Thursday, August 20, 2015

Around the Garden


















Things are busy in the garden, and in the kitchen. As harvests roll in, I am trying my best to keep up, and doing pretty well, actually. While out in the garden I am a little giddy as I watch seeds pop through the earth in the fall/winter garden. This will be our third year planting a fall/winter garden, and there is something pretty special about watching parts of your garden fade away, while other parts start to bring forth new life. It is the circle of life, right here in my garden. I feel honoured when I am out there, to witness this circle, to be a part of it, and to reap the rewards.

The weather has been hot and humid, with very little rain. Things are drying up, and while I was busy watering during our last hot spell, I tend to let things go a little more at this time of year, especially those plants that are at the end of their cycle. I focus my time watering the new sprouts, the tomatoes, the fall vegetables, and I leave the rest, hoping Mother Nature will step in at some point with some rain.

The cover crop on one of our beds is up, and gosh I love the shade of green of those buckwheat sprouts, gorgeous. I finished the hugelkultur bed on the weekend, and seeded a crimson clover cover crop over it. The spring should see it full of beautiful crimson clover, and then I will turn it over into the soil, to provide nutrients and organic matter, before I plant it with herbs, lots and lots of herbs.

Justin and I have been planning, and have pretty much decided to take up two of our perennial beds this fall. We will do some soil amendments, and next spring seed them both with wild flowers for our bees. It will be beautiful, and I know our bees will appreciate it.

We are missing one thing in our garden this year, potatoes. When we did all the fencing around the beds this spring, it was the one vegetable I just didn't seem to have the space for within the fences. If you have free ranging chickens you completely understand the need for the potatoes to be within the fences. So we passed on potatoes this year. But, I miss them, so every few days we walk our land, seeking the perfect spot to add to our fenced in gardens, so that next year we can grow potatoes again.

Did you see those sunflowers? The tallest one is about nine feet at the moment, and can, according to the seed packet, reach twelve feet. They are huge, and every day we walk out to the garden, stand under them and look up, in awe of them. I can't wait for them to bloom.

We ate our first eggplant from the garden this week, and there are many more to come. The butternut squash is growing well on the arch, and we will definitely grow it this way again next year. Reece and I stood under the squash this week and counted about twenty squashes, not bad for a few seeds in a pot. The tomatoes are rolling in daily, the raspberries and strawberries are ripening, and are oh so sweet, and the pole beans keep on producing. Oh, and let's not forget the zucchini, lots of zucchini, but that is nothing new. We are enjoying our harvests, and feel so blessed that we can eat from the garden.

Well, that is about it for the garden this week. How are things around your garden?

30 comments:

  1. Kim, I cannot tell you how much I LOVE the looks of your garden! It looks so picturesque and serene. I totally understand why you like spending so much time there. We have had rain, rain and more rain. It's been a blessing since we've really needed it, but it also meant I wasn't really able to do much. Then again, right now there's hardly anything left at all in the garden... I did get a chance yesterday to empty the worm bin and add all of that goodness to some of the garden beds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thanks Anke. It is quite peaceful and serene, and my time out there always feeds my soul.

      Oh no, hope the sun shines soon. Have you made a decision about your fall/winter garden?

      Delete
    2. I'm still deciding on the fall/winter garden. I'll look at what kinds of seeds I have left and decided then if I want to give it a go.

      Delete
    3. Looking forward to seeing the progress on your blog if you decide to go for it :)

      Delete
  2. I wish I could share some of my rain with you, we have been getting afternoon storms and now I am having to watch the Weather Channel because things are heating up in the Atlantic, yuck!
    I'm glad you're enjoying your harvests!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You did Tracey, we have had rain all day today. It has been absolutely perfect, and the gardens are soaking it up.

      I hope things stay calm for you down there, I guess hurricane season will be starting up soon. Stay safe my friend.

      xo

      Delete
  3. Oh Kim....your space is just blessed with so much life! What joy to be able to stand and look up into the happy faces of a sunflower :0) temperatures are very high here in the mountains. Rain is predicted and i am praying it happens. My garden continues to give me beauty even when I neglect it a bit :0) mari

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Mari. It really is a joy to look up at those sunflowers. I can't help but smile when I look up at them. So strong, and beautiful.

      I hope the rain finds you. It found us today, all day long it has been raining, and I know my gardens are going to appreciate it.

      That is the wonderful thing about a garden, it always shares it's beauty, even if it is neglected a bit. Mother Nature is so resilient.

      xo

      Delete
    2. Are you blogging again Mari? I keep losing you on my feed.

