Summer Beauties

I have a flower bed in our front yard. It was put there by the previous owner, and I had now idea what anything in there was. It was so overgrown and needed some serious work. Since then I have been amazed at the various flowers growing out of there. This deep orange lily is one of the best surprises. It stands about 4' tall and has about 7 blooms on it.

The sunflowers I planted along our garage in the strawberry patch. I was really excited about these. They have taken a couple rough hits from the hard rain because our garage doesn't have a gutter and it is like a big waterfall. But I have rigged up a system to hold them up. I think they are doing fine. Next year they will go in a different spot... and there will be many many more.

Garden Goodness

Here is the first ever broccoli and cauliflower I have grown! We ate it fresh with dip. So good! Also, some peas that we have been eating. I have a ton in the fridge that I am going to freeze very soon!

Snow Peas

Yum....

Yum!

Our massive black raspberries are producing well. We originally thought that the ripening of the raspberries was going to be a slow process. We ate them as fast as they turned sweet. But after leaving them alone for most of the weekend, I went to harvest what was there and was pleasantly surprised to get a cup full! Now I just need about three more cups to make black raspberry jam. It shouldn't take long.

Fruit and Berries

When we bought our place, we knew there were a bunch of different fruit trees. Possibly some other kinds of berries or fruit, but weren't quite sure. It was wonderful to see everything coming to life this spring... or not. We had quite a few fruit trees that didn't make it. They were in pretty bad shape (not being taken care of over the past few years), so Rob had to take them out. We did replace some trees. We now have a new combination apple, patten pear, peach, and cherry. Here are some pictures of the plants that are producing well so far. Grapes, black raspberries, strawberries, and apples. I can't wait to taste them all!

Flowers in Bloom

Some iris, daisies, and little purple flowers that I am not sure of. Anyone know what they are?

Tulip Time

Last fall I planted these. I was excited to see them pop out of the ground. I was a little wary that they wouldn't. But here they are. And most of them have two or three blooms! Lovely.

Perennial Swap

At our church, Rob and I are a part of a group called Creation Tenders. We meet once a month to talk about our responsibility towards God's creation. One of the things we planned was a perennial swap. The awesome thing about this is, our place has a lot of open space to plant beautiful things. So we snagged some day lilies, cedum, cannas, potatoes, ferns, asters, and maybe a few things I don't quite remember right now. It was great to be able to talk to the people who brought the plants, discussing how/where they should be plants, and what they look like when they bloom. I love the fact that whenever
I look at those plants I will remember the people who so generously shared them.

Amazing Spring!

Tulip fields of Holland.




How is this not one of the most beautiful things you have ever seen?
I saw pictures like this on a blog I read often.
I hope you enjoy!

Plant Stand

Rob spent the day building a plant stand for the seeds we just ordered. We placed a huge order for the garden we are planning this summer. Our garden will hold tomatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, cabbage, basil, lavender, dill, cilantro, strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers, lettuce, spinach, zucchini, onions, and egg plant. Also we ordered a cherry tree and a peach tree. WOW! It is going to be a lot of work, but we have been reading up on how to be the most productive. We are going to start our tomatoes and other plants from seed, which is why Rob built the stand. He picked up some light fixtures from a garage sale this summer. He did a pretty good job! Now I am getting even more excited!