Edible Garden
In some, perhaps most, regards my garden is a big old mess. It's an unmanageable garden for me, at this point in my life. I am letting it literally go to seed and it carries on in spite of me. I continue to have plenty of flowers for closeups and the trees provide me with a great deal of pleasure. My garden is a great habitat for all sorts of animals that find shelter and food. But sometimes looking at my garden as a whole, I feel like it's becoming pretty abandoned. It's not that I don't work on it at all. I do. But my meager efforts aren't up to keeping it well tended. The good news is there is plenty for people to eat as well as the animals and there are flowers to fill my house when I so desire.
The squash plants with their enormous blossoms are almost ornamental right before the blossoms make way for the squash.
The blackberries are a gift from birds, I suppose, who dropped the seeds from elsewhere. Over the past few years I've let the volunteer blackberry vines establish themselves throughout my garden and this year there are more blackberries than the birds and I can eat.
The blueberries aren't quite ready to eat but I am so thrilled that I have any at all. I used to have three very large blueberry bushes and I had enough blueberries for pies, cereal, and to give away to anyone who wanted to come pick a quart. I have lost blueberry bushes to different major droughts through the years, until this year my one remaining bush looked dead. I assumed I wouldn't have any blueberries until I noticed one little corner of the bush that was green, blossomed and now is bearing at least enough blueberries for cereal and maybe one pie.
My tomato plants are doing great this year. I probably have 100 green tomatoes between the six different varieties I planted.
The cucumber plants are also doing well and I think I'm lucking out with one area already having some small cucumbers forming while another is in the earlier stages so I won't get them all at once.
I also have a variety of different fresh herbs which continue on through the years and my asparagus bed is still yielding some asparagus although it's currently rather over run with weeds.
I am looking forward to the butterfly season. I've already spotted a few although I haven't photographed any this year. By the end of the summer the butterflies will reward me for how I've let the butterfly flowers take over large sections of my garden.
One more advantage to my big old mess of a garden, the rabbits never make it up the hill to my food crops. They are too busy munching on the weeds and grasses. Whenever I see articles about how to prevent the rabbits from eating bulbs and plants, I feel like saying: Let Them Eat Weeds!
In some, perhaps most, regards my garden is a big old mess. It's an unmanageable garden for me, at this point in my life. I am letting it literally go to seed and it carries on in spite of me. I continue to have plenty of flowers for closeups and the trees provide me with a great deal of pleasure. My garden is a great habitat for all sorts of animals that find shelter and food. But sometimes looking at my garden as a whole, I feel like it's becoming pretty abandoned. It's not that I don't work on it at all. I do. But my meager efforts aren't up to keeping it well tended. The good news is there is plenty for people to eat as well as the animals and there are flowers to fill my house when I so desire.
The squash plants with their enormous blossoms are almost ornamental right before the blossoms make way for the squash.
The blackberries are a gift from birds, I suppose, who dropped the seeds from elsewhere. Over the past few years I've let the volunteer blackberry vines establish themselves throughout my garden and this year there are more blackberries than the birds and I can eat.
The blueberries aren't quite ready to eat but I am so thrilled that I have any at all. I used to have three very large blueberry bushes and I had enough blueberries for pies, cereal, and to give away to anyone who wanted to come pick a quart. I have lost blueberry bushes to different major droughts through the years, until this year my one remaining bush looked dead. I assumed I wouldn't have any blueberries until I noticed one little corner of the bush that was green, blossomed and now is bearing at least enough blueberries for cereal and maybe one pie.
My tomato plants are doing great this year. I probably have 100 green tomatoes between the six different varieties I planted.
The cucumber plants are also doing well and I think I'm lucking out with one area already having some small cucumbers forming while another is in the earlier stages so I won't get them all at once.
I also have a variety of different fresh herbs which continue on through the years and my asparagus bed is still yielding some asparagus although it's currently rather over run with weeds.
I am looking forward to the butterfly season. I've already spotted a few although I haven't photographed any this year. By the end of the summer the butterflies will reward me for how I've let the butterfly flowers take over large sections of my garden.
One more advantage to my big old mess of a garden, the rabbits never make it up the hill to my food crops. They are too busy munching on the weeds and grasses. Whenever I see articles about how to prevent the rabbits from eating bulbs and plants, I feel like saying: Let Them Eat Weeds!
7 comments:
It reminds me of the Secreat Garden and sounds like a true haven not only for you but for many four footed friends as well.
Happy WW!
Send over the blackberries...my favorite
Makes me ashamed of my garden...I went away, had a heat wave, and my sprinklers failed, and now most of it is DEAD!
It must make you sad to see your garden not at its best Carver, but in the scheme of things it's not that important and it still gives you lots of pleasure and photo opportunities. One day!
wow! who would not love that garden. here there's a uniue restaurant also that offers flower petal salad.
Amy, I often call my garden a secret garden because it's pretty private with all the screening. Sabine, I know it must be hard to come home from a vacation and find your garden zapped by a heat wave. I wish we were close enough so you could come eat my blackberries. JMB, you are right on all counts. It does make me sad that parts of my garden look neglected but I'm also lucky to still get pleasure from it. Thanks Don and the restaurant sounds interesting.
hello, beautiful plants you've got there! hehe, cute rabbit.
David
These are such beautiful garden photos. I love how our food can be so pretty!
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