Nostalgic Water Pump

Something old and interesting can serve as a centerpiece even when the plants have started to die off. This old well pump was a great find and we hope to create a water feature with it one of these days. In the meantime, it's an eye catching memorabilia all its own.

Returnees in the Garden

It has been a really strange spring this year. Too wet, too cold and generally just not conducive to getting out in the garden. So far, the only things growing in our backyard are plants that come back year after year without much coaxing. Them and the weeds.

White Flowers

It's almost time for the gardent to wake up again. Soon, it will bloom again. Welcome Spring!

Our Perch

 

Time to dust off the chairs and dig up the yard! We have been busy planting the garden early this spring and now it's time to sit and enjoy the warm weather and watch things grow... from our perch.

Weeds and Dandelions

Since my husband is building new storage sheds our backyard has been looking more like a junk yard for the last few months. Needless to say we hadn't planted anything in our garden this year. We're hoping than when he finishes with the construction and finally has our backyard in order again, that we will still have enough growing time to at least plant a few things.

"I find a person whose life is full of genuine dandelions and ditch weeds to be far more compelling than the person whose life is full of plastic roses, and I’m far from alone in that conclusion.

In other words, you’re better off being proud of being a ditchweed than trying to be a rose and merely being a plastic imitation of one. Stop caring what other people think. Be passionate and proud of who you are and what you enjoy and stop spending a dime of your money or an ounce of your energy trying to be something you’re not." ~ Plastic Flowers from The Simple Dollar

Winter Casualties

We had papayas in our garden last summer that even bore fruit this time. Of course, the fruit didn't have time to mature or ripen and when the first snow of the season came, they immediately succumbed.

Roses

Just some pretty pictures of roses....

Spring Cleaning

I should have followed my own advise and cleaned up the garden in the fall. Instead, we got lazy and now this is what we have to clean up before we can start planting again.

The Fall Gardener

Just because it's fall, the leaves are turning colors and the garden is turning brown, does not mean that your garden duties are done with. There are a great many things that needs to be done when the growing season is over.

For one thing, it is always a good idea to go ahead and clean your beds of dead plants and debris before the winter sets in. It will save you a lot of grief in the spring if you go on ahead and pull up all the dead plants rather than letting them sit in the beds all winter.

One thing we do is to take advantage of all the fallen leaves and use them to mulch the vegetable beds. Another fall garden chore is to clean our gardening tools, repair broken ones and order new ones if needed.

GreenGardenTools.com is a great destination when you're shopping for garden tools. You can find great Green Garden Tools discounts and also useful tips and articles on how to do things around the yard. For instance, right now there is a great article on alternative methods of gathering up fall leaves other than raking them up.

By the way, another reason that fall is a great time to replenish your gardening tools and supplies is because a lot of the stores have great home and garden promos and sales this time of year as they make room for the holiday inventory that's coming. So don't go into hibernation mode quite yet, there's still things to do in the garden!

Fall is Here!

Yes, it's cooler and the leaves are changing colors. Fall is definitely here.

Pink Rose

Flower Fireworks

Leeks flowers. These large flower balls remind me of fireworks. Click on the photo for a closer view.

Garden, 2009

Warm weather finally came and our garden is back to its verdant condition that I had missed. I got so excited when plants started popping up that I hadn't had much time to update the blogs! There's just not enough time in the day to enjoy everything we want to do.

So here's a quick update of the garden:

This was taken in the early spring, around February. What was growing were plants that came back from the previous season. We hadn't planted anything yet.

This is how the garden looks now. The scuppernong grape vine has completely covered the frame we put up. The oregano had already started to flower, the cilantro had bolted and all other herbs have take hold. We've even already harvested some gree beans!

Make Your Own Seedling Pots

It's still frosty in the mornings, I know, but it will be spring in a few weeks and it's that time again to get the garden going. We've already started planning ours and have some of our seeds purchased and ready to be germinated.

As much as possible, we like to re-use what we already have rather than purchasing new supplies every year. So when we start our seedlings, we'll be using the trays we already have on hand. However, if you don't happen to have any, don't go out and buy containers that you'll just discard or use for a short time anyway.

I found this very helpful tutorial online on how to make your own seedling pots from newspapers. And it totally makes sense! You can plant your seedlings, pots and all, in the ground since the newspaper will deteriorate anyway.

I'm going to show it to the girls. I'm sure they'll love making the little cups and it sure would save me from having to spend any money on seedling pots.

Professional Landscaping

We have a freeform style to our backyard gardening, but some people, and I wish I was one of them sometimes, like a more sculpted and manicured garden.

Allstates Landscaping is a Utah Landscaping company that has been in business since 1985. They are committed to making landscape dreams possible and they have done that for a great many communities in Utah. They will not only create your landscaping dream, they will also maintain it for you if you wish.

A great many Utah Retaining Walls have been created by Allstates but that is just one service they provide. They can custom design waterfalls and water features, create a paved patio and meandering paths through your gardens or even make you your own putting green in your own backyard! Wouldn't that be a luxury. If you've ever dreamed of making your backyard an extension of your living space, Allstate is the landscaping company to call in Utah.

Utah Snow Plowing service would definitely be needed in the winter time but Allstates' maintenance service can also include property clean up such as removing weeds and leaves to trimming and pruning trees and shrubs. They offer scheduled mowing and yard maintenance services on a regular schedule or you can contract them for specific jobs such as mulching and sprinkler repair.

Spring will be here before you know it. This is the time to get estimates and planning your garden. When the weather gets nice, you don't want to miss one minute outdoors!

The Backyard, Autumn

This is how our backyard was looking at the end of the summer. I think this photo was taken in October and not quite everything had turned brown yet. We actually still had plenty of greens and herbs hanging around. Now, it is pretty much just brown and barren in the backyard. We can't wait until spring and get started planting again.

Opo Flower

This beautiful flowering plant has taken over our garden. This virginal bloom is from the opo, a member of the squash family. As you can see, if you've been around squash long enough, that this is a female flower. How can you tell? You can tell this is female because of the fruit already starting to form at the bottom. Look again... see it now?

This fruit can grow to over 3 feet, depending on the variety and can weigh anywhere from 3-5 pounds. It doesn't really have a whole lot of flavor, it's quite mild; it holds an enormous amount of water so any dish you put this into can get pretty soupy. The texture, when cooked is very similar to zucchini.

Normally, I buy one of these squashes a couple of times a year when I see them fresh at the Asian market and I have a craving for them. This time around though, from just 1 plant we've gotten three huge ones and there are four more plants coming up and getting ready to fruit! I've given away all I can, but now I've got to start cooking them.

Herbs Galore

It's been raining every evening for the last five days and the plants in the garden are just loving it. We are too, because we can finally start enjoying some of the garden's bounty. These herbs, for instance came from our backyard. We made a delicious ratatouille with these herbs and some zucchini, tomatoes and eggplants, all from our garden. Nothing could have tasted better! I'll post the recipe in our kitchen soon. It should have been up already, but you know how it goes with blogging, it keeps getting interrupted by real life!

The Garden's Alive!

Things are coming alive!

A Rainy Day Shopping

We've been in a drought status here in Durham since last summer. We've had one of the, if not the, driest winters since I've moved here, so it was a welcome sight to see rains finally pouring on us this spring.

A little inconvenience like being trapped in your car because you forgot to bring an umbrella, at times like this, is a welcome occurrence. This is us, waiting out a spring downpour before we can go shopping.

Our garden, thanks to these spring showers, is finally taking hold. We've already enjoyed an early harvest of greens and they were yummy! I can't wait for some fresh tomatoes :)