The Best Lettuce
This year I’ve managed to grow the best looking lettuce I’ve ever grown. Every time I look at it in the garden I’m happy as can be. Perhaps its the varieties I chose, most of them came from Johnny’s Seeds and are selected for specific traits. The butterhead lettuces are amazing, the Salanovas are sizing up slowly, which is nice because they will hold in the garden while I harvest the other types. Here are the lovely mature lettuces in my garden. Butterheads are my favorite types to eat and to grow. I find them to be stunning both in the garden and in a salad. If I had to choose one variety to grow it would definitely be butterheads. Luckily I don’t have to choose, so I grow all different kinds.
They’re so pretty I almost don’t want to harvest them, luckily I love salad more than I love the look in the garden. My second planting of lettuce will be mature as this batch is eaten up. I should have seeded another flat a week or two ago, but I was traveling and then sick so I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Luckily in the summer there is a bounty of veg from the garden and lettuce takes a back seat to all the heat loving crops.
What’s your favorite type of lettuce?
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Memorial Gardens
My mom was an avid gardener, her gardens were always full of blooms (and vegetables too). For her celebration of life service, we decided that we wanted to use flowers from her garden to decorate the church. Her gardens are large, thus we had plenty of blooms. There were four large arrangements and four smaller ones. Here are some photos (some cell photos, some real ones, some mine, some my brother’s). They were lovely and just what we wanted, not the typical funeral arrangements. My mom was adamant about her service not being like a normal funeral, including the flowers.
It was nice because some of the flowers we used in the arrangements were from plants that my mom had gotten from her mom’s gardens. The white peonies and the sweet peas were both true heirloom flowers. My mom didn’t have a dedicated cutting garden, but she certainly had plenty of flowers to cut throughout the spring/summer/fall.
In lieu of flowers for her service, we had friend/family make donations to the charity my parents started. The funds will be used to build a memorial garden in at the camp facilities in Colombia. We figured this was fitting, it allows the funds to be used for something that will last. The garden will also be a place for all the people in Colombia to remember her and the work she did there. My dad and I are now starting the design process for this garden, I may be traveling to Colombia in the next year or so to help with the plan/implementation. It’s exciting to think about a lovely garden that will provide a peaceful place at the camp.
What’s your favorite flower?
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I’m Back…
For the past 9 months I’ve been spending about a week per month back in Ohio. Because of that, the garden, and the house, and lots of other projects have been put on hold. There were several projects in the works that were halted and this summer my plans were minimal in the garden. Now that we have closed that chapter, it’s time to move on and get things back on track around here.
Of course as soon as I got back home from my time in Ohio I got a wicked cold that laid me up for 5 days. Life seems to be a continual process of adapting and changing as needs arise and things change. Learning to become resilient is definitely a lesson learned when you garden.
How’s your garden growing this summer? What plans do you have for the rest of the summer and this fall?
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How Does Your Edible Garden Grow?
The edible garden is growing like mad. Strawberries are blooming, peas are growing taller, fennel bulbs are fattening up, lettuces are growing fuller and rounder…
The peppers however are not appreciating our cool, rainy spring so far. They’re doing OK, but will be happy when the weather finally warms up.
How’s your edible garden growing? Anything loving or hating your current weather?
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Spring Poppies
The bright spring poppies started blooming last week. They used to grow throughout the front foundation garden, but I’ve slowly been reducing their numbers and letting them grow in one specific spot. They are allowed to grow and bloom at the base of the rock wall below the living room windows.
I think buds are just as pretty as the flowers actually, their gooseneck shape is stunning, especially with the low evening light. This area should be aflame for the short season they bloom. To be honest, orange isn’t my favorite color when it comes to flowers, I’m also not a fan of super vibrant flowers. My favorite blooms definitely are more pastel and range from purple to white.
What’s blooming in your garden right now?
