An Evening in the July Garden

Coming home to the garden after a few days away is such a joy in July. The vegetable gardens, which we quintupled this year, are thriving. Unlike most of New England, we have had just enough rain to keep everything green and happy, with the need for only occasional waterings since the plants became established. Chalk that up to the northern weather patterns. 

The most exciting growth for me is in our Inaugural Three Sisters Garden. The squash is trailing out and starting to bloom, and the dwarf sweet corn is putting up its brushes. The rattlesnake beans are not as tall as I would like, and not getting enough sun between the squash leaves, but they will keep climbing the corn and thrive, in time.

The pickling cucumbers are blooming like crazy, and covered in tiny cukes, the perfect miniatures of themselves.

The Amish paste tomatoes are going crazy, tucked in the back of the garden. Some of the stems are five feet tall, and the plants are covered in green tomatoes and many, many more flowers. The basil is pretty shaded now, and I will not surround them with paste tomatoes next year! Perhaps I will try to transplant the basil into a section of the garden that's ready for a new succession planting.

For the first time ever, we have eggplant in the home garden! It's cold up here, and we haven't had much luck in past years, but we have two Asian eggplant already and the beautiful blooms keep coming.

Last, but certainly not least, the raspberries are ripening. Some little creature is stealing the berries in the night, but there have always been enough to share. 

Now, to consider what to plant tomorrow for the fall garden already...more callaloo certainly, arugula and mustard mix for sure, bush beans...more cabbage...?

These Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato flowers are stunning!

Asian eggplant flower in the evening -- looks like a kite or a dress to dance in!

A Little Color in the April Garden

A bright blue sky on a sunny and cold April day beckoned me into the garden to see what was growing. Although it's mostly brown around here right now (the forsythia hasn't even started blooming), there are patches of green and other colors from the boldest northern plants.

Here are a few snapshots from my April garden wander: 

Rugosa rose hips spread over a bit of the garden that had been taken over by a gregarious honeysuckle bush that I cut back in the fall.

Looks like I missed a few garlic cloves when I harvested last summer. Oops! It's a good thing, though, because I didn't get around to plant new cloves last fall.

Look at these perfect dandy plants!

Strawberry volunteer. We don't even grow strawberries.

Second flowers are up, after the snowdrops.

These crocuses started to bloom before the latest cold snap, and then the unopened buds sat patiently for over a week, waiting for a sunny day.

This mess of brambles and old grape vines is my next project. I'm going to cut back the vines, rip out the brambles, and hope for the best.

a beautiful birch

Valerian emerging

Hawthorn Love: Easter Sunday pruning

After an early dinner with neighbors to celebrate Easter, the sun came out and the air warmed up, and the yard was calling our names. My favorite little hawthorn tree, which sits between the garden and our stream and is surrounded by comfrey, always needs a little love this time of year. The wild grapes and Virginia creeper and wild cucumber all love to climb onto the low branches of the hawthorn and quickly engulf the small tree. During the summer, I cut the vines off from the ground, but leave the remaining vine up in the tree to avoid ripping down too many leaves. Each spring, I carefully pull out the dead vines to give the hawthorn a fresh start...a little ahead of this year's vines.

This year, I also pruned two small branches off the tree that were growing cross-wise. The overall shape of the tree is just darling, so I was careful not to go crazy pruning away branches, as it's easy to do once you get the loppers out. Just as if you were painting a portrait, it is very important to take a step back and look at your work while pruning a tree, or you might just go overboard. 

While I was out in the yard, I also pruned a few branches off of a forsythia bush because I love to force them into bloom in the house this time of year. I'm trying to force the hawthorn as well, and took a small branch from our apple tree because the blooms are so pretty. Stay posted for a blog about forcing forsythia soon. For now, here's a picture of all the branches sitting in warm water in a sunny window, starting to wake up:

twigs soaking in warm water

In the garden near the hawthorn, the horseradish roots are just starting to sprout. I haven't harvested them in a few years, so this year will definitely be a horseradish year (get out the goggles!).

horseradish sprouts

It's such a wonderful time of year, as everything wakes up to greet the warming sun. Happy Easter/Ostara, everyone!!!