Solstice & Alliums

Joseph & I had another good day in the garden. I mulched the 2 new asparagus beds & 2 melon beds. Joseph harvested garlic & onions, which have been happy this year. We transplanted basil, dill & spilanthes (toothache plant) from the seedbed to their permanent home & made a new bed for the Egyptian Walking onions. I should have known the newly mulched beds would be irresistable to the chickens. They promptly found them & started scratching, so we made a low fence with some hog wire to keep them out. Happy Solstice & Summer!

Foiling the Squirrels

The weather has been interesting lately. Thursday morning, we got 5 1/4" rain in about 3 hrs. It flattened the corn, & I had to take an alternate route to work, as the creek was up over the bridge. Today has been hot & steamy. After our garden chores, Joseph said he was going to work on a pole to put the bird feeders on. This one was going to be a lot taller, to keep the squirrels from eating so much birdseed. I'm happy to have them share what falls to the ground; not happy when they empty the feeders! Anyway, it seemed Joseph had been working on it a long time out in the heat, so I went to check how it was coming along, & found this... I love creative minds!

Weddings & Creativity in the Garden

Joseph & I have been to 2 weddings recently. Yesterday's was my niece's, my brother's oldest. It was a beautiful morning wedding at Tuscany Gardens, a pretty, flowering spot with flowing waterfall to accompany their vows. Joseph has had to use his creativity again in the garden, as the Christmas Lima seed he got turned out to be running beans, instead of the bush beans they were labeled as. He had planted them alongside the Trionfo Violetto green beans, which were runners, & didn't want them getting all tangled, so made a trellis which comes out at an angle away from the others. Kinda interesting looking, but it should work. I love the Trionfo Violetto's because they're a beautiful plant, with purple stems & beautiful pink blossoms, but also because they make harvesting so much easier, having purple pods instead of green.

Bean Poles & Lambs Quarter

I was up & out early this morning to work in the garden. It's supposed to be 94 today. Joseph wants to plant okra soon, & the garden bed was full of some lovely Lamb's Quarters. I harvested them & ended up with quite a lot after cleaning. I should have plenty to make a couple of quiches, & then some. Lamb's Quarters is one of my favorite wild plants; definitely worth a try if it's not one you're familiar with. Use it any way you would spinach. Joseph recently put up a trellis for our beans. His trellises always look like works of art to me. The picture doesn't quite capture it, with the bean tendrils reaching to the sky this morning. What a pleasure it was to work in the morning cool with birdsong to accompany me.