The Bench that Hubby Built

DH recently built this bench from some salvaged wood from the neighbor children's play structure tear down. The plans call it a 3-hour bench, but DH calls it a 1 year 17 hour bench. He effectively kept misplacing the plans for about a year and then since we were using salvaged wood, we had to adapted the plans to the wood we had.

The plans allow for adjusting the slant of the seat and the back before finishing it. So of course we had to have a nice evening sit to decide how we liked it. I've come up with a foot stool plan too, but for now we use the log as a foot stool/table.

I'm very pleased to have this one in the garden and have several more places around the property I'd like a nice wood bench. Those chairs up on the hill will only last so long. I can see us making more, but DH is still in denial about it. Now where did those plans go....?

Ms. Anita's Calendula

I have a little of Anita's outstanding Country Cottage Garden now blooming in Petunia's Garden! I won Anita's Easter Drawing and soon had a generous collection of seeds in my mail box. It's been a whirlwind of a year, but I did plant them and now seeing some blooms. The dill Anita advised to plant near these calendula is also growing. Pumpkins and morning glories too. I think the morning glories have been waiting for warm weather but finally decided to start climbing a little. I love calendula and hope these will find their way throughout the garden in the future seasons.

If you haven't visited Anita's garden, you have to go now! It is beautiful and so many wonderful ideas she shares with us. I bet her neighbors take the route by her house just to enjoy the gardens. Thanks, Anita, for sending these treasures to me!

Bloom Day July

I had limited time to come up with a bloom day post, so I took a vote. By overwhelming majority, this is the most popular bloom in the garden! I voted for lavender and sunflowers (and I even voted several times) but those votes washed out with all the bees voting for the broccoli! I think there are some honey bees visiting the garden too. Wonder what broccoli honey tastes like?
The bees are in such a frenzy, most photos where just a blur. I don't think they even get this excited about borage. Check out their "pollen baskets," the yellow pockets of pollen on their legs. I've watched lots of bees in the garden before and have seen SOME with such full baskets. The bees in the broccoli ALL had full baskets!
These are my oldest 4 broccoli plants and they had been slowly overcoming all my tactics to keep them from blooming (at least there are still some younger plants producing). Finally, I let them go to see what the blooms would attract. Eventually, these plants, the bolting lettuce, the garlic and onions will come out and this may be where the Brussels spouts will go.

Go check out Carol's May Dreams Garden Bloom Day post here. In the comments to her post, you can find the 50+ others who have a Bloom Day post or who have listed what's blooming in their part of the world too.

Garden - Early July

Starting to get some height in the garden now. In the last week, the beans have gown up on the structure more than in this photo. Since I finally did put down soaker hoses, I'm glad the garden is layed out in beds about 4 feet x 22 feet. There are six beds plus the double row nearest the gate which is assorted herbs and other hardy plants, the bird bath and a seating area you cannot see in this photo. I'll have more to post on the seating area in a few days.

Click on the label, below, "garden-monthly photos" to see the prior months.

It's Here!

Ahhhh, thanks! I needed that today. The petals still have some opening to do on this first sunflower of the summer, but the heat this week has really moved this one along.

And the warm evening means outdoor blogging! I haven't tried it from the garden yet, but the patio works just fine.

Bring on the heat

Well, it is already here, actually. We've had 2 days well above our average high of 75 degrees, with a few more days to go before it cools down. That's not Petunia, above, but a soaker hose added last weekend (and it has now been covered with a mulch). A 50 foot soaker hose can go down a bed and back just about right. Different beds can be watered on different days as needed. I'm either ready for another dry summer, or encouraging it to rain. Either way works for me.

Last night, we added some straw mulch to most of the bare ground and over the soaker hoses. You can also see the coffee bagged path that runs under the bean structure. The pole & runner beans above seem happy with this arrangement. The highest climber is up to 6 feet now. It was in the upper 90's today, but tonight, I could still find cool earth under the straw.

Snap Peas Blues

Do your peas hide well?
Do they puff up in their shell?
Do they grow to be great big?
Can you ring them like a bell?
Can you search for ‘em every day
Yet find gigantic ones this way?
Do your peas hide well?

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Spent the morning blanching and freezing young peas and broccoli. I also picked every last giant pea pod that has been hiding out, in hopes of continuing the harvest of new peas a little longer. Some of the vines are starting to show signs of the warming summer, but others are still flowering.

Next came more beet harvest. Cooked & pickled some for the week. Added the young greens to the salad and prepared the medium sized greens for cooking tomorrow night. The largest and slightly yellowing leaves went to the compost.

