June Update - Part 2

This is the Part two of my June update....here is part one. This is kind of like one of those vacation slide shows... Well if you are here, maybe there is something interesting you will find in our June garden.

I love these flowers (above and below). The barrel on the right has what I have thought are "purple tansy"...they look nice as seedlings, in bud, and purple blooms later.


We started a rain barrel in the ferns by the garage. I wonder if they will fill in and hide the whole garbage can. At least it has been full so I know it won't tip over with the weight of water.


This year we are growing parsnips...the ones in the back are a couple weeks ahead of those in the front. This brick really has no purpose.


I never knew parsnips look like cilantro...I will have to check the spacing and maybe thin these.


It is a time of alliums here...chives are blooming. Given a warm, sunny morning I should find some bees in them.


Another allium, love the tall blooms of these.


We are starting some ever-bearing strawberries to supplement our June-bearing harvest. There are also some pole beans and cucumbers in this barrel...we will see if they grow over the fence.


Jerusalem artichokes / sunchokes are another new plant this year....here I have some in a container...


We also have a bed of sunchokes started. It will be fun to see how they look in the fall.


These are some very nice hostas we inherited with the house. I really like how large these get -- they fill in most of this North side of the house.


A volunteer viola -- I hope to get more growing. These are another of those edible flowers.


Parsley from last year is starting to build a seed stalk. It will be the first time I see parsley flowers.


June raspberries are almost here...


Finally, I was impressed to see an herb return from last year. This lemon balm returned where parsley failed to survive the winter. This made a great addition to my wood sorrel cold tea.


Thanks for visiting our garden!

Late Summer

Here's a late summer update of my garden...The bees have appreciated the sunflower blooms I have in the garden. Some of the plants look nice and others look a little worn.

Here the bumblebee is sharing with the smaller bees.


A pretty shot of the ornamental.


A giant edible sunflower...


The head is large and heavy on this plant. In the background you can see the 13 foot tall reaching to the sky.


Swiss chard is still growing just fine.


Our prized spaghetti squash - well it's our only one of note right now.


What do you know, my stunted cucumbers do have some fruit!


This is strange - we have June bearing strawberries and there are few scattered berries for the fall.


We obtained two varieties of rhubarb early in the summer. Next year we should have a good harvest. Not sure which will taste better...I like the red look better.


The parsley and basil...the dog and puppy couldn't resist getting in a shot. Dakota is a very nice big sister to our new miniature Dachshund puppy (10 weeks old) in the lower right.


A strip of marigolds that worked out.


The aster is just starting to bloom...


Some things are still waiting...


Here's a shot of my "hidden" sedum...


This plant is past it's prime, but I always like it in bloom and it has great leaves.


Well that's my update...seems that this time of the year is my slow blog season (well lazy blog season). Thanks!

Strawberry Sunday

As in it's Sunday and we got strawberries! I had to make a special post for them. In the paper it said they were late this year (by my records they are), but that they would be a good harvest of large juicy berries...Yum!

Scouting on Friday revealed the above almost ready berry. There are many just waiting to ripen. So, up comes the bird net. I'm not sacrificing any more than I have to. Besides, they can eat the ones I cull from bug and slug damage.


(Left) That first berry picked and eaten Saturday -- it was great! (Right) The first bunch for Sunday breakfast. Now it's berry picking every morning for a couple of weeks.


Oh, and to compliment the strawberries some shelling peas and sugar snap peas.

Thursday Rain

We got 1.4 inches of rain in a storm Thursday evening and Friday night. It came down pretty good for a few minutes but was otherwise kind of nice - especially for the garden. During a break I took some wet photos of the garden and also a few this morning.

The strawberry plants where a bit of a muse for a while...


In the morning the circle-like patterns of the rain caught my attention.


The whole world in a rain drop.


Blooms from the chives and the allium bulb in the front of the house are just popping out. The nasturtium leaves gather the water right on the lobe tips. I like the flat leaf profile and the contrast of the red edge. I had the chance to do the classic water dropped tulip picture. Also, the hosta funnels are coming unfurled.


Lots of these guy-gals getting some air.


The garden spot by our strawberry patch.


A "bird bath" and view of the back corner. The rain seems to saturate a lot of the colors in the clouded light.


Closer view of the back corner next to the fence. A couple of butterfly stepping stones and some other pairings of plants.


The raspberry canes busy stretching their roots - I hope.


I had some tomato seedlings left that I decided to plant with the cauliflower and onion barrel. We put some flowers in the top of one of the hanging tomato buckets.


Here's the southern foundation bed and a plant from the east side. I like the leaves on this one (will have to check my records for the name), but they tend to droop down. (Update: Those are Ligularia leaves.)


The vegetable beds (click for details). Earlier I said we had "wild progress" in growth, and I guess that is only going to keep accelerating for the next few weeks. The short peas are starting to twine together and the climbers are - well - climbing.


It's that time we now can get some regular harvests of swiss chard and spinach.


Also some radishes and lettuce. Look at the sparkly salad in the water.