      Delete
  4. Your garden looks amazing! All the way over in Australia, we are nearing the end of winter though have only had a handful of frosts where I live. Was just thinking the other day about planning for some sunflowers in my little garden, but I don't know much about harvesting their seeds. Truly inspirational...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Shanna!!! Thank you. they are feeling a little wild and crazy right now, but I am enjoying their abundance at the moment too :)

      I bet you are looking forward to the season of growing on that new land of yours. I mailed out a letter to you a few weeks ago, hope it arrived :)

      We don't actually harvest the sunflower seeds, we basically grow them for their beauty. We usually take one flower and pop open some seeds to enjoy right then, but we don't harvest to keep them or anything. Once they have dried up, we cut them off and lay them around the yard for the wild birds. And the chickens usually get one or two as well :)

      Thank you, my friend. xo

      Delete
  5. I could not live without potatoes. I hope they get squeezed in for next year's crop. Lovely photos, and I have garden envy when I visit you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, we aren't living without them, we are buying them at the market from a local farmer :) I just really miss growing them, and digging through the dirt to find them. You can be assured they will get squeezed in somewhere, most likely with a new bed :)

      Aw, thanks Karen. xo

      Delete
  6. Your gardens and yard are amazing Kim. So fruitful and so neat. Great job. I look forward to seeing your gardens for the bees. I have some mixed seed packets here too that are for bees and insects. I look forward to seeing the flowers in bloom. xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Julie. I am excited about the wildflowers...I have my fingers crossed I can make a beautiful wildflower garden happen.

      Delete
  7. Oh wow! Sorry it's been a while since my last visit, but wow, your gardens never disappoint. Everything is so beautiful. I keep thinking that it's at it's beauty peek and then wham! you surprise with even more gorgeous pictures. Our gardens were a little sad this year. I hope to get photos up some time this weekend. Take care!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hehe, they do keep getting better week by week for a bit, but it won't be long now and things will change drastically.

      I just peeked in at your gardens. Not bad my friend, considering all you have been going through this summer. Sending love and hugs.

      Delete
  8. I love seeing all those little sprouts. Twelve feet, those will be some really tall sunflowers! :) So much beauty thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too! You should see them, they are amazing. We had some big ones a few years ago, but nothing like these. I can't wait for them to bloom.

      Thanks KC!

      Delete
  9. What a bounty! I love the look of your tomatoes and the eggplants and squash are really coming along. I'm sorry to hear about the potatoes. I've never grown them but I do use them a lot in cooking and I'm sure I'd miss them if I didn't have them. Your garden is really fantastic, you have so much to be proud of.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jennifer. No worries on the potatoes, we didn't grow them this year, but we are still eating them, thanks to local farmers :) Honestly, I miss digging around in the dirt for them.

      Delete
  10. your garden is absolutely beautiful ... a dream garden ...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow - your harvest looks so fresh and your garden is so neat and tidy! I have never tried eggplant...and I just wonder if I know of enough ways to prepare it? It looks delicious - I love it on sandwiches. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kristen! We love eggplant grilled around here, my hubby does it on the bbq, and we serve it up with rice, and other grilled vegetables, so good! We also do grilled vegetable sandwiches with pesto, also very yummy :)

      Delete
  12. wow, look at your garden! I always marvel at how it is both functional and productive, yet so incredibly beautiful and aesthetically pleasing too. mine produces lots but by mid season it looks like the plants are making a bid for world domination!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you Aimee. It is a pretty happy place out there this summer, despite our periods of no rain. I am really pleased with our garden and harvests this season.

      Hehe, it is kinda starting to look like that around here, just a bit. I am trying my best to tame it all down.

      Delete
  13. Still looking so beautiful, maybe it's because I've been catching up late on posts over the Summer but your seeds seem to have sprouted amazingly quickly, definitely very exciting. I planted a few seeds for Autumn myself last week and have fingers crossed I didn't leave it too late. Lots of good things happening here in the garden, I must take my camera out with me again soon, we're getting very excited about our sweetcorn and, I have to say, a little fed up with courgettes! And we could really do with some warmer weather and more sunshine to ripen up the tomatoes, I think they've been green for several weeks now :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sally. Yes, the seeds sprouted quickly and very well, that is usual this time of year. The soil is warm, the air is warm, and they got lots of water...perfect conditions really.

      Yes, please do, would love to see all that is happening in your garden my friend.

      Delete