The last "Around the Yard" post was pretty barren of blooms. The lilacs had just gone out and the irises were just about to break open. Here are some of the flowers we enjoyed over the summer.
Blooms
grape irises
daylilies
clematis jackmanii
onion blossom
peonies
calla lilies, daylilies, forever plant (white variegated sedum), ferns, and hosta leaves
begonias
endless summer hydrangeas
phlox
The phlox never fail to take me home. These are from the bed my Mom keeps.
It was heavenly sitting in the front porch this summer with the scent of the phlox drifting in the window.
as of yet unidentified flowering bush
lovely fall mums, a gift from my mother-in-law
autumn joy serum, a bee, and a cabbage white butterfly (pieris rapae)
sunflowers
The vines covering the bit of fence on the tree are scarlet runner beans. Again this summer my picket fence flower bed failed me! The sunflowers I planted behind the fence have done great, but the three packets of wildflower seeds I planted did not grow, save for a few scraggly bachelor buttons. I planted a bunch of poppy seed I saved from the old house, which came up in a nice thick line...only to be mowed off. For two years now I've been unable to get poppies to grow. That bushiness to the right is our new thriving aparagus bed!
scarlet runner beans
The Garden/Produce
The garden was marginally better this year than last. I mostly stayed ahead of the grass and weeds, so we didn't lose any onions at least. They still only grew between ping pong ball and tennis ball sized. I had all the lettuce I wanted to eat in June, but the spinach did well for only a short time. Radishes were big and flavorful, but they go so fast Despite fertilizing, on average the produce was lackluster. Blight took over the tomatoes early, and our efforts to stop it were futile. We got enough to eat, but still will be moving our tomatoes to a different location next year to try to avoid blight. Cucumbers were amazing and produced bowls and bowls worth until they started turning brown about a month ago. Their proximity to the tomatoes makes me think they may have contracted blight as well. The zucchini did well, though stem borers took one plant down. Sprinkling the other zucchini and the squash with diatomaceous earth seemed to stop the borers. Ironically enough, I learned this year that those pretty little white moths that I hope for and usually find flitting among the garden in late summer are what stem borers turn into! Our peppers (green and orange bell and jalapeno) grew tall (higher than my waist!) and bushy, but didn't grow peppers until mid-August. My green beans couldn't make up their minds either and quit blooming a couple different times. We got enough for several meals, to share with the elderly neighbor lady, and for half a dozen pints of pickled beans. And finally, kohlrabi didn't form bulbs until late July.
After the first major weeding I laid all the grass and weeds down in the rows to act as mulch. It wasn't pretty, but it worked. Very little of it rerooted itself.
The black landscaping fabric also worked wonders to keep weeds down between rows. Weeds did still find their way into every hole and gap, and we might use black plastic next year.
In the midst of weeding
View from the school room window
Ian was my picking buddy this year. He'd call for me not to start without him, and was always so excited no matter what it was we got out of the garden. It was his job to take what I picked and put it in the big stainless steel bowl.
Before harvesting the onions. You can see the cucumbers on the far side fence starting to turn brown.
So much rain...we usually can't see the water in the creek from the house.
This is after cleaning the garden up recently. There will be one final pulling of everything once we harvest the squash, but until then the gardening is pretty much over for the year.
This is a composting box that Eli made out of old pallet boards and scrap wood. The front gate pulls up and locks with a peg so the compost can be scooped out of the bottom and onto the garden.
Kids Fun
A new addition to the yard just this month is a little hand-down playhouse for Addie (and Ian!) from their cousin, Allison. Our yard has been pretty bare in terms of child-entertainment, other than nature itself and the old sandbox, so this is a nice diversion for them. I keeps me from having to grab Addie from wandering off every 10 minutes.
Addie with a backdrop of dead cucumbers
Liam also got a nest swing for his birthday August 4th. Despite big boys crashing into the tree a couple times, it's been a big hit.
You may remember a little red geranium I planted by one of the clothesline poles back in May. Well, we had no shortness of rain this year and it drowned. I did hang Addie's swing on the clothesline, which was all the cheer I needed while working. It is also extremely handy in keeping her out of the creek.
