Weekend Gardening Photos

Japanese beetles can be the bane of any garden, and basil is one of their favorite foods. This specimen was happily munching away on the precious leaves, but not for much longer after this photo was taken. We keep an organic garden, no pesticides allowed, so the best option for dealing with them is deterrent. After we kill them, we leave their carcasses laying around the plants to discourage others from snacking. We don’t use the bag traps because of studies that show they are relatively ineffective.

Weekend Gardening Photos

This is it! Well, not all of it, but this is the beginnings of our vegetable and herb garden. I say beginnings because we plan to do more each year in different spots around the yard, like the little spot where we planted the strawberries and rhubarb. While it may not look like much, just a simple patch alongside the house, we are very happy with the location and the plants seem very happy, too.

We moved into this house in March 2007 and did not have time to get a garden spot prepared because we were focused on getting the inside of the house in order, so last year we had a container garden on the front porch. This spring we ripped out several nuisance silverberry bushes that were in this spot next to our deck. By nuisance we mean they were growing about a foot a week and becoming a pain to keep trimmed. Since this side of the house faces south we though the space would be much better suited for the first phase of our garden, and Michael wouldn’t have to deal with trimming those bushes every week. Getting them out was not easy, and though Michael dug out the roots with a pick ax and shovel, we still find some shoots popping out of the ground every now and then. They are very persistent!

The lemon basil is looking like a bush itself, and I’ve been cutting off the buds to keep it in check, but we’ll have to do a harvest on it soon and then start two more plants.

The row of shallots is doing very well, and though I’ve been tempted to snip off a few of those tops and use them like chives, I have resisted the urge! We have chives, but they are almost buried under the bushy basil plants on either side.

Weekend Gardening Photos

I can’t help running my hands through the herbs when I check on the garden each day as I love the smell they leave behind. A handful of this fresh spearmint tasted wonderful in my tabouleh this week. Maybe someday the Internet will interact with all five senses, but for today you will just have to imagine the fantastic aroma.

I planted a row of shallots this spring and thought they had rotted out with all the rain, but they surprised me a few weeks ago when they started peeping out of the ground. Now they look like they are growing wild.

Weekend Gardening Photos

We put four rhubarb plants in the ground, but only two survived the garden floods we had in May. This one seems very healthy and has three good stalks.

This one has one stalk with another one peeking out of the ground underneath. We’re looking forward to cooking with rhubarb next spring!

This honeysuckle is growing behind our fence in an area that we call “the neutral zone.” It’s a common area that remains untouched and wild, and the honeysuckle is going, er, wild back there! When the breeze blows just right, the backyard fills with the sweet smell of honeysuckle blossoms.

The Saffron Experiment: Dormancy

As the weather heats up, the saffron crocuses have slipped into dormancy. The foliage died off, only this one plant has leaves remaining, and for the next few months I will just have to wonder if they will come back in late September bearing the precious saffron. Our indoor crocuses slipped into dormancy early, and I plan to leave them out on the porch this summer so they will hopefully get on schedule with the others. This is the hard part for me—waiting! By mid-September I will probably start obsessively checking for little green leaves!

Early this spring we had a four-legged visitor sneaking nibbles off the leaves during the night, and a few were eaten right to the ground. To protect our little jewels, we sprinkled cayenne pepper on the leaves and around the ground and then put little cages around the plants, and our plants were safe after that. No more middle-of-the-night snacking!

Previous Saffron Posts

The Saffron Experiment, Six Months and Counting

Saffron in the Snow

The Saffron Experiment, Part 2: We Have Sprouts!

The Saffron Experiment

Children’s Books with Gardening Themes

“I want to help!”

I was separating grape tomato plants, preparing them for planting, and Bob the Builder (5) and Top Gun (3) were reaching for plants as I worked. Our family plants an outdoor herb and vegetable garden every spring and we keep an indoor herb garden year-round. When I’m planting seeds I let the boys get right in and help, but I had visions of battered plants and decided this was one of those times they needed to watch a little before trying on their own. I demonstrated how to pull gently to separate the tangled mass of roots and pour dirt around the plants in the cups. After watching them nearly squeeze a couple plants to death, I decided pouring the dirt would be a better job for my boys! They get very excited, but tend to have a bull-in-china-shop approach.

They have some favorite books with gardening themes, each of which I see constantly laying around or handed to me for story time. I enjoy the stories as much as the boys, especially when they pull up next to me and ask to help plant the seeds or flowers or vegetables and talk about things that we’ve read. They like playing in the dirt as much as I do, and we want to continue encouraging that.

Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert

“Every year Mom and I plant a rainbow.”

The story starts in the fall with planting different kinds of bulbs and goes throughout the year of planning and planting a garden. Our boys enjoy identifying the colors and different types of flowers, as well as seeing the stages of growth. Abstract illustrations.

Read aloud: 0 to 4 Read more

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