Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

Raccoon!

I was getting ready to leave for work early today with my husband (we are down to one car) when I peered out the back window and saw a raccoon under the bird feeder!


It was Rob's idea for the typeface. :)

My guess is that it's a girl, due to her size. She was picking the black oil sunflower seeds out of the lawn. She looked a lot larger from the side, but that photo is even fuzzier. (Not too bad for shooting through a window with a screen at 5:26 a.m. though.)
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End of the Peas

Looks like this extreme 95-100 F degree heat is putting an end to the pea harvest. The stems began to yellow last week and are now rapidly declining. I already stuck two more tomatoes in the back bed. I think I'll plant bush beans in the spots where the peas were.  What are you rotating in for your crops?
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Summer Solstice

It's officially the beginning of summer, but I'm feeling a little melancholy. Instead of being able to enjoy the coming season, my mind immediately drifts to fall and winter, as if this growing season is already past. I think I spend so much time anticipating the coming growing season that when it does finally arrive, it doesn't live up to my expectations. The garden is never completed- it never reaches the point where I say, "Ah, that's it- that's exactly how I wanted it to look." Instead, I seem to forget that plants labeled 24 inches or higher are actually pretty damn tall, even though it doesn't sound like it would be when I plant them at the front of a border.

Tonight I put the last of my plants that I was growing under lights outside. Today was our first 95 degree day (another one is in store for tomorrow). Maybe that's why I'm in a funk. It's knowing that whatever I haven't planted yet won't happen- it's too late in the growing season, even though it's definitely time for the lights to be off.

It's a funny thing, this gardening bug. Are there any gardeners out there that are happy with what they have right now?
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Monday in the Garden

Veronica tucked away with Rosa, "The Fairy." (How funny, everything I read says
"The Fairy only grows two feet tall, but this rose acts more as a climber and some
parts are taller than me at the moment!)
One of the nice new Coneflowers I picked up last year.

These dayliles are tall and originate from my Grandfather's garden in Queens, NY. After he died and before his house
was sold, my Dad dug up some of the plants and brought them to his home. When Rob and I moved into our first
home three years ago, Dad gave me some of the dayliles for my own garden. I love them.
Two little Carolina wrens inspecting the birdhouse for future living headquarters. I'm guessing the female is the one on the house, since the males are known for building multiple nests and then house shopping with his lady love until they find the right one. When this picture was being taken, the bird on the arbor was singing his little head off.
I'm not sure it will make the cut though, since they seemed to be watching me and the squirrels pretty intently.
(Missing my long lens for this shot!)
This catbird made the funniest little noises that I impersonated right back. Finally, a bird with my sense of humor! (Missing my long lens again for this shot!)

The mandavilla vine is taking to the new trellis attached to the shed.
The license plate barn star is by my friend, Lauren. (Visit her Etsy shop here.)

And finally, my first attempt at a small Fairy Garden. These are all the rage right now at the local garden centers. I love the miniature hostas!




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Accidental pairing


When I planted the feverfew in the front garden bed, I totally forgot that the delphinium grew there, also. What a lovely, unexpected combination!
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Backyard Wildlife

One of the eight squirrels currently calling our garden their home.

I thought it might be appropriate to show off the visitors to the garden, as opposed to just the plants in every post. Today we had rain all day that cleared up in the early evening, providing a perfect soft sunlight that worked well for photographing out back.  Here is a glimpse of some of our visitors tonight.

A baby downy woodpecker scouts the scene before heading to the feeder.

Papa bird has been seen repeatedly with his child, shown below.

The baby cardinal.

I'm glad the tufted titmouse is back after a bit of a departure.

A (baby?) chickadee.

The hummingbird, who doesn't like to pose for the camera.

Another chickadee at the feeder.

I love this sequence of the parent bird (left) feeding her child (right).

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Keeping busy

The foxglove that I grew from seed last year is flowering now.
Every spare block of time I'm getting is going straight to gardening (even though I should be training for the 5k race in August!). I think I'm more on top of the garden this year than last (not having to work non-stop during two weeks in May like last year helps, too).

The tomato plants seem to have recovered, the peas are producing like crazy, and the lettuce hasn't bolted yet. The garlic scapes are ready for picking (now to just find a good recipe to go with them) and I'm getting eggplants in the ground. New this year are sweet potato slips I got through mail order, growing in grow bags along the driveway.

The broccoli is a loss though - looks like the real culprit was a chipmunk! (It's a good thing he's cute!) Since the wildlife has officially discovered the strawberry patch, I've given up on securing it as I had been. Now the old bunny house is protecting two butternut squash plants in the ground. 

I'm trying to keep in mind what can be rotated in to the garden as the spring crops start coming out. I've planted some cucumbers and bean seeds so far, but once the peas finish I'll have more room. When the garlic finishes in mid-July, I'll have to decide if I'm keeping that area open to grow a cover crop or some other vegetable (more beans?).
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Strawberry season

There's plenty of strawberries to go around, even with some being stolen by the chipmunks and birds. (I took one of the older rabbit pens and used that to cover the strawberry patch along with deer netting and chicken wire.)

This is the third bowlful of strawberries that came inside in the last week. We made a big batch of strawberry cake with the first bowlful (along with some left over for strawberry topping for ice cream!).


But I did lose another (more mature) broccoli plant today to what I believe is the groundhog (or woodchuck, or thief, by any other name). I'm a little scared to plant my cucumbers and butternut squash plants (purchased) and plant my watermelon seeds (is it too late?) in case those look tasty to him, too. Sometimes I get so discouraged I don't even know why I plant vegetables. Why can't I just be content with growing flowers? I had this idea that this growing season was going to be perfect, and I should know better. If anything, it's replicating the rainy season we had three years ago when we moved into this house. Ah- must stay positive!
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Sunday

Lots of things are happening in the garden. First off, the nest has an inhabitant! A robin!  I didn't go as close as I had wanted to (standing on the front steps was enough to make her fly away) but I did snag this photo with my long lens.


 The garlic is sending out scapes- now if only I could find a recipe to make those taste good! Last year, ours were kind of bland when we put them in a stir-fry with rice.


And the (late) bed of lettuce is coming along nicely. We've had some hot days so I'm hoping nothing bolts too soon.


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