Welcome Back!

After a two year absence, I am once again living in Nashville and working at the Demonstration Garden!  While many things have changed here, one thing is still the same; this is an amazing garden to visit!  These are some photos from a recent work day and I encourage you to visit this page often to see what is happening in the garden!

Chives, the seeds are so fertile that they pop up everywhere and so do the weeds!  This is some speedwell in the herb garden and of course, some chive seedlings.

Daffodils are a sure sign of spring, let's hope it comes quickly.

Hyacinths are so fragrant that you can almost smell them before you spot the blooms!

Over in the shade beds, the Solomon's Seal is thinking it is spring as well.

The Hellebores are in full bloom.

Things are starting to wake up and follow the Daffodil's lead down in the perennial garden.

How can you not love a plant that seems to glow?  Bloody Dock is one of my favorite foliage plants.  When the light shines through it, it glows.  This is proof that you do not need just flowers to add a pop of color to your garden!

The cabbages in the vegetable garden are heading now and before we know it, we will be picking them!  

In the vegetable garden, we also have asparagus.  Ever wonder how they grow white asparagus?  The stalks are blanched by keeping them covered and if you look closely at the tip of this one, you can see it is white.  It grew up with a cluster of leaves and debris on the tip like an umbrella and blanched itself white.  However, as soon as I uncovered it, the plant began the process of greening itself.

And just for fun, some ornamental kale, because everyone needs a hint of color...

signs of spring in the garden

as the days get longer and the temperatures climb up and away from freezing, there is a sense of urgency in the garden.  a little voice whispers, or maybe it bellows.  definitely bellows and it doesn't take much to hear the message:  "GET TO WORK AND CLEAN ME UP!!!"

 every where you look, weeds, and wreckage!

 fallen leaves and dead branches

 over grown plants in need of a trim

 a need for repairs and replacements

 things to be removed and stored

in general, a depressing view of an abandoned garden

trash or treasure?  depends on who you ask, either way, an eyesore filled with weeds this morning

even the compost area needs some tlc

and while it is a little overwhelming to do this alone-and yes i was alone since no one came out to work with me (or eat cake with me), there are beautiful sights to be seen if you take the time to look.

 tri color thyme

 bloody dock

 honey bees sipping nectar from rosemary blooms

 daffodils 

speedwell blossoms; the tiny native ones are considered a weed but the larger ones, a cultivated variety, can be purchased in pots at garden centers

 clematis awakening and showing new growth

a winter show of color from hellebores

late last spring, we planted some poppies in the shade garden.  i forgot about them and this little one popped up in a walkway to remind me of their presence

 look carefully among the leaves, lungwort (pulmonaria) is blooming

and as always, when i go out to work in the garden, i go with a cake in hand to thank my volunteers.  sadly today, i returned home with the cake uncut.  not one volunteer came out to join me.  to all of my fellow gardeners, we need to fix this garden and i cannot do it alone.  please come on out and join me!
the garden cannot clean itself up, we need to do it and fast, there are only two months to go til the big show!

square foot garden, 5/28

this new addition to our garden is wonderful!  shirley could not have put together a better display if she had tried.  after taking a week off from the garden, i was shocked to see how much the plants in each square have grown.  if you have limited space and want to grow your own vegetables, buy or borrow a copy of mel bartholomew's book and get to work.  to see the progress of our display, check back here from time to time.

gotta love how neat and organized this is

 a reference chart for plants per square is a valuable piece of information and it will help you fill the squares properly to obtain the highest yield.

 swiss chard

 kale

 bloody dock-easily on of my favorites since it is so pretty

 runaway lettuces!

 peanuts!  see the cracks in the dirt?  more are sprouting

 arugula

 the little pepper plant that could

a perfect little red radish.

you go shirley!!!  now go enter that bed in mel's contest, don't make me do it for you...see you out in the garden.

update 4/1

we have begun the work on removing the block beds to make way for the tomato plants that are part of the plant trial for trevecca university.  it is a tedious process and one that requires full attention-wasps like to make nests inside the blocks!  by looking at the next few photos, it is easy to see what we are doing and should you decide to help us, you will have a clear idea of where things need to go.

 leave the dirt right where it is-if the cells of the blocks are full, empty them into the middle of the bed.

 place all of the blocks in the area behind the large green block bed, stacking them as neatly as possible.

 and if you do not want to lift and lug blocks-weed around the beds.  the granules that caroll sprinkled on the walkways is a pre-emergent weed preventer meaning that it will only affect the seeds and not the plants.  we still need to remove the plants.

 when the clematis is in bloom, the gazebo is beautiful!

 cranesbill in the shade garden-i love the color of the blooms

 a close up of the blooms

 an unwelcomed visitor in the asparagus bed-asparagus beetle

 pineapple sage in the herb garden survived our mild winter and is in the process of leafing out.

 i just love the look of bloody dock in the pallet garden.  it looks as if someone painted the lines onto the leaves.

 the rest of the pallet garden

 what i hope is a borage seedling from the plant that was in the is area last year

 the nasturtiums reseeded themselves in the herb garden too

 thyme in full bloom

 purple sage

 buckeye in full bloom

 more unwelcomed critters!  the yucca is crawling with little black bugs

 webworms over in the ut garden

and of course, cake.  it is my goal to arrive for every work day with a cake and today's effort was an apple walnut cake.  it was very tasty.  join us, have cake and eat it too!  for the recipe, click here