Saturday, June 2, 2012

In The Garden


My favorite time in the vegetable garden at StoneGable is evening... just an hour before dusk. The colors seem so vibrant with the long rays of the setting sun streaming low over the garden.  

My camera is my constant companion, so I captured how my garden is growing...


 The garden has had a wonderful start... lots of sun, plenty of rain and good compost. We just had a big thunderstorm and the dirt has splashed EVERYWHERE!  That's life in the garden!!!!

The lettuces are thriving...


The Vidalia onions were planted early and have enjoyed quite a growth spurt...



The Candy Sweet onions and leeks were planted a couple weeks later, but they will catch up in no time!



The Rhubarb is big and hearty and loves being thinned. Look for a Rhubarb Cobbler recipe next week. My long-time friend and gardener extraordinaire, Eileen gave me this prolific plant! Thanks, Eileen!


We have tomatoes! Our early girl tomatoes will be ready to pick soon! This is great news to me as I only eat summer tomatoes!



We will have sour cherries soon, too!  My husband loves my sour cherry jam.



New to the garden this year are two barrel filled with flowers.



I filled them with the leftovers from potting my planters.





Colorful petunias, salvia, nasturtiums, lantana and verbena all have found a home out in the veggie garden!



This year we also added a couple of new birdhouses...

The finch house (foreground) sits in the middle of the garden, and the Martin house (background) is perched high on a long pole in my herb garden.


The Martin house is huge!!!! Think of it like an apartment building for an extended family of Martins.
Look for a post about my new Martin house coming soon!


The bird on the left is part of the weather vane, but the bird on the right is our resident Mockingbird.  He loves the new Martin house. He sits up there and entertains us with all of his mimicking calls. 




As we move into June, the garden will grow and change rapidly! Every day I will be able to see measurable differences.  And before long the zucchini will be prolific! Soon, this dirty little zucchini blossom with be a long slender zucchini... and then part of a great summer meal!

There is nothing better than going out to the garden to gather in dinner! 




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34 comments:

  1. What a lovely garden and your birdhouses are wonderful! I just love watching the garden grow :)

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  2. This is the first year in a long time that we have a vegetable garden. We are enjoying the radish, lettuce, green onion and spinach already!! Your garden is beautiful! I love your bird houses.

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  3. Hi darling, your garden is fabulous. Love the birdhouse!! What fun a Martin Birdhouse would be, I've always heard there needs to be water close by. Looking forward to the Rhubarb recipe, I used to help my Grandma cut it for her to make pies and jams with.. thanks for bringing a fond memory to mind. hugs ~lynne~

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  4. Oh, everything looks so healthy, Yvonne! I've never heard of sour cherries! Your lettuce looks fabulous. Love the beer barrel and your pretty blooms in it.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  5. Yvonne:

    Garden looks wonderful! I love your birdhouses.

    Have you ever tried Fried Zucchini Blossoms?

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  6. I am so jealous. BUT, hopefully we can FINALLY have a vegetable garden at the new place. Your veggies look great and I love the bird houses! XOXO

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  7. What wonderful, wonderful gardens! I love your photos, Yvonne! xo Diana

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  8. Your garden is beautiful! Love the new birdhouses - are those copper roofs?

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  9. Yvonne dusk is my favorite day as well, the glow of setting sun reflecting the air and surroundings.

    Adore your new bird-houses! They are beautiful!!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

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  10. Yvonne, your garden is growing nicely and soon you will have an abundance of good veggies. I am doing lots of recipes for grilling vegetables in advance of my GRILL, BBQ and PICNIC PARTY on June 17- 23. I am sure you have many delicious recipes for preparing food in all these ways so join us if you can. --------------- Shannon

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  11. Everything that you do is so beautiful. Your garden is fabulous.

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  12. Your garden, like everything you do, if just perfect. The lettuce looks as yummy as all the other vegetables. I especially love your finch and martin houses.

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  13. All the veggies look wonderful:)

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  14. Beautiful garden, Yvonne, love the image of the green tomatoes.

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  15. Wow! very impressive birdhouses! Love them!

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  16. I love how you have mixed the different petunias. I am bad about planting all the same color in one pot but I am going to mix it up next year!

    Thank you for your kind comment at Team Skelley, Yvonne. It is so nice to meet you! New follower, and I look forward to reading more of your lovely blog!

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  17. Hi Yvonne,
    Your Garden photo's are lovely. I just love taking walks through the garden. We are just beginning to harvest some vegetables for our spring crop, it is so exciting and the fresh food is wonderful! Thanks for sharing your beautiful garden.
    Miz Helen

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  18. Beautiful garden! Love the new birdhouses. My father always had several big "apartment complexes" for the martins in his yard too.

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  19. Everything looks happy and healthy Yvonne! I love tucking flowers in the with the veggies too, it's just food for the soul-enjoy:@)

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  20. I miss the garden but they are always happy to see me at the farmers market! Yours looks great ~ I got some rhubarb a couple of weeks ago and chopped it up for the freezer ~ I am awaiting the local strawberries so I can make my crumble ~ so yummy.

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  21. Yvonne,
    Your garden is lucsious! "Mr. Ed" and I have truly missed garden produce since moving to this side of the Prairie. Thank goodness for the Farmer's Market that is in our town every Saturday morning!!! "Mr. Ed" has been visiting with a truck farmer in our area for tips on growing produce...and we've a "test plant" in the herb garden this season! Enjoy the "fruits of your labors"! I adore your tubs full of florals!
    Fondly,
    Pat

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  22. Oh wow! Your veggie garden looks wonderful. I love the barrel planters. I adore your birdhouses. They look fabulous!

    Dee

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  23. Great garden. I can't wait for our tomatoes, too. Love that bird house!

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  24. Oh it looks so good, i love the birdhouses

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  25. Beautiful vegetable garden. It must keep you busy! Love the new birdhouses. They are the type I'd like to add to our garden.

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  26. Your garden looks fabulous! I bet you will have more than you know what yo do with!
    Gorgeous photos as always!

    xo-Lisa

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  27. Love just love the birdhouses. Love the copper accents and I like that big barrel with the plants.

    Cynthia

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  28. What beautiful pictures. I feel as though I've had the pleasure of spending some time with you in your lovely garden.

    Thank you for inspiring us,
    Marie

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  29. Your efforts are really paying off! I love the lettuces, makes me think I should have planted some this spring.

    Jessica
    stayathomeista.com

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  30. Hmmmm, I can taste all the fresh veggies now! Nothing like summer tomatoes. The lettuce looks fabulous! I can only imagine the delicious dishes you will make. The bird houses are adorable. It's so fun to watch them isn't it?

    Beautiful flowers too ~
    xo
    Pat

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  31. Your garden is beautiful and looks like it will be producing abundantly!...How wonderful....and I am so in love with the birdhouses!

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  32. Gosh, you have a very green thumb. I'm so impressed with your healthy productive garden. It's beautiful!

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  33. Yvonne~ I don't know how I missed this post! I ADORE your new birdhouses! Our Purple Martin house looks like a tenement house in comparison to your copper-topped grand dwelling! I love the weather vane on top and your mockingbird perched next to it :) One of my favorite things this time of year is to sit on the porch with my coffee and listen the the martins talk to each other and watch their amazing acrobatics~ so entertaining and even better knowing they are our living bug zappers!

    Your garden is THRIVING! I have to confess I'm not wild about zucchini or squash but would love to plant them just for the blossoms! Thanks for sharing your garden & bird love~

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  34. What a beautiful garden. I love the birdhouse too.

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