In spite of the great weather I haven’t done much gardening. As much as I love it, it can get tiring, there is always so very much to do. So this week, aside from harvesting and Bookman staking up a few things that fell over during a heavy rainfall, we’ve given ourselves permission to not do much of anything but enjoy all the results of all the work we have done. It is so easy to not enjoy the garden. Every morning I walk through it on my way to the bus stop and all I can see are the things that need to be done or that aren’t working like I had hoped.
I’ve been taking photos every week of flowers in bloom but I have never taken any wide-angled photos so you can see the
whole garden, or large pieces of it. That’s because it doesn’t look like something out of Better Homes and Gardens. I have weeds. I still have a lot of grass in the garden (and it needs to be mowed) and so to my mind, it isn’t done, it isn’t ready to be seen. The pathway isn’t done yet either and we have piles of wood chips, dirt, buckets, concrete we haven’t broken up yet strewn around.But this week, having given myself permission to enjoy the garden, it made me so happy every time I looked out my patio door. We have a sliding glass door in our kitchen that goes out to the deck that goes into the garden. This year more than in any years past, we’ve had so many birds and we don’t even have bird feeders.
There have been several robin parties in the garden this week with four or five of them hopping around all at once. The sparrows love the fountain and the sandy beach around it and have a raucous good time. We are suddenly being visited by house wrens. For such tiny little birds they can make a big noise. And the gold finches have arrived. I have also lived in this house for fourteen years and have never seen a hummingbird anywhere in the neighborhood. This morning as I stood on the deck directing Bookman where to water, a hummingbird flew into the yard, hovered over the scarlet runner beans, and darted away. I have never bothered to plant anything that might attract them having never seen any anywhere. Next year though, I will plant a few things with hummingbirds in mind. And it’s not just the birds that have been a delight. There are bees of all kinds everywhere. And all those tiny crickets I noticed in my wood chip mulch early in the summer have grown and are chirp, chirp chirping almost all the time. I love the sound of crickets. I don’t know what it is, but their chirping is relaxing for me.To top all that, the garden is so green and lush and delightfully out of control with the pumpkins taking over and all the early season things blooming or going to seed.
Yesterday as I was watching the sparrows playing in the fountain and the sand, I realized how silly it is of me to not want
to share photos of the whole garden. The garden is never going to be perfect, never finished, never look like it belongs in a magazine but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful in its own way. A garden is all process with payoffs now and then of flowers and fruits and vegetables. If I ever achieve a perfect garden my garden days would be over; there’d be nothing else to do. My garden goals are food, sustainability and habitat and I have done better this year at those goals than I ever have and that is something to be proud of. So I hope you enjoy the big-view photos sprinkled in this week. Now, for what is newly blooming. Just starting to bloom are the green-headed coneflowers (rudbeckia laciniata) which aren’t really coneflowers but rather in the sunflower family. These can get up to 10 feet (3m) tall though mine, planted in my front garden under the picture window and not in full sun get to be about 6 – 8 feet tall (1.8 – 2.4 m). These will be blooming into the fall and look really great when the New England asters they are planted with start blooming. I also have a daylily (ice carnival) that is blooming for the first time. I planted it three years ago and almost dug it out this year because all it has ever done is put up leaves. But it was saved by me not having anything to put in its place. Maybe it knew it was in danger. I’m glad it finally flowered, it is quite pretty, a pale, creamy yellow.Nothing else new blooming at the moment. We harvested two normal-sized zucchini this past week and there will be more to come. We’ve not yet made fritters but soon. And beans. They are never going to quit it seems. Our freezer is packed full
because every week we harvest a huge mixing bowl full. I learned a few days ago there is an urban farm store in St. Paul (urban farm, I love that!) and Bookman and I are going to try and get there this coming week to check out their canning equipment. We need a hot water bath canner thingy. We’ve done canning in the past but it has always been pickled or fruit and with that you don’t need all the equipment, you can heat the jars and lids in the oven and can things up beautifully. But for canning things like beans which are not acidic we need to use the boiling water bath or risk making ourselves sick. I am also very curious about what else an urban farm store might have. I recently learned that urban farming/urban homesteading is a thing. I’ve got to learn more! Will definitely share any interesting discoveries.
Thank you for sharing pictures of your garden! It looks wonderful. Our backyard needs so much more work but we did plant some rosebushes earlier this year and we’ve had some beautiful yellow roses. I was so excited a while ago when we had about 10 minutes of rain which we really need. Oh well at least it was something. Good luck at the urban farm store!
LikeLike
Iliana, thank you! I do like roses. We didn’t deadhead our climbing rose this year and are waiting to see if we get lots of hips. We had a bunch last year but we also had a drought and they all shriveled up. Hope you get more rain than just 10 minutes!
LikeLike
Love the pictures … ever grass and weeds look lovely when lunch and green. I was excited to see our first Fairy Wren of the coming season in our back yard. We miss our dear little dog — who died just under a year ago — but the up side is that the little Fairy Wrens now think it’s a safe place to nest. I can’t give them a cuddle like I could our dear Jedda, but they give their own pleasure.
LikeLike
whisperinggums, thanks! You are right, even grass and weeds can look nice when they are lush and green. I had to look up what fairy wrens look like, so beautiful! So sorry about Jedda. Our Godzilla has been gone for six years and we still miss him. We could never have a garden like we do when we had him and even though it is not the same there are, as you say, other pleasures.
LikeLike
Thanks Stefanie … yes, you never get over the loss of a pet do you?
Glad you looked up the Fairy Wren — they are very pretty, particularly the male (of course!)
