A view of the potager

This is a view of the "potager". We haven't been able to tarp and mulch the walkways yet, but that's coming. Things are growing well and the raised beds have really paid off since we've had so much rain. Most of the plants, especially in the far right, rear corner would have been flooded out. If you look along the back of the potager, the farmer that is behind us recently mowed the "swamp" as I call it. We have a natural spring that runs underneath this section of the property and are unable to mow it with our riding mower because it's just too wet. He came with his huge John Deere tractor and mowed down all the grass that was at least 3 feet high. If you look, all of the dark areas behind the potager is "the swamp" and you can make out where the spring runs underground.

This is a closeup of the red cabbage. They're growing well and filling out beautifully.

A shot of the pole beans. They're starting to crawl up the twine.

A shot of the sunflowers. They're about 3 feet high so far and the package says they will reach 9-12 feet high. I planted them close together so they will support eachother as they grow. I figured the sunflowers in the fields aren't staked, so I'd give it a whirl planting them close enough to touch as they grow. We'll see...it's yet another experiment in gardening, and if it works I'll do it again. If not, chalk it up to a learning experience.

Who are you and what are you doing on my sunflowers? This little guy was immediately defensive when my daughter was taking his picture and kept backing up and bobbing his antennaes around. I've tried to find out what he is in my "bug" book, but haven't located him. He's red and black, with white spots on his back. Initially I thought he was a boxelder bug, but he doesn't look like any of the photos, or even the "baby" boxelder bugs. If anyone knows what he is, let me know. I hope he's not a bad bug, but if he is, we'll capture him and put him over by the newly hatching praying mantises. "Lunch"!

Close-up of Growing Vegetables

This is the Red Cabbage Bed. They have really filled in all the bare spots compared to when they were first planted. Yesterday when I was out around 6 a.m. checking the garden and looking for weeds and bugs, I spotted a little white butterfly flittering around looking for a place to lay her nasty little eggs. After careful inspection of each and every plant since then, I haven't found any eggs, but the BT is in the wings ready for the little cabbage loopers who intend on finding the plants and gnawing away.

This is a closeup of the squash plant. I'm always amazed how the leaves and flower and stems intertwine and grow. They're so beautifully designed and it always is fascinating to watch vegetables grow. To think you put one seed in the ground and this is what grows out of it. Amazing and awe inspiring.

This is the Blue Hubbard Squash I started earlier in the year from seed. It is really taking off and filling out. I love the leaves. There is so much texture and design in each one. A very pretty plant.

Swiss Chard Bright Lights that I started from seed this year. They just took off once they were put in their final spot. Almost time to start harvesting the outer leaves and getting them to the table.

The sweet corn is coming along. Planted this closely, you really have to feed them religiously every week or they will compete for nutrients and not thrive. I use Miracle Grow Liqui Feed initially and now that they are about knee high, I switch to a product called Sea Magic. It's a sea kelp product that you mix into a gallon of water. This is the "liquid concentrate". Then every time you feed, you put only 1/2 cup of the concentrate into a 2 gallon watering can and water the food into plants. The 1 gallon concentrate makes 66 gallons of fertilzer.

Flowers Around the House

Bicolored daisies in front perennial bed. These little guys really took off. Later I'll post a photo of the whole front perennial bed that I started this spring.

Million Bells Petunias and a soft pink petunia baskets on a shepherds hook near my oregano bed. Gotta love Miracle Grow!

Pink Dahlias off the back porch. Considered tender perennials, planted in their large pots and will be brought in to the basement to over winter there.

More Million Bells Petunias on a double hook near the front porch sidewalk. As long as you keep dead-heading the petunias, and feed them, keep them well watered, they are quite the flower producers.

Black eyed susan variety in front perennial bed.

New beds and perennials around the house

These raised beds in the back yard used to hold my veggies. Since the addition of the side garden, I converted these beds to mostly perennial flowers. Once they are grown and need dividing, I will split them and add them around the vegetable bed fence. That's the great thing about perennials. As they grow you can divide them into smaller plants and transplant them wherever you need to. Most perennials tolerate this will as long as they are still pretty dormant when you divide them. Unless they're hosta's. I've yet to kill a hosta by dividing it. :0)

This is a Annabelle Hydrangea that is outside my front door. I bought this years ago and it was only a 4 inch little stick. She blooms more and more each year as long as I feed her regularly. I compost her base in the spring and fertilize once every 14 days or so and compost and mulch her in the winter. A very prolific bloomer and is great for cut flower arrangements around the house.


This is a St. Therese hydrangea I bought many years ago. Although the Therese hydrangea is supposed to be white, our soil here tends to be acidic and although you can't see it well in this photo, she has the loveliest blue tinge to the edges of her blossoms. A very beautiful hydrangea. She was also a stick when I planted her many years ago.


This is a stone bed I built a few weeks back. It is filled with Astilbe, hydrangea, hosta, coleus, impatiens, a cinnamon fern and four Hakone grasses. Although the plants are just babies, next year it should be very pretty.

This is the back of the house and the two stone beds I built. To the left is my blackberry bushes. They're loaded with blooms and forming beautiful berries. It's a thornless blackberry which makes picking, pruning and weeding so much easier than its thorny cousins.

The center of the garden...

I built this bed in the center of the garden. I really had no idea what I was doing so I just winged it! I figured..."How hard could it be?" Well...alot harder than I had explected! Trying to get those little buggers level is real chore. Not to mention that they're heavy! Plus when I put the last stone on, it wouldn't fit, so I had to re-arrange the whole thing. Took most of the day and it was only two levels. I filled them up and planted vinca, just because I had some leftover. And I planted six bareroot Hibiscus. Have no idea what colors they are. Could be pink, red, white. In the center will be an all weather birdbath. Now that this is all completed, it's time to lay the weed barrier and mulch the entire garden. More shoveling!! My kids will want to move out!

The Garden is Starting to Grow!

The green beans are sprouting up arount the bean poles.

Red Cabbage plants are growing better now that they're outside and in the ground. They just took off once I transplanted them outdoors.

I planted 50 bare root strawberry plants and they're just poking their heads up through the soil.

Sweet corn is coming up too. They look like they're close together don't they? I read Mel Bartholomews Square Foot Gardening adendum not long ago, and he once planted sweet corn very close so that it looked thick and lush on camera. He said that he had excellent pollination and it was one of his best corn crops ever. He said that since then, he grows them very close together. I thought I'd give it a whirl. Hopefully they will do as well. I planted two varieties: Silver Queen and Silver Princess. Princess matures quicker so we should have a longer season for corn.

A close-up of a corn shoot...