The Cutting Garden
This is my first year with an area of the garden dedicated to cut flowers. Even with them being specifically planted for this reason, I still have a hard time cutting them. The truth is, I enjoy flowers much more in their garden setting than inside the house. I have been cutting a few bouquets here and there, but for the most part I enjoy them in the flowers. The pollinators are loving them as well!
Adding flowers to the vegetable garden is definitely a wonderful thing to do. Not only does it make the space more colorful, they really attract a wide variety of insects and pollinators. I’ll definitely continue having a cutting garden space, even if I never cut flowers from it.
What’s your favorite cut flower for indoor bouquets?
Share this:
A Beet, is a Beet, is Not a Beet
I’ve grown a wide variety of beets in the past, for the most part they all taste very similar. They vary in color, but the earthiness in their flavor is fairly consistent. After trying a wide variety of beets, I usually grow ‘Red Ace. This year, I decided to try ‘Crosby’s Egyptian’ beet (sources from Baker Creek). Germination was spotty, which was pretty common with the drought this year. The beets that did germinate, grew quickly and sized up before I realized it. When I harvested them, most of them were softball size – EEEK. I figured they’d be a total loss because they’d be woody, but I cooked them anyways.
When I cut the first one, I was amazed at how tender it was. At first bite, I was amazed by the texture, sweetness, and flavor of these beets! They are very smoothly texture, none of the woodiness or fibrousness that can sometimes be common with beets. The flavor is very sweet, very beetlike, with none of the earthiness that the major of beets have. These would be perfect for those family members who are against the “dirt” flavor in beets. I don’t mind the earthiness at all, but this beet has a place in the kitchen for sure. We’ve been enjoying them on salads with sheep milk feta, pickled red onions, walnuts, and a maple mustard vinaigrette. I’ll definitely be adding these to my must grow list from here on out. I highly recommend giving this variety a go.
Have you discovered any flavorful new varieties of favorite vegetables?
Share this:
Friday Favorite: Front Foundation Garden
Every time I walk up to the front door I notice how much the front foundation garden has improved over the last year. Last fall, I dug everything out of the front flowerbed, smothered about a yard of grass in front of it and planted my boxwood hedge. The flowerbed was filled with ‘Annabelle’ hydrangeas, a ‘Gertrud Jekyll’ rose, along with a cornelian cherry tree on the corner. By the front door I have planters filled with lovelies, a small terra-cotta chicken and other plants in pots.
As I was looking for photos after dark last night, I realized I haven’t taken any photos from the point of view of walking up to our door. I’ll definetly do that tomorrow and share them with you next week. Right now this is one of my favorite things about the garden, all the hard work is finally started to show. I’m loving it every time I walk to the front door!
What are you loving in your garden right now?
Share this:
A Year of Winners
I mentioned a few weeks ago how happy I was that I finally grew some amazing fennel. This year I also managed to grow amazing cauliflower, which I admit, I had almost given up on growing. Cauliflower is a favorite vegetable of mine. I have attempted grow all sorts of heirloom varieties without much success. This year I finally decided to try ‘Bishop’ from Johnny’s Seeds and…..
I only planted four because I didn’t want to lose any garden space to lackluster cauliflower. Now I need to get more seeded for a fall crop! Cauliflower can be a tough vegetable to grow, the heirlooms are especially picky. I’m hoping this variety will be successful for me in years to come, only time will tell. Until then, I’ll be happily eating these lovely vegetables and relishing another success in the garden this year.
What vegetables do you have a hard time growing?
Share this:
The Main Vegetable Garden
I have a small potager out behind the house, it’s an ornamental vegetable garden. In it I grow a lot of herbs and lettuce. Out behind the garage there’s a big vegetable garden, right now it’s probably 70 feet wide by about 50 feet wide. It gets a little bigger each year, in a few years we will have expanded it to the final size. When that time comes we will make permanent pathways, plant hedges, and a large perennial border in front of the fence that will surround it. Until then, it’s a fairly traditional garden space. I have rows that are 4 feet wide, vegetables are planted very closely in these beds, or things are interplanted.
It’s filled with all sorts of things, mostly the ones I grow in large amounts: peas, beans, onions, potatoes, asparagus, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, etc.
I read a while ago that at the Hagley mansion garden they layered their garden waste in a row of the garden throughout the growing season. There was not turning of the compost, it was let sit over the winter and the following spring squash was planted in the piles to use the nutrients while it continued to compost. I’m giving this method a try in my garden, so far the zucchini planted in the pile is doing well.
This garden is not tilled, it hasn’t been since we moved in. The result is that each year I have fewer and fewer weeds and the soil structure is getting better and better. It’s amazing how much difference you can make in a short amount of time, I’ve noticed huge differences in water and nutrient retention along with weed load in this garden in the past four years. It’s a great space, hopefully when it reaches its final size it will be big enough to allow 25% of it to be fallow each year so the soil can rest.
How’s your edible garden going? What size do you consider the perfect size for an edible garden?