LikeLike
You don’t have to go far for bird-watching. I admire you having goldfinches and wrens visiting your garden, and the hummingbird is what I’ve been longing to see. These are birds that I’ve to go all the way out to the woods to hopefully get a glimpse of. So far, I’m only successful in spotting a goldfinch once or twice. Robins and sparrows are more common, but not hummingbirds. Your garden looks fantastic. You’ve so much labor put in it already, no hard taking a rest… almost harvest time. Today I saw yellow leaves falling from trees. Oh my. How time flies.
LikeLike
Arti, thanks! No, I don’t have to go far for bird watching at all. I even had a hawk sitting on the fence not long ago. I couldn’t get a good enough look at her to be able to identify her in my bird book, but it was quite a thrill. We have had goldfinches coming to our yard for years. They like sunflowers and purple coneflowers quite a lot. We don’t have leaves turning yet but it won’t be long. It still feels like summer but it also feels like it will be starting to wind down soon. Time does indeed fly!
LikeLike
Several summers ago I had hummers. My neighbor ran over to tell me he saw one, and I pointed to my feeder. I encouraged him to go get one himself. It’s such a thrill when they visit. I stopped putting it out, though, and when I tried again last summer, I didn’t get any takers. If you can get them to come to your garden, they will return year after year. But I’ve heard you have to be diligent about giving them the food or plants they need or they’ll hook on to someone else’s garden. I love the look of your garden. I am especially interested in doing the raised beds this fall. We can pretty much grown things better in the fall and spring. Even as close as we are to the ocean, by August it is just too hot and humid to do gardening. It probably won’t be good gardening weather until Oct. I’d like to try some lettuces this fall. I would think sitting on your deck and just looking out over the garden is a great way to spend some time.
LikeLike
Grad, I’ve thought about getting a hummingbird feeder but I have such a problem with squirrels I don’t want there to be a sweet treat for them in my yard. I will definitely research what flowers attract hummingbirds. It sounds like they are a case of “if you build it they will come” but you just have to be patient. The raised beds have worked out great for the blueberries and the beans we planted with them. The herb spiral is a raised bed of sorts too and that is also doing great. They all start off weed-free which makes it a lot easier to keep them that way. I bet with you hot August weather you could grow a variety pf peppers really well. And okra. I’ve heard okra likes it hot. I am going to try some in a hot part of the garden next year. I’ve never eaten okra before so it will be a double experiment. Sounds like your gardening time is getting good just as mine is winding down.
LikeLike
Now you surprise me … but I guess it’s my silly stereotype. I expected a vegan to be well-versed in interesting vegetables (like okra) but, thinking now, I realise that’s not really logical. Are meat-eaters all well-versed in all meats and their cuts? No, not really I suspect. Anyhow, do try okra … it’s not something I’ve eaten or cooked a lot but it’s nice if properly cooked. I think Bookman needs to hunt down some okra recipes! Then you can decide whether you want to grow it or not.
LikeLike
LOL! In the US okra is a southern staple. My mom grew up in OK and hated it. As a consequence, she never made any and whenever it was mentioned she’d make a face and say how terrible it was. I asked her about it recently and it turns out she had only ever had it from a can so it was slimy and limp. The plant is related to hibiscus and apparently has beautiful flowers so even if I end up not liking okra just giving it a try for the flowers might be worth it. If you have any favorite okra recipes I’d love to have them! 🙂
LikeLike
That’s it .. first time we had them was in the south and they were slimy. (Put my husband off, but I was prepared to give them a second chance!) It was in a gumbo and who knows, they may have used canned ones or just overcooked them. They are not common here so I don’t have any recipes but I have cooked them a couple of times in stews/casseroles. Let them stay a little crisp and they are nice. I didn’t know it was related to hibiscus, but now you say it it makes perfect sense.
LikeLike
They need a long, hot growing season so aren’t common in northern US states and I only ever see a few pods at my local food co-op so it will be fun to try and see how it does. Thanks for the tip on keeping them crisp. Will have to search my recipe books, I’m sure I’ll find something to cook them up in, or rather to have Bookman cook them up in 🙂
LikeLike
LOL! I’ll look forward to a report.
LikeLike
Just like Grad I wouldn’t mind sitting on your deck looking out over your lovely garden for a wee or longer while.
LikeLike
Cath, thanks! You are welcome to come sit on my deck as long as you want to and I won;t even make you work in the garden 🙂
LikeLike
Your garden is beautiful! Would be interested in hearing about water bath canning of beans. I’ve always been told you need a pressure canner so I never canned beans. I do however freeze them and I really like how they turn out. Simply parboil them and then freeze. You need to drain/dry them and some suggest leaving them flat on a cookie sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes before you put them in containers. Unfortunately, my freezer run easily accommodate the cookie sheet so I let them drain and pat them dry with paper towels or kitchen towel. They can freeze together this way but it isn’t usually a big issue. I love having beans throughout the winner.
Do you have a copy of Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian? There’s a great recipe for stewed okra and tomatoes. Just made it again last night. :-). If you don’t have it I can email you a copy of the recipe.
LikeLike
Anne Camille, thanks! Yup, we’ve been freezing the beans so far but we have just one small freeze freezer that is now full of beans and shredded zucchini on top of the things we usually freeze. We are running out of room! It’s all good though. I will check my canning book about the beans before I buy canning equipment just to make sure I get what I need.
No, I don’t have the Bittman book. A copy of the okra recipe would be lovely. I will then be prepared for next summer. Thanks!
LikeLike