Get a look at the North Georgia Candy Roaster squashes!!!!

 

We grew some last year, and they did so well.  So I saved some seeds when we cut into the squash, and planted them again this year.  I planted 6 plants, and they are running into that bed that had oxeye daisies last week.  The squashes will run up to 10 feet!!!  So they can’t go in the vegetable garden.  They need their own space.  So here they are taking up as much space as they like.  

 

And looking fine doing it.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Look at this beautiful dinosaur kale.  Lacinato Kale, to be more precise.  Grown from seeds.  I love the color of these leaves, and the texture is crinkled, looking quite prehistoric.  

 

These plants stand about 3 feet tall now, but by the end of the season, they will be taller than I am.  Not big for a person, but pretty tall for a plant.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is another type of cauliflower, called Romanesco.  I’ve never seen it in the grocery store, so I thought I’d give it a try in the garden.  I spent $1.95 for 30 seeds.  I planted 12, and got 12 baby plants.  Who needs 12 cauliflowers?  I only put 6 into the garden.  I gave the others to a couple of friends for them to try.  

 

Well, ours are doing great, and aren’t they interesting looking?  The word ‘fractals’ comes to my mind.  

 

The seed catalog said they will grow 7” heads, so we have a while to go, but I love looking at them every day.

 

They make me smile;  I hope you got a tickle out of them too.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Last week I told you about wrapper leaves on the cauliflower, to keep the heads white;  it’s called ‘blanching.’

 

Well, I left one unblanched, and this is what happened.  It started turning purple!  I don’t see this as a bad thing.  Do you?

 

I love trying and learning new things in the garden.

 

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!! 

 

 

 

This is what we see when we start out on our walk.  It is at the end of Crabapple Lane.  This Magnolia tree survived the winter and is doing beautifully.  And right now it is blooming.  So pretty.

 

Look around in your travels, and you will probably see lots of other Magnolia trees blooming.  If you can get close enough to smell them, do it.  They smell fresh and lemony.  

 

In the fall, the flowers will grow into interesting seed pods, with bright red seeds.  But now is when they are the prettiest.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

The dill is blooming.  And it is GORGEOUS!!!  

 

There are 3 five foot sections of the garden loaded with dill.  Dill doesn’t like to be transplanted, so you have to put the seeds directly on the ground where you want them to sprout.  Last summer when it went to seed, I sprinkled the seeds all along these rows, and now it is thick and beautiful.  It’s kind of a tight squeeze to walk between the rows of dill.

 

After the pollen gets finished doing its job, all those tiny flowers turn into little green berries.  When they dry, they will be next year’s seeds.  But it is the berry stage that I love the most.  I cut several stems, bring them inside and put them in a crystal vase on the landing.  They are glorious and last a couple weeks.

 

It looks like this year I have enough to share with my friends.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Look at this!!!  We grew carrots in the garden.

 

I’ve never planted carrots before, because I thought that you had to ultra till the soil, like to 12 inches.  Too much trouble when you can buy organic carrots for under two dollars a pound.

 

Well, this year I saw in a seed catalog that some carrots only grow 5 to 6 inches, so I got the seeds for that kind.  The tops grew about 14 inches tall, and underneath:  cute baby carrots.

 

They taste really sweet, and crunch when you bite them.  And the best part is, when you pull them from the ground they give a little “pop.”  

 

So much fun.  I’m doing it again next year.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The Cilantro is bolting.  It likes cool weather, and is now going to seed.  This stand is about 6 feet long, and 4 feet high.  

 

The whole plant is edible.  The leaves are called cilantro, and the seeds are coriander.  The flowers are edible too, but I’d rather wait for them to develop into coriander.  We harvest the seeds and grind them in the coffee grinder.  Then add coriander to everything.  

 

Besides being edible, cilantro/coriander is more of a medicine than a food.  And it has been used as such for centuries.  According to the books I have on plants and food, Coriander aids digestion, fights inflammation, and strengthens immunity.  Cilantro and coriander are loaded with potassium, which also improves physical and mental energy.

 

What’s not to like?

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Have you noticed the smell of Sourwood lately?  It is that warm, sweet, (heavy) summer smell.  They are starting to bloom, and we can smell the flowers all along the loop walk.  

 

This one is in my yard, and the flowers haven’t opened yet, but they will soon.  The trees are fairly tall, the leaves are bright green, and the flowers emerge from the tips of the branches, like little fingers sticking out.

 

You know that summer is here when the Sourwood blooms.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

As you can see, this is an exciting time in the garden.  All the cool season crops are producing as they should, and I get so excited when I take my morning walk and see something like this!!!

 

I have 3 broccoli plants, and this one is almost ready to harvest.  When I cut out the crown, the plant will continue to produce little florets all along the stem.  So three plants is enough for months of broccoli.

 

And we love to blanch and freeze the florets, to make broccoli soup in the winter.  Right from our garden.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!