In My Harvest Bowl
This time of year it’s really nice to head out to the garden instead of the grocery store. Since we have a freezer full of pork and venison, I don’t even need to go for meat. One of our meals is stir fry. It’s easily adaptable to whatever vegetables you have on hand and can be made vegetarian or with any kind of meat. In the winter we enjoy stir fries with carrots, parsnips, onions and mushrooms. In summer it’s filled with squash, cabbage, peas and broccoli. My basic recipe has a ginger sauce and can be found over on Eat Outside the Bag.
This week some of my broccoli was ready to harvest as are my golden peas. Garlic scales are coming on by what seems to be the hundreds as well. The onions in the garden are bulbing up enough to start using them as well. I also had an orange in the pantry so I added orange zest and orange juice to the stir fry sauce – a delicious addition that I might put in the recipe. It’s certainly not a bad way to eat vegetables from the garden!
What’s your favorite adaptable meal to use your garden or CSA produce?
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AHHHHHH……
On Sunday afternoon we finally strung up our hammock. This hammock is an oldie brought from Colombia many years ago by my parents. Sadly, it’s been sitting in a box for way too long – not anymore!!!
We hung it up under a big red maple tree back by the little potager behind the house. It’s the perfect spot because it gets a nice breeze and has fairly dense shade. It’s nice to finally have a spot in the garden to sit and relax. Back in Ohio we would sit on our front porch and on our back deck, here we don’t really have a spot to sit and take in the outdoors.
I spent some time in it on Sunday afternoon and it was heavenly,
perfectly cool on a hot day,
perfectly relaxing on a Sunday afternoon,
and perfectly comfortable after a morning of hard work.
Do you have a spot to relax in the garden?
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Nitrogen Fixing Legumes
Most likely you have heard about the nitrogen trapping ability of legumes like peas and beans when it comes to our edible gardens. Did you know that there are also lovely perennial legumes that we can add to our ornamental beds to help harvest the nitrogen for other plants? I just planted two false indigo plants in front of a ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ rose in an ornamental bad I’m adding up the garage.
Not only do these plants look lovely, they will help all the plants around them, especially if I cut back some of the foliage and use it as mulch. If you haven’t noticed the root nodules on these types of plants look at this.
There are so many nitrogen fixing perennials, shrubs and trees it pays to incorporate them into our ornamental beds. I spotted these lupines on my garden tour this past weekend and I have a few growing in my garden as well. They will pair perfectly with peonies since they bloom at the same time.
From crimson clover to locust trees you can find nitrogen fixing plants in all shapes, colors, sizes, and for all climates. If you don’t have any perennial legume family plants in your garden consider adding them. Of course you will want to check and make sure the ones you want to use won’t become invasive in your area before adding them to your garden.
Whenever you can use plants to increase the fertility in your soil you save time, money, and resources.
What’s your favorite nitrogen fixing plant?
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Quote of the Day: Cesare Pavese
“We do not remember days; we remember moments.”
~ Cesare Pavese
My favorites moments in the garden are often those where I am enjoying the fruits of my labor and I find no better time than the golden hour of sunset.
I try to make sure I get out to enjoy this moment at least once a week, usually I have my camera with me. These moments make all the hot days of seeking worth while!
What moments have you been enjoying this week?
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Hello Beautiful
Yesterday, as we were driving down the driveway, I noticed a lovely pink flower out of the corner of my eye. When we arrived home a few hours later I walked down to inspect it. This is what I found:
This is down at the edge of the woods right by the old stone foundation from the original homestead that was built on this property back in the late 1800’s. No doubt this rose, along with the lilac that blooms nearby were brought and planted by the lady of the house. I don’t know much about heirloom roses, looks like I have a new topic to read about this coming winter. If any of you have any recommendation for books on the topic be sure to let me know.
It’s a beautiful rose, the perfect shade of pink and very fragrant. It’s hard to believe that this plant, along with a few others, has been living here for three times as long as I have been alive or maybe even longer. Since this rose has been living in this garden for so many years I know it will be a good one to propagate. I’ll be out when it’s finished blooming taking cuttings and hoping to add more just like it throughout the gardens. I was looking at the heirloom roses plant and it looks a lot like ‘Blush Hip’ rose.
When I get plants started I’ll be sure to pot one up for my mom. She appreciates a plant with history just as much as I do. We both have plants in our gardens that came from the house she grew up in, plants she remembers being in the gardens at the house when they moved in when she was 3 or 4 years old.
Do you have any heritage plants in your garden?
