squirrels love beans

I thought I would give you a little photographic tour of the gardens, as they have changed so much since I lasted posted pictures of them. I am really coming to love marking the passage of the warm months by what is growing. The forget-me-nots are gone now, and the lilac blooms have withered, but now comes the thick, lush sea of green as summer rolls in, bringing heat and crickets and thunderheads.

I can't keep up with all that is growing in my gardens; it reminds me of The Secret Garden, when Mary first discovers it all wild and overgrown. But I am slowly taming it bit by bit, all my efforts so far focused on the area that gets the most sun, where I have planted all my vegetables. 

My plans changed a lot from where they started back in late winter, as always happens. Some things grow better than expected, some things don't, time always runs short, and lessons learned along the way reshape the best laid plans. My raised vegetable beds ended up in the garden instead of in the middle of the lawn, because there was much more space in there than I realized. My beans were all eaten by squirrels. My carrots died from lack of attention before they were transplanted. My sunflowers and broccoli grew too fast and were too spindly to transplant. Lots of lessons learned. 

The lettuce is booming, though! I am keeping track of how many green salads my little cold frame provides us with, and next year with some approximate calculations I'll aim to grow all the greens we'll need from early spring to late fall. 

I have a healthy little herb garden growing amongst the perennials. Thyme, garlic chives, oregano, basil, sage and parsley. Echinacea that was here before I should be blooming soon, too. I seeded a big handful of nasturtiums in all the bare pockets I could find today, hoping for edible flowers to add to our salads. The spinach went to seed so I pulled it out, turned a bag of manure in, and planted peas in its place- enough to eat some as shoots and let the rest grow up. Two pumpkin plants have survived and are just starting to flower. I have to figure out if they need more company than that to cross-pollinate and produce fruit. I tucked one lonely little watermelon seedling in between them today. There are two raised beds, made out of scrap wood torn off the house when the front door was replaced last weekend. One has tomato plants in it, and the other I just planted with green onion seeds today. Five cucumber plants have their own little patch next to that. 

The more I garden, the more I love it. I am constantly amazed at how much I can learn just by watching things grow in tiny increments every day. How much I can learn just by being observant. And how very much I still don't know. 

Like, squirrels love beans. 

Now I know.

 Peonies lining the driveway 

 Poppies in the front yard 

I don't know what this flower is. Another kind of poppy? 

Herb patch. Spot the sage, oregano, chives and thyme!

 Onion and tomato raised beds 

 Cucumber patch

 Cold frame (too warm for the window now), and basil and more lettuce in pots 

 Two little pumpkin plants 

 Butterfly patch. Having a hard time growing as this is Knuckle's favorite nap spot. 

 The old water pump. This house had no indoor running water until the 70's. 

Shady ferns, my favorite spot.