Zinnias and Tortoises

 I planted a lot of flowers this summer. Like a lot. I wanted to see blooms all summer so I tilled up the ground right out back near the fire pit and put down about a ton of zinnia seed in four giant rows. Once they were around 6 inches tall I mulched the heck out of them with old horse hay and then they took off. By the end of the summer some of them were as tall as me.

Throughout the summer I'd go out and snip off dried blooms and drop them into a big paper bag. I think I have 6 big bags of my favorite blooms to collect seeds off of for next summer. Late winter I'll pull the dried petals and collect the seeds.

I put down several pounds of clover seed in the outdoor tortoise pen and the tortoises are loving it. We also decided to get going on building them an outdoor tortoise house. It's been on the to-do list for a couple of years and it's nice to get something started. It's an 8X8 shed that will be insulated well.