I made a garden map again this year to remember what I planted. I'm branching out a little and growing things I haven't attempted before. Butternut squash, cantaloupe, and pepperoncini are some of the new kids on the block. Also new is a long row of rainbow carrots! I hope to can a few jars of them as hot pickles (so delicious on sloppy joes and in relish trays), along with my regular spicy green bean pickles. (We're huge fans of pickles around here!) I also hope to finally dust off my pressure canner from the basement and learn how to do some serious canning; my Mom has offered to help so I don't blow up my kitchen. Until now I've been using a very amateur water-bath method to can the few jars of spicy beans I've done every year. Eli has agreed to build shelves in the basement to store my (hopeful) productivity.
My ambitions haven't ended there this year. I decided to till up a new spot of lawn adjacent to the original garden and moved the tomatoes and cucumbers there. And my herb bed can now boast rosemary and oregano, along with the customary cilantro, chives, mint, dill, and basil. The basil bed is overflowing with 12 plants this year. It's shaping up to be the year of pesto.
Slowly but surely I'm filling in the bare areas of the yard with flowers and plants. When I close my eyes I can envision a yard that is an oasis, part park and part botanical garden...stone paths and a little pond with a hammock off to the side and thousands of varieties of flowers, and a bird watching garden and...by the time we put all that work into this place, are we really going to want to leave and start over on an acreage? My heart is in the peace and solitude of the country, but each year my heart grows deeper roots here.
The bed along the driveway was in a sad state when we first moved in, choked with weeds and rocks and struggling under too much shade. In the last four years all the plants have more than doubled in size, with some blooming that have never bloomed before. Despite the recent weed population explosion due to the rain and heat, it's still one of the prettiest parts of the yard.
Instead of rocks, I'm filling in bare areas of earth with creeping sedum and phlox. The new peonies I set out last year have all come up in the bed along the driveway. The brick walkway I added last year is flanked again by moss roses. The Asiatic lilies are spreading to my delight, and behind them is a little evergreen tree that I decided not to weed out. Instead, I'm using it in a little bonsai experiment. If I mess up and kill it I'm not out anything, but so far so good!
Eli's mom gifted me Grandpa Benny's old baby bed, and I decided to use it as a support for the gladiolus this year. An unexpected bonus to putting it in this spot: the kids aren't forever running across my baby flowers! I planted zinnias in the rest of the bare earth with visions of finally having bouquet flowers most the summer.
Four years ago when we left our rental house I was hesitant to leave behind all the flowers I had worked so hard to nurture there. I dug up some of the lilies of the valley that flanked the front porch and gave them to my Mom, where they flourished. This year she brought some back for me to plant. They have come full circle. There are certain plants that evoke special memories and make me feel at home. Petunias, particularly their aroma, take me to the shores of Lake Wissota where we vacationed every year when I was a child. Asiatic lilies and marigolds and zinnias and sunflowers are home flowers to me. And lilies of the valley have become home flowers because of the five years they scented every spring at our last home. They are also the flower of my husband's birth month, May. Driving by our old house just last week I noticed all the lilies of the valley are now mowed over, making me even more thankful these were saved.
Eli was the hero of the day and made me three flower boxes from old pallet wood last week. I filled them with red and white geraniums and wired two to the top porch railing. I placed the third in front of the living room bay window.
I also started a new bed between a couple maple trees where the bird feeders are. The area is a mess to mow, a literal washboard of roots and holes and broken chunks of sidewalk jutting out of the grass, so the idea was born of practicality. I bought some elephant ear hostas to fill in the space and hope to find some "Happy Returns" daylilies to place in front of the birdbath, and when I have a bit more time the bed will become oval shaped and encircle the trees.
I could go on forever about my yard plans and plants, but I'll end with the progress I've made in clearing the underbrush, and then random shots from around the yard. A couple years ago I started cleaning up the weeds and saplings and sticks along the creek, which runs the entire length of our property. The long way. And our property spans the length of four normal-sized lots, so it has taken a lot of time. I finally tackled the last stretch of creek bank. 10 hours one day I lobbed and hauled and raked and hauled and mowed and pulled and almost died of a heat stroke, but it felt soooooo good to get that bank cleared! The next step will require Eli and his chainsaw to remove the large downed limbs and trees and clear the things that have fallen into the creek. I also made a clearing under the lilac bushes and planted some hostas I had thinned.
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