This tom kitten/cat adopted us in July. The neighbors across the creek feed stray cats, and one of their regulars is a large tom cat we like to call "The Black Panther". Judging from looks, The Black Panther fathered this kitten, which Aidan named "Sly Cooper". Sly was a friendly beast, though often too affectionate and desperate to be a house cat. We had to sneak in and out of the house because he'd squeeze as quick as he could into the front porch to eat Mojo's food. Mojo was not happy with the whole situation and spent weeks perched on chair arms peering out windows for his nemesis. A couple kids walking by picked the super-friendly Sly up and took him home. This lasted only a few days until Sly found his way back here. After a 2 a.m. cat fight between Sly and The Black Panther, resulting in me chasing cats through the yard with a broom, we knew Sly definitely had to go. We were able to rehome Sly to a cattle farm with a lot of mouse-hunting opportunities.
The boys' stick teepee got an addition this summer, with plenty of branches falling in the yard to aid in the construction of another wall and a secret entrance. The cantaloupe and squash I planted around the boys' teepee all flooded out. I don't think they were getting enough sun anyway.
The line of debris in the grass is how far the creek comes up when it swells out of it's banks. The teepee is to the left.
Secret entrance to the teepee
Herbs
Herb bed this year: SUCCESS! It totally made up for the disappointing veggie garden. I was able to make about seven batches of pesto this year from my little forest of basil. I put basil on salads, in sandwiches, in all sorts is dishes. I ate so much cilantro I actually got tired of it. I let it go to seed, and harvested it as coriander. The dill seed I used in pickled beans and dilly bread, and harvested a bunch more to put in the spice cabinet. The dill "ferns" or weed were amazing in salads and in cooking. Katie made mint mojitos while she was here, and I plan to dry and save it for tea this winter. Same plan for the oregano...but not for tea, obviously.
Basil. oregano, lettuce, chives, and peppermint
Ian and Sly Cooper standing to measure the height of the basil during the second cutting.
Washing basil is a labor intensive process. My last batch of basil wasn't finished until 2 a.m. one night (and yes, ended in the breaking up of a cat fight).
Tomato, cucumber, and basil on buttered toast was one of my favorite lunches over the summer.
coriander
Vines and Shrines
The viny bean flowers I planted in the corner of the rock bed in front of the house drowned. One of the pussy willows there also died. I did not get any more rocks moved out of there. Ah well. The two main places I wanted the vines to thrive did.
In June I got the willow whip trellis for the sweet pea hyacinths over Our Lady's shrine woven. The trellis is attached to the stumps by holes drilled into it and filled with Liquid Nails. It's hard to believe this was what it looked like in April.
Addie helped....
The vines pretty quickly started up the trellis, with a little guidance.
The calla lilies and petunias by the Sacred Heart shrine overlooking our garden and yard grew as I had hoped as well. The lilies made lovely, long-lasting additions to bouquets over the summer.
The honeysuckle teepee trellis for sweet pea hyacinths by the back garage worked well.
Flower Beds and Unfinished Projects
The view from the kitchen window. Can you see the basketball hiding in the weeds? I managed to get the field stone planter (formerly left of the shrine) demolished and debris hauled away
Exciting things are happening next door as well. The property has been sold, and multiple loads and massive dumpsters full of trash have been hauled away. We were told by the former owners that the brown house will be torn down soon, and possibly a small starter home put in it's place. This is good because it'll raise the value of our property...but worrisome because I value our privacy back here in this little corner of town.
I succeeded in getting over half of this bed weeded. It's all growing back now. And I'm past caring at this point! A benefit of letting it go, I discovered a clematis jackmanii vine growing! I built a little trellis for it. Raspberries and grapes are also growing now.
I was going to put a herringbone walkway though the flower bed with bricks the boys hauled out of the creek. It hasn't happened yet.
Mulberries! I wanted to make pie or jam with them this year. Never happened. Maybe next year?
View from the dining room window. The morning glories vined up the yield sign nicely, but never bloomed.
The geranium in the box drowned, so I replaced it with daisies. We never got the screen door put on the dining room door onto the side porch, and are waiting until next year to put the little deck on the front of the house off the front porch. We did accomplish a lot around the yard this year, so there are no regrets. We celebrated two years here this summer, and I've decided to take an anniversary picture to note the changes we make through the years.
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