A bumble bee enjoying the remain comfrey blossoms. This one is in the back and will remain untrimmed for now.
The house from the garden
I had trouble getting lettuce going this spring. I think the combo of hot dry weather made it hard. I also started later that I normally would have. But it won't be long now before we get some home grown salad.
I have never planted Lima beans. But in honor of a book called A bad Case of the Stripes I tried it this year. I thought this little group was interesting, showing many stages of growth.
This is the south garden. We didn't plant anything here last summer. It has 2 batches of the Carmans' wonderful manure, a crop of buckwheat and a crop of winter wheat tilled into it. From front to back we have mints and thyme, then garlic (planted last fall), Strawberries (from the Carmans' over flowing strawberry patch), then N's little personal garden. A row of sweet peppers, 3 rows of a variety of tomatoes, squash and pumpkins on the ladder, pickling and slicing cucumbers, pole beans, watermelon, more tomatoes and some herbs then D's sugar snap peas. Then in back to guard it all the dog's kennel.Todd did add to the edging this spring with 2 dead birch trees that needed taken down. It won't be nice to burn so it is serving a purpose.
The heavier vines will be trained to climb up these ladders. They were in the barn.
The other trellises are made from saplings that G cut down earning $0.50 each. Todd helped us screw the end frames together and the cross pieces just sit on the end frames. We will See how it works. It goes with the rustic edging, so it looks nice. I just hope it doesn't fall down.
The north bed we planted last year. Todd put the dividers up so the water and sandy soil would stay where I want it. Then we top dressed it with manure. From front to back: pennyroyal, mint, marigolds, and lemon balm; red, white and yellow onions; spinach and over flow lettuce; broccoli, most of it is from the store, I planted seeds but they did come up; kale; Nantes and purple carrots; potatoes; Basil; carrots, basil and kale; then the asparagus, rhubarb and horseradish. We also added a post to hold a second hose. The season started out hot and dry. I though the hose would be going all day everyday. We have finally gotten our May showers, in June. Still it has made us think about an irrigation system using the pond.
View of the garden from the front porch.
A delphinium bloom. I have an affinity for blue flowers. My bridesmaids carried dark blue delphinium. I have some that will bloom darker than this to match. I started these from seeds last year. they are tall enough that you can see them peeking over the window sill in the living room.
If you come to visit in August please bring your canning apron.
The heavier vines will be trained to climb up these ladders. They were in the barn.The other trellises are made from saplings that G cut down earning $0.50 each. Todd helped us screw the end frames together and the cross pieces just sit on the end frames. We will See how it works. It goes with the rustic edging, so it looks nice. I just hope it doesn't fall down.
The north bed we planted last year. Todd put the dividers up so the water and sandy soil would stay where I want it. Then we top dressed it with manure. From front to back: pennyroyal, mint, marigolds, and lemon balm; red, white and yellow onions; spinach and over flow lettuce; broccoli, most of it is from the store, I planted seeds but they did come up; kale; Nantes and purple carrots; potatoes; Basil; carrots, basil and kale; then the asparagus, rhubarb and horseradish. We also added a post to hold a second hose. The season started out hot and dry. I though the hose would be going all day everyday. We have finally gotten our May showers, in June. Still it has made us think about an irrigation system using the pond.
View of the garden from the front porch.
A delphinium bloom. I have an affinity for blue flowers. My bridesmaids carried dark blue delphinium. I have some that will bloom darker than this to match. I started these from seeds last year. they are tall enough that you can see them peeking over the window sill in the living room.
If you come to visit in August please bring your canning apron.
Bobby helped too. Mostly in the form of encouraging kisses while I was on my hands and knees spreading the mulch between flowers and plants
Here I think he thinks the photographer (J) is going to give him a treat.
So far we have had 2 edible watermelons. We should have one more. They aren't very bit, but they were yummy.
Here are the tallest on the south side of the house.
They all worked fairly hard to earn their treat.
I am pretty sure I shovelled the most, but it got do and they got to swim.
The garden is growing, but slowly. We had a hard frost last week. I managed to cover most things around midnight. Nothing completely died.
My pole beans are being eaten by an unidentified bug. A neighbor said she had bean beetles of some sort eat all of her beans last year. Today I bought some "organic" bug killer. I will get it out there tomorrow and pray for the best.
This is a pumpkin that didn't get covered for the frost. All the upper leaves were killed, but it has grown 3 inches and put out a bunch of new leaves since then.
These are gourd plants that were covered, but still got too cold. They are alive and growing now.
I planted 25 asparagus crowns earlier this spring. A few are showing themselves.
Blooming asparagus.
A friend/neighbor has way too much rhubarb. She offered some to me. She wasn't sure if I had actually taken some until I assured her that I had.
The small bunch to the left was a plant that I salvaged from the old house that lived in the woods near the barn until this spring. 
