Vegetable Garden

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THE VEGETABLE GARDEN / POTAGER

The Vegetable Garden, my POTAGER…is a dream come true. I wanted to go into the garden and bring in fresh organic vegetables, the best varieties of course, and turn them into delightful & healthy meals.

                                                                                 

Although I am a fairly accomplished cook, I get  overwhelmed when the harvest starts coming in.  Time and again I turn to  Julieta Cadenas’ blog  LINDARAXA to find recipes to inspire  me.

                                                                                              

                                                                                        

I am  excited and honored  to be teaming up with her. As the harvest comes in we will link to each others blog and, she will create  recipes for all of us to enjoy.

Julieta is one knowledgeable lady, a former investment banker, lifelong food aficionado, great cook and a delightful & generous  friend. Check out her blog, she writes about more than  cooking.

So, as soon as I saw these in the garden…

                                                                                             

                                                                                        

I immediately went to LINDARAXA  for inspiration. Soon my kitchen will be overrun with squash. and I want to be prepared.

Last year, for winter use, I roasted and froze some  squash.  This year  I’ll do the same. They were wonderful ! I used them with scrambled eggs, I added them  to a saute of  onion garlic, red pepper, and some artichokes & served with pasta.  But I need to ‘do’ something NEW,  and as usual Julieta has some inspiring dishes.  Here is Julieta’s Squash casserole .

Enjoy, my husband can’t wait for the squash to come in! Once again Julieta, thank you. You STAR in my kitchen!

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THIS ‘N’ THAT…

This is the busiest season in and about the garden.

                                                                                      

Seedlings must be nurtured in the house,

                                                                          

 the semi-finished Bothy is being organised… with a nod to its previous tenants.

                                                                                 

Weeds are rampant  and everything needs attention at once!

                                                                                       

Still, the garden is beautiful and feeds my soul.

                                                                               

The potager,is putting forth such succulent delights as ‘Gourmet  Lettuce  Mix’ ,’ Italian Kale’ &  ‘Red Mesclun Mix’.

                                                                                          Finally the arbor has found its home. Poor thing , one has moved her about so often…

                                                                                     

I like the way it ties into the Bothy. Evergreens will be planted on both sides of the arbor, forming a hedge. This will serve as the entrance to the Potager and the end of the ‘Pleasure Garden” (so Edwardian don’t you think?)

© all photos 2011

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GARDENING TRUMPS BLOG!

Goodness , I have no idea where the time goes. It is already Friday Saturday! This week there was so much to do in the garden. The pruning of ‘Annabelle’ hydrangeas & Hydrangea paniculata, along with some Clematis… Still not done with all the ‘Annabelles.’ Every year I have the same lament. When I am pruning I have too many….when they bloom there are not enough!!

                                                                                           

Much weeding in the potager where I am growing salad ….delicious! A few stragglers from last years tulips popping up between the lettuce… and much weeding ….

                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                                          

 Spring is going forward at breakneck speed, it seems. Viburnum burkwoodii in bloom. If I could share the fragrance, you would know why it is so cherished among gardeners.

                                                                                           

It does get  large, with a beautiful vase shape. There are several Clematis planted at its feet. Reminders of a lovely day, shared with dear friends, in a beautiful garden.

                                                                                          

The new kitty is at the vets with serious upper respiratory infection…….

© All photos 2011

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THE SEED PROJECT

It’s that time of year again…

                                                                                     

 Last minute check of catalogues to make final decisions…. it’s the same routine every year…In January  the descriptions, read by the fire, seduce us with their prose. We lust after so many varieties and make endless lists, finally the seeds on hand are checked and then we decide what  will be ordered.

                                                                                           

Dahlia, gets into the act…

                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                 

My husband  trims the list to a “reasonable” size …….15  types of tomatoes, three of each. Those are the beefsteak type. Then there are the Plum tomatoes the best known is probably Roma. I like the ‘San Marzano’  and ‘Amish Paste’. We should have a dozen or so plants of these….

                                                                                      

 and probably way more …. I have to remind  him… we garden, not farm….

© All photos & text 2011

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GARDEN & HYDRANGEA UPDATE

It was my relationship with Penny McHenry* that instilled in me the love of hydrangeas.

I have to confess I always found the blue mopheads rather  flashy, I much prefered the delicate lacecaps. Working over a period of time with Penny on reinventing her garden, I had the opportunity to observe the plants closely in all their stages of growth. When they began to fade and look like this…

                                                                        

  and this …     

                                                                                                                                    

I was hooked!  Suddenly I appreciated the versatility of this shrub and how many months of beauty it contributes to the garden.

                                                                   

The paniculatas are late blooming, above & below, Pink Diamond (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pink Diamond’)

                                                                    

Right now this is a magnet for butterflies and several species of bees. When the sun shines here, the area is all a flutter.

AND THE REST…

                                                                   

The oak Leaf hydrangea turns amethyst, true to its name. (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Amethyst’)

                                                                    

Annabelle hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’) is that lovely Chartreuse colour, blends beautifully with the hosta. Notice there is no foliage left on Annabelle. The deer love her. 

                                                                         Hydrangea ‘Snowflake’ is still flowering..

                                                                     but starting to show some browning.

                                                                   

The berries on the viburnums are ripening, these above  will be red…

                                                                  

and these are the yellow berries of Viburnum ‘Michael Dodge’ starting to colour up.

                                                                   

More delights, the seed heads of Clematis. Once described as curled up little terriers.

