It has been a cool and fruitful summer. We have enjoyed great harvests,
and so have the woodchucks. Luckily the woodchucks liked the raddichio
best, which I had planted too much of, and they left us some of
everything else, (although we will see who wins the battle over the
Tuscan Kale!)
and so have the woodchucks. Luckily the woodchucks liked the raddichio
best, which I had planted too much of, and they left us some of
everything else, (although we will see who wins the battle over the
Tuscan Kale!)
Garlic, red and green cabbage, Tennis Ball lettuce, Bright Lights Swiss chard, Cherokee lettuce, summer savory, grey thyme and my favorite Chioggia beets. The strings defining each row are more a dog deterrent than for straight lines. If I put a string on each side of the row, our dog Lily is less apt to run all over the rows!
Every year I say I will paint these antique architectural brackets before the rose comes in, but then spring hits and I promise to do it in the fall. It has been over 4 years now...
Reseeded from the fields, I don't mind this native version of rudebeckia, it is welcome color in the late summer.
In this herb garden, in the spring it is all purple/blue. Catmint, baptisia, chives,
egyptian onions, lovage, lemon balm, lanium and boxwoods.
egyptian onions, lovage, lemon balm, lanium and boxwoods.
In early summer the peonies bloom under our sunroom window, the hostas are still in control. Here is the Euyonomous that got hit by the Bradford pear next to it one winter ago. Luckily you can cut these back hard and they will fill in within a season.
Fairy rose did well, and the new Bloodgood maple near the birdfeeder is a hit! The birds love waiting their turn on the branches, and the color is a eye stopper!
Pre-woodchuck, the kitchen garden at its best.
Always expanding, this part of the kitchen garden is stakes and large things. Tuscan kale, tomatoes, onions, shallots, purple brussel sprouts and snap peas. This was taken before the woodchuck dug the whole to the center of the earth in the middle!
Mid-summer there is always the next planting. Here I added more compost to power up the soil for the next flush. It all looks so dark and moist when you first put it down. This year I tried the no dig method, and though it saved my back, the compost straight from the pile gets dried out fast. I may turn it in a bit next year...I guess I just have to dig!
Daisies, always welcome. At dusk they glow.
Brights Lights swiss chard and Mammouth Red Rock cabbage...gorgeous!
Perhaps my favorite picture, taken when color, texture and variety are at their best in the kitchen garden late July. Fun to remember how it all was..now on to fall!