In the Garden

Perhaps the most exciting time in our little garden, is when those first wee fruits start to appear! I'm one of those terribly impatient types that goes out and peeks under leaves religiously for days on end until I catch the teenie weenie-est glimpse of the promising harvest to come! Then I promptly call my husband, take pictures, post them to Instagram, and text a few poor friends and family that try and feign a small dose of enthusiasm.

This weekend we harvested several cauliflower heads (a first for us!), snow peas, the majority of the spinach that was not already bolting, some nasturtiums, five or six carrots, and a continuous supply of mesclun and romaine. 

So far, postage stamp gardening is treating us well!

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The Return of the Flowers

Having fresh flowers inside my home, is something that brings me endless joy. And when I bring them in from my own gardens - that joy is doubly sweet!

Most of what I've chosen to plant around our land, has been because of its ability to be a sturdy, long-lasting cut flower. The showy hydrangeas lead the way in the summer parade of fragrant, cuttable blooms, but spring has a rather beautiful cast of characters as well... One that I am revelling in as we speak!

 My favorite super-early flowers for cutting are Lenten Roses (Hellebores) - they're easy to grow, sweet, old-fashioned, and just fabulous in a vase. They are quickly followed by the better-known harbingers of spring: the daffodils and tulips, then the lilacs, viburnum, and peonies aren't far behind...

Oh how I love the return of flower season to Windy Poplars!

Do you have a favorite spring flower?

Saying Goodbye to Summer's Bounty

Although the ending of summer is never a sad thing in my world (it can never come soon enough!), it IS sad when we have to say goodbye to our vegetable garden for the year. Although we had high hopes for getting a fall crop in, it just didn't happen this time around.

Some sweet potatoes and beets are still snug in their soil beds waiting for their turn at the table, and we have several bolting annual herbs and one lone squash plant that are determined to hang on until that first hard frost.

For the most part though, it's time to say goodbye to our summer garden - and time to start plotting what we're going to try to grow next year!

Goodbye summer...goodbye... It's been delicious!

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Summer Is...Hydrangeas

Indulge me. This is my once-a-year swoon-fest over the flower that reigns queen of my heart: the hydrangea. My love for them runs so deep that I've planted over 50 here at Windy Poplars. All colors, all varieties, all species. Ever since I was a little girl, this was the one plant that has made my heart go pitter-patter. One of my gardening goals in life was to have a hedge of nodding mopheads taller than I was, rustling in the breeze. And now I do. Although I console myself in the springtime with the showy fragrant parade of the peonies as I await the arrival of my true love, the highlight of my summertime will always, ever be, these beauties:

Do you have a favorite flower?

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My Favorite Salad Herbs

Most of the time when I think of using my fresh summer herbs, I think of throwing them into an aromatic pasta dish, whirring them in a blender to make a flavorful soup, or perhaps infusing my water with them, but this year I've discovered something that I'm now quite addicted to: herb salads.

Early this spring, when all we were harvesting from our garden were mixed salad greens, I started tossing an assortments of herbs in with them and serving a simple light dressing on the side. These light, but delicious salads were a welcome addition to any meal, and were so easy to put together! No veggie chopping, just pluck off the leaves, wash, dry in a salad spinner, and serve.

I've tried lots of different combinations, but this is one of my very favorites:

What are your favorites uses for fresh summer herbs?

The Beauty of Heirloom Vegetables

One of the things I love experimenting with in my garden is heirloom seeds and plants. I've been called an "old soul" with an admitted love for all things vintage, but I think this passion for heirloom varieties goes beyond that...

True, they may not be the biggest, bushiest, heartiest, most prolific producers in the garden, but they are almost always the most unique, the most tender, and the most special.

This year over half of our tomatoes are heirloom varieties, and they are predictably the sweetest and juiciest of the bunch! We also had a bumper crop of heirloom curly spinach this spring that was robust and earthy and delicious. Some of our edible nasturtiums are a brilliant fuchsia heirloom variety, and we have some creamy while heirloom cucumbers growing too!

Now it's getting close to time to start harvesting our heirloom beets. We did a little test pull last week to see how things were coming along, and once I sliced open this beauty, I was reminded again just how much I love these gems of the past. Why have a prosaic dark blood red beet like everybody else, when you can have a stunning red and white ringed beet that is not only delicious, but a beautiful work of art?

Do you garden with heirlooms, or do you stick to the tried-and-true hybrid varieties?

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How to Get the Ants Off of Your Peonies

Are you a peony lover like me? If you've ever collected some of these late spring beauties from your yard to bring inside only to discover a small army of ants making their way across your coffee table an hour later, then you'll appreciate this quick tip.

First, how to avoid the problem altogether? Pick your peonies when they are just starting to open. The perfect time is while the buds are still round, but when you gently squeeze them, they feel soft- like a marshmallow. Generally, in this stage the ants haven't yet burrowed into every nook and cranny of the blossom, and any that you see on the outside can be easily knocked off. Bonus? Your blooms will last a very long time if you pick them in this early stage.

BUT, if your peonies are already in full bloom, and consequently full of little anties, I have found this simple method that helps tremendously. - 

1. Fill a bucket (or your sink) with cool water.

2. Fully submerge blooms upside down for a few minutes, and gently swish them around until the ants start floating to the top.

3. Gently shake excess water from the flowers, re-cut the stems, and place them in a vase.

4. Allow them to dry overnight on a waterproof surface before moving them to a glass or wooden table to avoid potential water spots.

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Anticipation

 

Sometimes we get so anxious for the glory of the bloom, that we forget to stop and appreciate the intricate beauty of the bud.

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Lessons From the Garden

I planted the first early seeds of my vegetable garden last week. We're trying something new (the voles forced our hand) and giving raised beds a go. - Although, yes, we did just have a surprise snow storm on Thursday, things are finally waking up here in Virginia. The trees are starting to bloom, the grass is turning green...it's a time for spring and renewal. -

Something about digging in the dirt had me thinking about the metaphors of life that can be found in a garden.

The whole breadth of our lives, we travel through seasons...just like the earth. Times of fruitfulness, and times of dormancy. We get lazy and allow "weeds" to crowd our days and even rob our soil (heart) of joy. There are spurts of caring for ourselves and tending to the needs of our innermost being with great attention. And often those times are when we find ourselves having the most to offer others in return as we bear our well-fed fruit. We weather some storms better than others. And we flourish best on a perfect balance of both sun-filled and rainy days.

This spring, I just wanted to encourage you to take a moment or two to think about the condition of the soil of your life, as I did that day in my little garden. Is it healthy and balanced? Or is it overgrown and crowded with weeds that you may need to remove in order to let your priorities grow? Do you need more nutrients added to the mix? Are you consciously soaking in the beauty of both the sunshine and the rain in your life?

Do you find yourself planting seeds of good things, like the Fruit of the Spirit, to make your life more lovely and fragrant to the world? Or do you have seeds of skunk cabbage happily growing in your plot that sends off an offensive odor to those around you? Gardening our lives well, like most everything else, requires intentionality.

So don't be afraid to get out there and start digging around in the dirt!

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