Garden Growing

The weather was so beautiful yesterday . . . into the 80's for only the second time this year.  It was a nice way to usher in the first day of summer.  I used the day to weed my culinary herb garden.  The herbs are perennials for the most part, although I have to plant parsley and basil every year.  The rosemary almost always dies off during the winter, and so I usually replant it each year too.  Next year, I might try planting it in the greenhouse to see if I can keep it alive all winter.  This is Tuscan Rosemary, and it has a really pungent aroma.  Love it.

Also growing in the herb garden this year are:

Sage

Tarragon (I worried that it was dead, but it came back)

Oregano (this would take over if I let it)

Marjoram (which is really just baby oregano)



Chives (They get knocked back each winter, so I

let them grow wherever they want to.

  This one is growing in among the sage this year.)

Lavender (I just like the way it looks and smells.  I don't use it culinarily.)

Silver thyme.  (I have lemon thyme and traditional thyme too.)

Kentucky Colonel Mint (This really would take over if I let it.

I have two kinds of mint.  Both are planted in pots buried under ground

to prevent it from spreading out.)

I forgot to take a picture of the Sorrel.  I have some of that too.  I haven't used it for anything, and it grows like crazy.  I have a recipe for Sorrel pesto that I've never tried.  And I think it can be used in soups too.

More colors of iris have bloomed. 



And, HOORAY, there are plums on the plum tree!!

These are Italian prune plums and I love them.  I like standing under the tree and eating them until I'm sick.  I have a recipe for plum chutney that I've always wanted to try, but never can get enough plums to do it.  We had a plum tree at our other house.  When we bought the place, the previous owner told us that they'd planted their plum tree seven years earlier, and it had never produced any plums.  Their plan was to take it out if they had stayed in the house.  That summer, it was covered with plums, and it produced bushels of plums every year thereafter.

Fast forward to today.  When we moved here, I wanted another plum tree, and so we planted one.  It has never produced any plums.  This is the seventh year it's been in the ground, and I've been hoping it would do as the other plum tree did.  Of course, one time does not a tradition make (unless you're a cat).  Still, seeing plums for the first time gives me hope.  I'm especially heartened because it bloomed during the rain, and I had little hope it would get pollinated.  Clearly, I underestimated the pollinators.

Let's see . . . what else is blooming?  The foxglove is beginning to open.  These are from seeds I planted.  If I'm not mistaken, last year's were purple.  These are pink.

Foxglove are biannuals.  The fact that we've had flowers two years in a row would indicate that we'll have them every year.

And yesterday's warmth gave a boost to the vegetables.  Nearly everything is starting to grow now.

Corn

Zucchini

Green beans (I love that you can still see the bean seed in this image.)



Beets (which look like weeds except for the little bit of red on their leaves)



Dill

Nasturtiums

Sunflowers

The only things I don't see yet are the parsley and the Brussels sprouts.  I wouldn't know a Brussels sprout if I saw one, but I would imagine they look like broccoli and cauliflower when they first sprout.  I'm not sure about the straw flowers either. 

We're back to gray today.  We could really use some sunshine to get things going faster.  Oh well.  I can't bear to be inside on a sunny day, but these gray days mean sewing.  That's what I'm off to do next.