July 2011

We've had some icky weather the last couple of weeks. It went from 112F at one point to just soaking swampy wet rain. It's been making yard work quite unbearable. I haven't set foot in the garden except to snag a few things and run.

Pear tomatoes - I read great reviews on these, but next year I'm going to go back to the grape tomatoes. The pear tomatoes just weren't impressive to me. They were less prolific and weren't very crack resistant.

My husband likes them though because they are less "goopey" (Yes, he made up a word.) inside.

There's lots of basil, some cucumbers and more tomatoes.

My heirloom tomatoes are beginning to ripen. This was an "extra" plant I had that I just couldn't bear to thin when I was starting my seeds. I planted it on the side our house that doesn't get much water or rain and yet look at it!

Another harvest.

Flowers

Things are in bloom! There is so much to see that I'm enjoying being outside with them and haven't been blogging much. Enjoy! What's blooming in your garden?

Roses

Stargazer lilies

Hollyhock (from seed)

Oriental lilies

Our blooming cactus!

Peonies

Perenniel Sweet Peas

Achilles

Hydrangea

Harvest 5.22.11

There's lot in my veggie garden. I harvested spinach, lettuce, kale, arugula and cilantro.



Kale, lettuce, spinach


Arugula, cilantro, spinach


Kale and radish tops



In the bed, I planted all my heirloom tomatoes and trimmed my herbs and kale back.



I cleared all the spinach out today to make room for my peppers. My cilantro is really tall. The peas are coming in and my Swiss chard is about 6" tall now (back).



Cucumbers (back row) and celery plants. In front is thyme basil n dill.

To-Do

My flower beds have really filled in this year. Irises are toppling over and my roses are smothering my lilies and sedum below it.

Some things I need to do next year:

- divide my burgundy colored Irises.
- move a peony suffocating from the irises.
- move two knockout rose bushes to a sunnier place.
- prune one other knockout rose and move the day lilies and sedum below it.
- divide Siberian irises
- move irises being suffocated by red leafy stuff.

Other things I would like is to plant another tea rose and possibly a vining rose. I'm just not sure where I would put the vining rose. it would be great if we could lay a paved patio down but I don't see that happening very soon.

Bloomin' Garden

The yard is looking beautiful.

Pretty pretty Peony

I'm surprised my peonies bloomed this year. Last fall I dug them up and divided them. I really hacked away at them too! There are lots of little plants with no flowers but maybe in a few years they will produce flowers.

Spring progress

I didn't think my spring crops had made much progress but I guess it's because I look at them each day. Looking back at this before photo I can see the difference.

March 2011




May 2011



I harvested some kale for soup last night. I harvested a lot of salad, cilantro, tarragon, and spinach.

Bright lights Swiss chard

You can see the different colored stalks. There's neon pink, yellow and orange.

A warm week full of blooms

Yard Work

Spring Salad

I have been picking salad from my garden every other day for dinner. It feels soo good to be able to go into my own yard for some veggies for dinner. Honestly I'm just too lazy to go to the market so I'm glad I can just go out back. ;)


I added some artichoke hearts to my salad of arugula, baby spinach, and red leaf lettuce. Yummy!


There's too much already so I have been bringing some to work n my coworkers are grabbing everything up. I have been snipping the spinach and freezing it. I love putting it in pastas n soups later on. I freeze cilantro as well.

Bleeding Hearts

I love how prolific the are. Once they find a spot they like you can really see them flourish.









Like my new garden gnome?