Garden Update :: June

Gardening is such a great metaphor for life.  Plant a seed, nurture it, watch it grow, harvest, enjoy, learn from your mistakes or successes and start all over again next season.

I've been harvesting rainbow chard from my garden plot at work.  Some little bugger has been chomping at it, along with the tops to my beets.

My neighbor has been gifting me the most fragrant sweet peas these last few weeks.  Every time I return her Mason canning jar - she fills it up again.  I'd love to plant some of these next year.

The crazy, crazy mint bed.  Must make some mojitos or start consuming mass quantities of tea in order to keep up with it.

The rains the first week of June were a bit disheartening to some, but I loved it.  Made pulling weeds so much easier.  Added bonus - the afternoon sky clearing up and watching the white, puffy clouds billow down the valley.

On the rainiest of days last Saturday, me and my good friend and neighbor, Jill, hit the local Valley Ford Volunteer Fire Department Pancake breakfast and then headed out in a big 'ole rainstorm to the Sunset Magazine Celebration Weekend at their headquarters in Menlo Park. As an avid Sunset reader, it is such a great event to attend and truly see their pages come to life with demos, wine tastings, great food, featured artists and tons of gardening inspiration.

This living wall of succulents was the coolest display.  I just saw dollar signs when I looked at it.  This would cost a small fortune to install, but what nice eye candy.

I've been drying my oregano and using it in soups, sauces and topping our pizzas with it.

Busted out the Scrabble game a few weeks ago on the back deck.  I'm looking forward to more evenings outside as the summer warms up.

This purple thistle is a wicked, wicked weed.  We have been watching it slowly multiply over the years and I finally hired someone to help me dig it all up and mow our one acre plot.  There were several snake sightings and slight interruptions with the June rains, but our property finally looks cared for.  Phase two happening this week.  Stay tuned.

The sunsets behind our house have been really beautiful lately.  The golden hour is getting later and later, but around 7:45 pm this is what I've been watching go down in the llama pasture.

We attended our first garden party of the season at the home of our neighbors, Scott & Jill.  And while it was a wee bit chilly, the lamb, roasted vegetables and delicious pinot noir kept us sated and warm.  I'm on the hunt for a thrifted picnic table to incorporate into our garden this year, so that we can do more of this!

Our asian pear tree is going to be prolific this year.  This is a picture of our tree prior to the mowing of the property.  The peach, cherry and apple trees are looking hopeful.  The hard pruning we did in February seems to have paid off and I think we've brought the persimmon trees back to life.

This is a honey bush (I think) and Grady selected it from the nursery a few years ago and planted underneath his bedroom window.  It can now be seen from the top of his bunk bed and he thinks its very Dr. Seuss-like.  I see a short story being written atop his bed with this lovely plant as his inspiration.

This little beauty was a hostess gift from last year that I planted in my flower bed behind the house.  I just love planting something and forgetting about it and then - BAM! - there it is.

I potted this yarrow at the end of last year, so that I could keep an eye on it and not lose it amongst all of my weeds.  I think I'm going to put it in the ground and watch it spread.  I love the dense flower heads and sage colored leaves.

Every year these show up (thanks to the homeowners before us) and I'm so happy to see them.  They are a little spindly and can topple over if not picked, but they are the best cut flowers and last for a week in the vase.  Don't know the name and can't figure it out right now (it's almost 2:30 am and I'm just not that ambitious at the moment).  Thanks for showing up mystery flower.  I heart you.

Harvested my garlic this week and had a lot of busted heads.  My farmer friend, Anna, told me it was most likely due to all of the late rain we had.  I probably should have harvested at the end of May, but I think it will all taste just the same.  This was planted from a few heads I purchased last year from the local vegetable stand and so I don't know what variety it is.

We discovered that one of our little chicks laid an egg.   The little pullets are approaching their three month birthdays, so it was quite a surprise to discover this little egg.  Normally they start laying between four and six months.  Another little one was found today, so our egg selling days might be here sooner than we think!

The first opium poppy of the season opened up today.  These are so magnificent.

Oh, this poor fern.  I try and I try, but the older hens just love to take dirt baths in this soil-filled wine barrel and, therefore, continue to crush this fern.  I thought they'd killed it earlier this winter, but it slowly rose out of the dirt and unfurled itself this spring.  I have a screen over it, but the hens have managed to get under it, move the screen and have a dirt party.  Lovely.

These little Meyer lemon trees bit the dust a few years ago when I planted them in a gardening bed, neglected them something awful and then promptly died on me.  I felt real bad about that and decided to dig them up, plant them in the pots my mom gave me for my 40th birthday and gave them a really good pruning (each tree was basically just a stick in a pot).  Lo and behold, with a little watering and a watchful eye this winter, the trees are flourishing.  I'm sure I should fertilize, but I'm a bit clueless in that department.

So that's all that's growing here in June.  I'll be planting more carrots, radishes and herbs in the garden this week.  

What are you enjoying in your garden right now?