garden

day off

2007-07-12T16:02:00.000-04:00

took today off... things have been busy and i wanted a day of calm before heading off tomorrow for another weekend away. summertimeeee!

tidied up a bit in the wilds. here are some shots from today.

back stoop

roma tomatoes

banana pepper

zebra tomatoes

pretty royal burgundy beans

close up

orange cosmo

more late june

2007-07-12T15:48:00.000-04:00

black eyed susan vine

cherry tomatoes

petunia

backyard birthday

mmm

2007-07-12T15:43:00.000-04:00

late june

2007-07-12T15:16:00.000-04:00

birthday present to self

swiss chard

baby pepper

beans

peas

zucchini
all of these plants and those in another hill were completey eaten (by skunks i think) - boo! they were doing so well.

butternut squash

early june

2007-07-12T15:01:00.000-04:00

to go in the garden

oregano

contraptions

pea trellis (bamboo rods and string)

pests

2007-06-08T18:14:00.000-04:00

cutworms! i think!

evidence

country mouse

2007-06-08T17:20:00.000-04:00

look! my cherry tomato is going to flower!

what i'm growin for double O 7

2007-06-03T15:57:00.000-04:00

this year's menu...

**vegetables**
beans: royal burgundy, butterbean edamame
peas: regular(?) and snow (oregon sugar pod II)
lettuce: mild salad mix (red and green, arugula, red russian kale, mizuna, beet)
carrots: nantes coreless
zucchini: costata romanesca
tomatoes: peacevine cherry, green zebra, romana, sub-arctic
peppers: purple beauty, sweet banana, bell red
spinach: bloomsdale long standing (last year's seeds - kind of spotty)
onions: dutch sets
cucumber: sweet slice... might buy some plants too
squash: waltham butternut
eggplant: black beauty, little fingers
chard: ruby red

**herbs**
sweet basil
dill
lavender
cilantro
nasturtium

came back from 2006:
rosemary
oregano
mint, chocolate and spearmint
lemon balm
chives
parsley
note: fever few didn't make it

**flowers**
mixed annuals and perennials with special attention to..
marigold: cracker jack, dwarf
cosmo: early sensation (pink/white), polidor (red/oranges)
pansy: swiss giants mixed
sunflower: ornamental mixed
periwinkle: variegated, purple
poppy: ornamental 'brilliant' (red)
dahlia: stargazer mix
morning glory: mixed colours

came back:
daffodils
tulips
hyacinths
hollyhocks
white mystery weed that i like
mountain bluet

**other**
raspberries
strawberries
rhubarb
lamb's ear

note: radishes were stolen! skunks i think.

les fleurs

2007-06-03T15:00:00.000-04:00

gee may zipped by. with work, night classes, band practices and summertime socializing (oh, and rainy days), feel like i haven't had enough time in the dirt. however, a few gardening-intensive sundays throughout the month were enough for some cool stuff to happen...

first, gaze upon zee beautiful flowers...

violas

mountain bluet (centaurea)

mountain bluet close up

periwinkle

gee, i like purple huh.

mystery bush o thorns and pink flowers (with friend)

the raspberries are in bloom too. brings in lots of bee buzz. pollination oh yeahh.

baby vegetables

2007-05-12T20:04:00.000-04:00

i planted a few things that are happy in the coolness of early spring: lettuce (mixed seeds), onions, radish, spinach, peas, carrots. the onions are bulbs from the hardware store back home, recommended by dad... tried seeds last year but didn't get much. these guys are almost ready to eat!

onions

lettuce, radishes, spinach also up.

lettuce

radishes

still wondering what to do for a pea trellis. unlike the lame spikes and strings i used last spring, i want this year's to be beautiful and fantastic.

look ma, i weeded the patio.

the pear blossoms are starting to fall from the tree.

return

2007-05-12T18:58:00.001-04:00

i met my neighbour finally, after a year and a half of renting this apartment. she is an old woman named antonia and she's going to give me some perennials. we both agreed that gardening is a wonderful thing to do, that it keeps the mind at peace.

last summer i attempted to "grow some stuff" and it went well for the amount of effort i put into it. i ate a lot of lettuce and cherry tomatoes. i planted chocolate mint and spearmint plants that i bought down the street and i put in some gifts from a coworker: a small mountain bluet (centaurea), lemon balm, chives, egyptian onions, fever few and parsley. it's all coming back with the strength of a full season of root systems.

voila:

lemon balm

chocolate mint & spearmint

the mint has come back like wildfire. no holds barred on picking for mint tea this year.

also back are some flowers i guess i seeded last year that didn't amount to anything... THEN. now look:

mystery flowers