                                                                  

Figs are starting (above)… and below, ongoing blueberry harvest.

                                                                  

with more to come. The late blueberries are just starting. 

                                                                   

Ah, summertime!

* Penny McHenry dear friend and founder of the American Hydrangea Society.

© All photos & text 2010

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THE POTAGER…PRODUCES!

I really don’t mean  to complain, but I cannot get out of the kitchen! Look what comes in from the potager…

                                                                             

everyday!

                                                                                 

    Heirloom tomatoes…  and blueberries too.                                                                          My husband is an organic gardener and his domain is the potager. There he grows heirloom vegetables.  The resulting harvest is extraordinary, some of the best tasting vegetables, are deposited on the kitchen counter daily                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            the one caveat…I have to  DO something with all this bounty.

My clematis need weeding, but I will be cooking tomatoes … The viburnums need some pruning, but the blueberries need to be picked…It is time to topdress the hydrangeas… but look at all this squash… and so the summer unfolds… one delightful flavour after another.                                                                                 

Those fingerling potatoes need to be roasted with olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper,  as the vegetables below.

                                                                                      

And for dessert…

                                                                          

Blueberry Clafoutis. I followed this recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini. Just used the fruit I had on hand. Clafoutis  embraces any fruit beautifully.

©All photos & text 2010

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GARDEN TOUR ENGLAND & WALES

Its travel season again.  If my passport does not get here in time, I will  be homebound. I am consoling  myself with  photographs from trips past & exercising a mighty imagination!

with Tara Dillard (left) above, we enjoyed this perennial garden which we entered via. . .

this opened gate, (above) we found. . .

along this wall.

Look at the perfectly edged Vegetable garden below. Can this be real? No mulch, that means constant weeding & cultivating!

Look at these gardens below. The English are masters of the ‘mixed border’.

Notice how the repetition of tall plants gives the  border  below rhythm, while the one above is colour driven.                                                                     

Ancient yews,

some clipped into fantastical shapes,

elegant balustrading punctuated by a pot on every pier. . .                                                              and  the incomparable countryside …                                                                      There must always be time for tea.

and more gardens. . .

featuring hydrangeas!! I know I promised no more … but these  are not mine and I can’t help that others find them as appealing as I do.

© All photos & text 2010

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GARDEN UPDATE CONTINUED

                                                                      

Plants with a cascading habit,  call attention to the ground plane.  Above, The heavy flowers of  Snowflake Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snowflake’),  draw the eye to the  Japanese painted fern (Athyrium nipponicum).

                                                                     

 The flower on ‘Snowflake’  has  double sepals, significantly different from that                                                                    of ‘Amethyst’ above, or ‘Alice’ below.

                                                                      

                                                               

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’   forming it’s  flower heads. This is one hydrangea that SHOULD BE PRUNED early spring. These hydrangeas form flower buds on NEW GROWTH.

UPDATE ON EPHEMERALS:

                                                                   

The Trillium are fading, (see yellow foliage). What will clothe the ground now is Vinca. I really tried for Selaginella kraussiana aurea, below

                                                                    

 but it prefers the path so I’m going to stop fighting and let the vinca do its thing.

                                                                   

Arum foliage has died down & the berries have formed. They need to ripen, then they will be spread where more are needed. See previous post on Arum.

FINALLY THE POTAGER:

 Below squash, peppers, cucumbers, beans, Eggplant                                                                  

  and below, TOMATOES!!                                                                

 Have a great week end!

©All photos and text 2010

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GARDEN UPDATE

The  Hydrangea serrata are in bloom.

                                                                         

Hydrangea serrata ‘Kurenai’ + Hydrangea serrata ‘Shichidanka’

                                                                     

Close up of flowers, H. serrata ‘Kurenai’  above. H. serrata ‘Shichidanka’ below.

                                                                   

 The grapes will soon obscure my old tool collection. below.

                                                                   

 Mouth watering anticipation…Blackberries (thornless).

                                                                    

Base of Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) with a river of Japanese Painted fern (Athyrium nipponicum) & Japanese  Hydrangea-vine (Schizophragma hydrangeaoides ‘Moonlight’) Below.

Oak Leaf Hydrangeas ( Hydrangea quercifolia) below, in all their glory.

                                                                   

© All photos & text 2010

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AN INVITATION

To a peek through parts of my garden. Nothing is styled here, this is real-time. Hoses snaking around beds and weeds.

                                                                           

Poppies, from a dear friend who acquired them from a 90-year-old gardener 40 years ago. End of this month we will celebrate her 94th birthday.

                                                                     

 some semi double, some single,  all stunning.

                                                                       

I spread the poppy seed on cultivated soil in the late fall, after a rain. These seeds need light to germinate. If they were scattered in cultivated dry soil & then watered the soil would cover the seed, excluding the light.

I always allow the seed pods to ripen. After extracting the seed to be used in bread making and saving some for the garden, the pods are used in  dry arrangements. This is an annual show.

And there are more Clematis.

                                                                     

This  Clematis is ‘Multi-Blue’,  the Viburnum  is ‘Michael Dodge’.  The viburnum  flowers will turn to clusters of  yellow berries in the fall when HOPEFULLY, the clematis will bloom again.

                                                                      

Another clematis, ‘Duchess of Edinburgh’ cascading through a Tea Olive (Osmanthus fragrans).

And finally,

                                                                      

The Potager. Growing now, Onions, Leeks and garlic. All the beds are enclosed with wire to keep the rabbits out.

© All photos & text 2010