves for culinary, and 4 dried cups of flowers for spells.

Here is also our basil garden from behind, so you can see our beautiful secluded lake in the background, this is the view from my studio window.

We are blessed beyond all measure.

[Rawkinlocs]

OMG!!! Do those grapes taste as sweet and succulant as they look?

[sweetgoddess]

oh my gosh! Those grapes are SO BEAUTIFUL! ( eeek I accidentally typed an f at the end of beautiful, lolol! )
The grapes are perfect. They look like a work of art and got me all excited.
You are extremely blessed, but you have earned it. If you move to Fiji I want to buy your place!
And if you dont, you should open a raw commune, lol.
Very beautifuL RP. Thanks so much for sharing these lovely pictures.

Warmly~
Carmel

[rawpriestess]

Rawkie,

yes, they are very sweet, I didn't know anything about grapes when I bought the baby plants only 3 short years ago, so I bought 2 ornamental, which have the totally cool purplish leaves, and I bought 2 purple grapes and 2 white grapes, all are seedless, and all taste divine.

Sweetgoddess, if we do move to Fiji, or anywhere else, we'll keep this place, too beautiful to let go, but we will be renting it out. for a few zillion dollars a month, we'll put you on the waiting list, LOL

We never have trouble getting friends to watch our critters, because they get to come and live here while we are gone, lake front, huge deck, hot tub, sauna, antiques, 600 movies, stereo, Mercedes to drive.

Fresh herbs, organic gardens, fruit and nut trees, humm am I forgetting anything? Oh yes, privacy and seclusion, and we have two boats to play on the lake with.

***********
I would love to open a raw commune, we have 5 rooms with separate outside entrances, all with views of the lake, and plenty big rooms too. Of course, only one bathroom, that MUST change. LOL

But Dragggon wants our home to be our sanctuary, and I must say, I understand that.

So, I let him rule that roost.

[sweetgoddess]

aargh!
Well, if I give you a gazillion, can I go to the top of the list?
and hey, cant you buy Dragggon his own house then, haha.

[rawpriestess]

Okay, you got a deal. )

[kmik]

Those grapes are breath-taking! Grapes are one of my family's favorite foods... I've never thought about growing my own... is it very difficult? That would be so cool if we could just go pick our own!

[solarliving]

Beautiful pictures.
Will you adopt me? : ) By the way, where is Christmas Tree land?

You are living in your own paradise, how wonderful. That is the kind of life I am trying to create, but I think I need to move out of the city first.

[rawpriestess]

Grapes are easy to grow, full sun and a little water, that's it, they like something to climb up on too.

My hubby, Dragggon is the one with the green thumb here, our whole place is almost self sustaining. If I canned it probably would be, but of course, I don't do that.

We do dehydrate and also freeze, but that only lasts so long in the winter.

And of course, he can catch fish, but doesn't because they are our pets.

And I don't eat anything like that, plus I don't eat any cooked either, although occasionally he does.

Oh, Christmas tree land, is WA state, in the mountains, the Bald hills, before you get to the mountains. Right below Mount Rainier.

[Randolyn]

WOW! So totally beautiful and serene. I have to admit I am quite jealous You are truly blessed ;) Thanks so much for sharing RP

Vikki

[rawpriestess]

Randolyn, no need to be jealous, just come on buy and sit under the temple, grab a bunch of grapes, and relax.

I'd love to meet you. )

Also, just to let you know, I bought this house when I was 36, Working a full time job, and 10 part time jobs, and have been remodling ever since, I've never taken a vacation. I spend all of my extra time working on my home or on the gardens.

I did go to Hawaii once for one week on my honey moon in 1983, that was the closest thing I had to a vacation in my entire life, even as a child, I spent the entire week, buying jewelry and asuit for my business. We got to go to the beach one afernoon only.

When we drove down to LA, to go to Disneyland in 1982, I also made it a buying trip, spent one afternoon at Disneyland, and the rest of the time, we made contacts with wholesellers.

So, My basic life, although it may seem, serene and blessed, which it is, has been very hard work my entire life.

My first paying job was when I was 5 years old, and I have never not worked since.

Oh, the job I had at 5, was to baby sit myself, as the babysitters my mom hired, weren't very good. I was way responsible, and cleaned the house too, well, what I could reach. I had to drag a little red stool around with me to dust the top of the TV. LOL

Anyway, My darling hubby says I work 24/7 and I think he is right. I do work alot, but life is sooooo short, and I have so much to accomplish this time around. LOL

[Randolyn]

When we get to Ca. (in quite a few years) we would love to meet you! I was born and raised in Ca. I only moved to NJ when I was 22. I was raised in Riverside and then in my teen years in Crestline. I left home at 16 and have worked ever since most of the time 2 jobs. I just started having a family when I was 37 I had my first son and now at 42 I have just had my first girl. We have 3 children ages 5, 4 and 6 weeks (although she is not actually due until Oct 1st LOL) Opps now I am WAY off topic of this post maybe I should have pm'd this??

Vikki

[rawpriestess]

How wonderful I am 52, and my only son is 37, I do have 5 grandkids, 15, 13, 11, 7, 5 all beautiful girls.

You sound so much like me. Work work and more work, except I only had one child. LOL

And this was my thread, so it's okay if we both Hijack it. )

[Kris]

RawPriestess, how on earth do you get your basil to grow like that?? My hubby and I attempted our first, very small square-foot garden this year. We devoted a square to basil and put four plants (from seed) in it early this spring, and all these months later they are still tiny little things. I don't even dare pick the basil because they are so small and scrawny. Which is very sad because basil is one of our favorite flavors. What do they need that I'm not giving them??

I suppose I should mention that I'm in the Pacific Northwest, so moderate temps, cool evenings, and not a ton of sun.

[rawpriestess]

Kris, we are in the Pacific Northwest, Dragggon doesn't use any fertilizer or pesticides, it's all organic.

He just plants them in full sun, and puts a small quartz crystal under each plant.

He also has a small stone pyramid, set to actual north, in each corner of our garden at actual north, south, east and west.

he has a huge dragon sculpture in the basil garden, and he lights a candle in it often, he also talks to the plants every day, and meditates by sitting in or near the gardens.

He also uses our compost under the plants, and waters often, other than that, that is all he does.

If you think that is impressive, you should see the pic of the one basil plant it's on a different thread, I think it's called pic of our gardens, and one basil plant filled three Excalibur dehydrators full.