The Garden, Beginning, Middle and End...

2 things. Wow, it has been a month since my last post and I did not post anything on the blog about this years garden. To close the gap a bit, the last day of the outdoor pool could not have ended any better given the perfect weather that day, and taking in all the hundreds of laps I clocked in by the end of the season, I was grateful beyond words. As one of the lifeguards said, 'You have just been a swimming machine this summer!'. Best thing I could have heard. So, to back track, to around Memorial Day. I bought a 3 tiered raised garden bed KIT. I had to build it. Seemed simple enough, but, as has been stated here before on many other projects, it was more work than anticipated...and it took a ton of soil. With the help of our neighbors, drilling some drainage holes on the floor board we bought to keep the soil in place, and the brand spanking new palettes we found outside of a shop, whose owners said, 'Please, take them off of our hands!' I was on my way.

 I bought small heirloom tomatoes, white eggplants, green peppers, strawberries, 6 varieties of basil for eating all summer and then to make pesto to take us to next summer, flat leaf parsley, which we have also been enjoying all summer as well, and dill. The strawberries died almost immediately, replaced them with something else (I forget), and it died, then replaced that with cucumbers which had blight, so that little corner never happened. 

That said, I have never had tomatoes grow so fast and with such strength in their stems. They are still blooming, and I have hundreds of them. The white eggplants were beautiful to watch bloom and grow from a lovely purple flower to a baseball sized eggplant. I cut back 10 of them just yesterday and cooked up some eggplant parm. There are ALLOT of seeds in these small guys, so, they can border on bitter. But, the Boys enjoyed it, along with the fresh basil and pesto made from scratch included in the ingredients. It was a great moment in the kitchen, and I froze 7 healthy portions!! I am in the process of dismantling, the large, beautifully weathered terra cotta pots of basil, making pesto like a machine. Last summer I froze 58 4 oz. containers, and so far, as of today, I have 41. The nights have been cool, so time is of the essence. All in all a great garden, yielding a bounty for us as I harvest the haul. I am a grateful little gardener, still busy busy busy, just like the bees who have graced us with their presence all season....

It is hard to imagine what will happen..

...but in a short amount of time, THIS!!!

The whole gift giving plants and herbs...

Strawberry leaf which never took, but so pretty..

White eggplant showing herself...

Strong and tall, still blooming...

Cut back bouquet of 6 basil varieties for pesto...

Last but not least, just yesterday, 10 of these babies...more still growing!!!

'Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce.'

                                                           Jeremiah 29:5

Post script: By days end, there are now 51 frozen 4oz. containers of pesto!!!

And Grow She Will...

 

 

My thought is, good thing the tomatoes will turn red, in time, because I would never be able to find them in the thick growth which is set before me. There are many beautiful little blooms just getting ready to pop and give us some juicy Roma's. We have been using the dill on our salmon steaks, and the beautiful delicate, edible flowerettes are like lace umbrellas. The basil, well, I am inches away from making pesto, and our summer salads have been graced w/ the freshness of all 4 varieties. It is just mid-July....

I wish you could smell the aroma wafting off of all these plants...

Build it, And They Will Come...

4 varieties of basil, some Italian oregano & sage..

4 weeks ago..

Roma's, growing, flowering, dill & Italian oregano, flat leaf parsley..

4 weeks ago..

Purple, Thai, sweet and Greek basil...staked for security..

Amazing growth!!!

4 weeks ago..

Whoops, wrong quote. The 'Field of Dreams' quote just feels fitting. More like plant it in a sunny spot, water, fertilize every 2 weeks, hand out some serious TLC, and they will grow! It has been close to 1 month since we put this years' garden together. The first week is very telling. Some of the basil immediately keeled over. Then, there were some spots which needed filling in. So, now I have Italian oregano, dill (you can never have too much fresh dill), and thyme. The tomato plants are flowering, some fuller than others. But the initial concerns are now over (short of the hail we had last week...there will be more before the Summer is over...I would wager money on that!). Some of the bamboo stakes are in place, and I will continue to rotate and add them as the need presents itself. The basil is already making its way into our food. It cannot be overstated how fresh herbs and veggies straight from the garden to the plate is so potent in aroma and flavor. So, here are the comparison pics, from day one, to almost 30 days later!!

2014 Garden, For Joy!!

VintageGardenArt, hand pressed vintage silver plate flatware, on Etsy

4 varieties of basil..

Roma tomatoes and flat leaf parsley..

 

 

I don't get manicures. Just like the gal in the Vistaprint commercials, who owns a greenhouse, no point. I like to play in the dirt too much. Even though I own garden gloves, I often do not wear them, as I love the feel of the earth. I did a show @ a garden center this past November, and made a trade w/ Julie, from VintageGardenArt; one of her vintage hand pressed silver plate flatware spoons for one of my cards. I picked 'Dirty Girl', w/ a giggle, knowing it was headed straight for one of my house plants, later to be moved to the garden. It has found its rightful place next to one of the purple basil plants. Good contrast, I thought!

I kept it simple. 4 varieties of basil. Sweet, Thai, Purple and Greek. The small leaf basil did not make the cut this year, too woody. I planted Roma tomatoes and flat leaf parsley. I can still hear my old neighbor, Carole, from Rhode Island, telling me I had to space the tomato plants further apart. Given the 4'x4' space I have, w/ each of the raised garden beds, I did my best to space them and give them enough height from the soil for the roots to grow down. There is still room for more, 'I'm not sure yet', herbs or plants. We'll see. The Boys helped me this year w/ all the heavy lifting (The Lilley Community Garden). Many cubits of potting soil, mixed w/ many cubits of garden soil, mixed w/ compost. Not to mention the earthworms, night crawlers. All 36 of them, well, now, 35, one went the wrong way, and...

So, here's to a great harvest of a ton of basil for summer salads and 'Amy's Famous Pesto', some hearty, juicy Roma's for sauce and summer salads as well. I especially look forward to the low low hmmmmmmm of the bees!

'Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south; Make my garden breathe out fragrance, Let its spices be wafted abroad...' 

Song of Songs 4:16

post script: I accidentally deleted the original post, twice (what's up w/ blogspot today????)...so, hopefully this re-post still paints the picture!!