Finally, rhubarb! I was starting to have second thoughts about it. How could I tell if it was ready? I understand it doesn't all turn red as a signal. Would it need so much sweetening that it wasn't worth messing with? Would it be too tough? But, I already had strawberries so next came the strawberry rhubarb cobbler. Not bad at all! I'll be having some more here soon.

It actually reminds me of the tart cherry sauce I was hooked on last year. See the post about it here. Since there are only a few cherries this year, I wonder how rhubarb might substitute? (I have more cherry liqueur from Germany now too!)

So now my question is ...how long can I keep harvesting it?

Welcome: Kansas Guest Garden 1

While on our trip to Kansas in early June, we had the opportunity to visit a garden (& the gardeners) in a town south of Wichita. Now remember, this was early June and Petunia's Garden was no where near this far along. PG: My, you're a very happy garden, what's your secret?
KGG1: SUNSHINE, a little horse manure in my early days, a miracle-grow cocktail with the gardener now and then helps. And when the sunshine really makes me thirsty, nothing beats a good, long drink of water.

PG: This is such a nice spot. Are there any garden challenges here?
KGG1: Kansas weather! Always too much/too little of something - too much wind, too little rain, too much heat, too much rain, too little warmth. And rabbits ... too many rabbits!
PG: Do you have any favorite crops?
KGG1: I enjoy sharing a good crop of corn with the gardeners and it feels so good when the little gardeners run over to play hide & seek with me after a hot summer day. Cucumbers are also a favorite. So cool and juicy. A variety is always nice: Tomatoes, broccoli, cantaloupe and other melons. A pepper plant here and there.

PG: What have you grown in the past that you just won't bother with again?
KGG1: Those carrots have to stick around so long, they all start bickering before they're out of here. Almost drives me crazy. And pumpkins! They're fun I know, but for some reason, they make me itch. I think it's much better for all around if the gardeners just get their pumpkins from somewhere else.
PG: You have a nice round of tomatoes growing. I see some huge green fruit in there compared to what I have back in Washington state.
KGG1: Thank you! They're just getting started. The tall, strong wire cages should give you some idea of how much more growing they have to do! The family does like their fresh tomatoes so I try to please them.

PG: I see you do have a nice start on cucumber and melon vines, above. What advice do you have for other gardens just getting started?
KGG1: You cannot beat having a good gardener that will keep the weeds away. It helps if his/her favorite tool is a rototiller, especially in the early days! Nothing like it to stir things up and work in a good batch of leaves and other soil snacks.

PG: Thanks for the tip! Any future plans you want to share with us, before we wrap up today? KGG1: I'm thinking I'm ready to really put down some roots and commit to an asparagus bed. Annual crops offer a lot of flexibility, but I think I'm up to the commitment. Even so, I've been dreaming about some okra. And then maybe I'll need to relocate the corn, and move over the cucumbers.... No, wait! I can do it. I can commit to that asparagus bed (and fit the okra somewhere). Happy Garden Dreaming everyone!

Break Time

A few international bloggers who visit and are visited by PG have recently mentioned a trip to Pizza Hut. On our trip to Kansas, DH & I stopped at Wichita State University (we're both graduates) and also visited the original Pizza Hut. Surprise, surprise - a geocaching quest. (That's just the white WSU water tower well behind it, but in the photo looks like it is on the roof.)
It was started by two brothers in 1958, at another spot in Wichita. This little building was moved to the WSU campus in 1984 while we were attending there. WSU has a great business & entrepreneurship program so it fits it. See this LINK about the building and the Pizza Hut name too.

Emily's Garden

My name is Emily and this is my garden. It is on the end of one row in the big garden, next to the fennel and parsley. I don't like them, so I'm growing my own garden. What do I grow? Catnip of course!I check on it every day. You must be diligent if you are going to keep the weeds out (aka cosmos, marigolds and sunflowers). The other gardener didn't know I moved the catnip to this nice space. It was just too crowded in the other row and there was not room for a good roll. I've even been thinking about my mulching plans (see here). He-he-he...the other gardener thought I was just looking forward to nice clean paths. I love my catnip...
I really, really love my catnip(mphhh). Here, let's just have a little tasty (mpphh). Maybe just one bite more....oh, the aroma too!
But sometimes a gardener can love her seedlings too much.

Sometimes a little intervention needs to happen.

Sometimes plants need a little less loving to grow big and strong enough for a good roll.

Since I love my catnip, I'll let it grow in its little odd cage. I'll still check on it every day and keep it weeded (from those awful cosmos and sunflowers that keep trying to sprout).

I know how much fun it will be when it grows big enough for a good roll.

Wait! What's this? Another sprouting! Outside the protection zone. I'll just have a little taste. It won't hurt much. Just a little for now.

I love my catnip.