Yay – Blueberries
I love blueberries, love, love, love them! We always had blueberry bushes growing up and always picked buckets and buckets of them to freeze and enjoy all winter long. Back in Ohio, blueberry bushes were some of the first things we planted in our garden. Luckily, we have a couple blueberry bushes here, only one produces fruit. They all need moved to a better spot, hopefully that will happen this fall.
When it comes to blueberries, I prefer the high bush over the low bush. I like the sourness that they have, they seem more well-rounded in flavor than the low bush, which just seem sweet to me. The low bush are great for baking though, their small size makes the perfect for pancakes, scones, and muffins. We have a big patch of wild low bush berries as well, I just need to get a rake to harvest them.
Do you like blueberries? Do you grow them in your garden? Do you have a preference between high bush or low bush?
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A Little Light
I found an old lantern in the attic of the garage. Originally, I planned to make it into a lamp for the guest bedroom, but I didn’t really want to dust it as it’s a little rusty. Then I got these fantastic solar LED lights that are warm like incandescent, not the harsh, retina burning blue that they usually are. At first I was going to put them on the trellis in the back garden, but we really needed some kind of light by the front door when we get home late at night. That’s what I had the idea to put the light in the lantern.
Perfection! It provides just the right amount of light without being too bright. We can see to get to the door and it provides a nice welcoming glow by the door.
The best part is that it’s solar. Sure there’s a little solar panel in the planter below the light, but that’s OK with me. I might eventually hang the lantern on a hook by the door and then put the solar panel on the roof where it won’t be visible. Overall, I love the look of this simple project, it’s the perfect way to add a little light to a dark corner of the garden.
Do you have any lighting in the garden?
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Making the Most of Each Harvest
One of the things I find myself doing is trying to maximize what I can grow in the garden. I don’t like to waste anything, particularly things I grow. The result has been a lot of creative ways to use up things that might otherwise go into the compost, like broccoli stems.
I used to peel them and cut them up, then I started putting them in my mini food processor and dicing them finely. Then I make slaw with them or blanch and freeze them to be added to soups or sauces. I really love doing this because it essentially doubles my broccoli harvest. These shredded bits are particularly good in the curried broccoli soup I love to make.
Do you have any great tips for maximizing your vegetable harvests?
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Parade of Blooms
“Gardens are not just plots for growing vegetables and flowers, these are places for growing people”
– The Soul Gardener
It occurred to me that I haven’t given you a parade of things blooming in the garden recently. I feel like the end of June through the end of July is really one of the best times in this garden. In the future I have plans to add more for interest throughout, but at the moment, it’s a high summer garden. I went out last night and tried to get a photo of just about everything that was in bloom. Here’s what blooming in the gardens of Chiot’s Run.
There are wild flowers and cultivated flowers, edible plants and those simply meant to feed the soul, things I planted and many that were here when I arrived. Most of them need dug up and moved to a nursery bed while I try to rid the beds of invasive weeds. It’s a big process starting a new garden, but I can guarantee that I’ll grow more than the garden in the years that come.
What’s blooming in your garden this week?
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Friday Favorite: Peony Poppies
I am completely enamored by the peony poppies in my potager. I tried growing these beauties in Ohio and they just didn’t care for the soil there. Here, they thrive and that makes me happy. They are one of my favorite flowers, so delicate and lovely. I also appreciate that the pollinators love them, there’s something wonderful about seeing the bees enjoy them as much as I do.
One of the best things about these beauties is that they sow themselves so I don’t have to worry about seeding them every year. Now that’s another big reason to love them. Though I’d sow the seed myself if I had to, in fact I’ll probably save seed to sow in other parts of the garden.
What flowers are you enjoying in your garden right now?
