Monday, July 21, 2008

Lilies and Hollyhocks...



Wishing all of you a sunny-sweet-hollyhock-dreaming-kind-of-day!

xoxo,
Chickadee

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Funky Kid Art (Or: I Certainly Would Have Never Thought Of That)


Sometimes you have to wonder where they come up with these things...

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Tomato Avenue...

These are the Roma Tomato Plants I grew from a ten cent pack of seeds. At last count there were 54 in this East Garden. I also have a motley assortment of some 50-odd cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes and hierloom tomatoes in the West Garden. But none of it is ripe yet! Can you hear the frustration? And since I refuse to pay exorbitant grocery store prices for tasteless veggies, we wait.

Soon, I promise myself, soon. And by the time they start to really produce I am going to need some friends to come over and dig me out from underneath it all.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

July Blooms..

This is the flower bed just outside the Lodge. It is jam packed with all sorts of lovely things: hostas, daylilies, foxglove, sedum, snapdragons, peonies and hydrangeas. I absolutely love it. Just looking at it brightens my day, and there is always something beautiful blooming in it.
Here are the nasturtiums in the West Garden that are adding their sunny faces to our landscape. They are also edible and add a peppery splash of brightness to salads, or at the very least they can provide a beautiful garnish. They are easy to grow as well, which is a good thing for a gardener like me. (I have an innate ability to kill indoor plants and anything fussy, but amazingly my children are all alive and thriving). Nasturtiums do not like to be moved around, so it is better to seed them directly where you want them. Pop them in the ground in the spring and keep them weeded and watered and they will bloom like mad.

Here is a recipe for Nasturtium Risotto. I haven't tried it yet but plan to. It sounds scrumptious!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Waiting....

Roma tomatoes that we are impatiently waiting for...

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Harvest Time (Finally!)

We are thrilled to finally be getting enough food to harvest. The garden peas are so succulent and sweet, there is no comparison to frozen store-bought! And the One Lone Strawberry is hopefully just the first of many to make an appearance.

Garden blessings to you!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Garden Progress...

We had such a late start this year on our gardens due to the weather, but things are coming along nicely now. Above are our rows of cucumbers, and the first row of tomatoes.
More tomatoes....


Garden peas and snow peas....

We are (not so) patiently waiting!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Happy July To You!




Some local pastoral scenes....isn't Minnesota beautiful? I just love it and feel so blessed to live here....
xoxo,
Chickadee