What a great week! Starting with the rain on Sunday—talk about glorious! I just have to wonder why no one has ever come up with a perfume that smells like rain—wouldn’t that be a piece of heaven?

The fire ban has been lifted. This doesn’t give everyone the license to be stupid. Please take care of our public lands, because they belong to all of us. Put your campfire out—totally out—with water! If you are burning weeds and debris at home, check the weather report, burn in the early morning hours. We all, in Colorado, just don’t need any more fires than we have already had. There are still many, many dry, dead timber areas that are just a matter of time before they catch. I would much rather have a fire start from lightening than from an idiot. I know it burns all the same but…it just seems better if it is a lightning strike.

The Inspiration Notes by Peyton open house we hosted last week was such a wonderful event. Thank you so much to everyone who came in, had a cup of coffee, visited, bought cards, had a bowl of ice cream. I’m not sure of Peyton’s tally, but I know that Landon Sanchez raised over a $100 for local fire fighters from ice cream donations and another $70 was donated by Green Spot customers. We hope to make a combined donation sometime this week.

We will continue to sell Peyton’s cards for as long as he (and his mom) have the energy to make them! Come on by and take a look—they are more than special, they are one of a kind cards from Peyton’s heart and soul! They will certainly be special to anyone you might send one to.

Meanwhile the cabbage loopers have arrived….with a vengeance. Keep an eye on all cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli and relatives or your vegies will be decimated overnight. They are so gross! One of the best ways to watch them die is to use a Bt powder or spray. Totally natural and organic. It is so much fun to watch them squirm and fall of the plant. For the record, watching loopers die does not make me a serial killer.

I am also hearing about aphids everywhere. There are a number of natural type sprays that can help keep them at bay. Sometimes it is more of a maintenance type problem. You should always assume that peppers are going to get aphids. Because they will. Keep a closer eye on them. Do you have ants all over your lawn and garden and greenhouse? They are probably moving the aphids from plant to plant, so you also need to get rid of them!

Lawns have slowly recovered this summer. Right now is a perfect time to do whatever you can to build soil health. Tharin Mortensen is going to help me with the north end of Mom’s Garden on Monday or Tuesday morning. He is going to load the soil with his organic amendment. It contains beneficial bacteria, fungus, and microbes that are needed for healthy soil. This BioBlend can help alleviate high soil ph, salt, compaction, bad fungus, nematodes, pet spots and dry spots. I am so proud of Mom’s Garden and the progress it has made this summer. Anxious to get that north end regenerated with natural organisms.

I’m not saying this garden is perfect because that certainly isn’t true. It’s a piece of art, slowly, but surely taking shape. Part of the garden that is bugging me is how the yellow rose has gotten so tall that it is blocking the ASU sign. I need to trim it way back, transplant some of it, and kill the damn elm seedlings that are now small trees growing in the middle of the shrub. The garden overall is looking pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. It’s just what the garden by the Monterrey Café would of, could of, and should have been looking like. Oh yeah, that garden was killed and bull-dozed—cuz’ it’s better to look at dirt, right? More about the money this garden cost at a later date.

The Garden as Art event will take place in Crestone on Sunday, August 5th. For more information email [email protected] or call 256-4252. And the 7th Annual Hollyhock Festival will be held in Saguache on next Saturday the 28th from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Get out of the house and support local businesses EVERYWHERE! Thanks!