in the garden with cake; april 26

as we prepare for the urban gardening festival, lots of new exhibits are taking shape.  due to the continuing issues with root knot nematodes, we are experimenting with methods of vertical gardening.  even better is that this method repurposes milk jugs that would otherwise have gone into the trash.

 the rain garden has gotten a lot of attention this spring.  the basin has been weeded and aerated.  the grasses and sedums on the berm have been thinned and we are preparing to dig out some of the excess plants for sale at the festival.

 the square foot garden is shaping up nicely.  if you would like to garden and have little space, you should consider this method because it really works.

 the herb garden has gotten a new fence and it looks like a whole different place!  we are experimenting with hugelkultur in the herb garden so keep visiting the blog to see the progress of the plants.

 this little block garden is already producing large amounts of herbs!

 the seeds i planted in the keyhole garden are sprouting-i cannot wait to start picking lettuce and greens.

 want to learn about composting?  let us help you, we have several methods in use at the garden.

 tiarella, the current rock star in the shade garden

 i love this combination; golden creeping jenny, blue spruce sedum and dragon's blood stonecrop.

 beans are ready to grow up!  climb the vertical garden, climb!!!

 before you know it, the false blue indigo in the rain garden will be the star of the show

and of course, the nematode remediation plot.  the mustard and rape seed have sprouted, just waiting for the marigolds to get going.  we hope this works!!!

wet and soggy weekend weather; update 7/7/13

despite the rain, the garden did not float away!  actually, it seems to have been just what many of the plants have needed to take off.  suddenly, we are seeing lots of growth and fruit being set.  

 zucchini in the keyhole garden

 eggplant in the keyhole garden-the first fruit is on its way

 in three days, we had 5.5 inches of rain!  

 bumble bee in the mountain mint-this plant is a bee magnet.  we easily can count half a dozen different types of bees on the mountain mint at any given time.

 the logs that form the walls of the herb garden are decomposing rapidly thanks to many different types of mushrooms.

 somewhere in that tangle of tansy and st. john's wort is a walkway.

 believe it or not, that is a three sisters garden and somewhere in there are several stalks of corn.

 the signs of summer:  insects, specifically, a harlequin bug.  needless to say, the cabbages and other brassicas were removed from the square foot garden to prevent more from appearing.

 red noodle beans in the square foot garden

 over in the vertical garden, we have asparagus long beans.  both are tasty and easy to grow.  we have become fans of both types and almost always have a few plants in the garden.

 the garden phlox plants look spectacular this year which is nice after the awful time we had last year.  we had the worst infestation of phlox plant bugs and the plants looked terrible.  thankfully, they seem to have completely recovered and even to have spread a bit.

 one of my personal favorites in the garden; a blackberry lily.  we started out with one little rhiozome in the old perennial garden and they have spread out through the one section of the bed.  the seeds are pretty easy to germinate so it is now wonder how this has happened!

 beautiful day lily-don't you just love the color?

 when you have coneflowers, you have bees.  here are a couple of bumbles gathering nectar

 the grapes in the arbor look a little worse for wear.  they have some sort of fungus but we leave them for the birds who do not seem to mind at all.  four years ago, i gathered a bundle of ripe grapes and created a sourdough starter for bread.  believe it or not, that starter is still going.  that reminds me, i need to think about baking some sourdough bread!

and as always, cake.  this is a maple pecan cake with a cinnamon ribbon.  to see the recipe, visit my blogpage, it is posted there.

catching up with the garden!

 summer is here!  just look at how the rain garden has exploded!  the yucca has put on its show and several other plants are too.

we aren't the only ones loving the yucca, leaf footed bugs seem to like it too.  i spent some time catching them and dropping them into a bucket of soapy water to kill them.

soldier beetles are always welcome-they are predatory and can eat large numbers of pests such as aphids.

 native butterfly weed and salvia in full bloom near the rain garden.

 beauty berry in the rain garden is blooming.  it won't be too long before it is covered in tiny purple berries.

 the three sisters are growing up and out!

the corn is already producing ears

 blue plate sedum, one of my favorite plants in the rain garden

 mexican oregano in bloom

 the lavender is in full bloom too and the bees are loving the nectar

a close up shot of the lavender

 we have a raised bed that if home to asparagus and potatoes.  did you ever see the blossom from a potato vine?  they are pretty and short lived.  these were gone in a day.

when you see this blossom, it is pretty obvious that potatoes are a night shade plant.

 just look at the square foot garden!  can you believe how nicely it is doing?  a big round of applause goes to shirley for such an impressive sight!

 there is so much to see in that 4x8 bed

 have you ever wondered what a carrot flower looks like?  wonder no more.  shirley let some of the carrots in the square foot garden flower.

thousands of tiny white blooms on each stem.  can you see the resemblance to queen anne's lace and poison hemlock; they are all in the same plant family.

radish blooms

 the vertical garden is finally planted and beginning to grow

 black and blue salvia in bloom

 monarda, commonly called bee balm, in the herb garden

 tarragon in bloom

 walk around the garden and you will find buckwheat growing in random places.  we just toss the seeds around so that it will grow all over.  it attracts green lacewings which are beneficial to the garden since they love to eat other insects.  it also attracts little bees.

 the next generation of buckwheat plants

 this year i have decided that thyme is one of my favorite plants in the garden.  there are so many types to choose from.  it is considered a beneficial plant because of the insects it will attract, it can be used in many dishes and some varieties, like this elfin thyme, make a great ground cover that can withstand some foot traffic.

 and i am not sure who we have here.  isn't it pretty?  this little metallic insect investigated that entire coneflower blossom-i wonder what it was looking for.

and as always, a cake.  this weeks offering was a strawberry ribbon cake with nut crumb topping.