the last of the red [cool] lovers

I love my little herb garden, even though it's pretty inconveniently distanced from the house.  Dill is great for salmon, cilantro puts out beautiful tiny flowers that I love to use in bouquets, and parsley is great for a mild accent.  I haven't used any thyme yet, but I have plenty...along with the basil.  When you plant 10 varieties, you get...a lot of basil.

So far, I'm only using 2 varieties in cooking.  Cinnamon, Ruffled, Lemon, Holy Tulsi, Amorotto, Cardinal, etc. sound interesting, but they don't smell quite right for recipes.  Thankfully Todd likes pesto!  So far, a broccoli lemon pesto pasta and a standard mixed-basil pesto for an artichoke/roasted tomato pizza have been rousing successes.  And, of course, all basils are lovely in bouquets!  

We had one last blast of rain before the summer heat set in.

My beloved sweet peas and snapdragons are rapidly going to seed.  I've picked a last few bouquets using those and other last-legs cool flowers.

The final poppies are giving up the ghost, but leaving behind gorgeous seed pods.

Thankfully, there's new growth in the garden to distract me.

These are strawflowers, which look like juicy raspberries before opening.

They are so named because their petals already feel dried - like straw - when they bloom.  Naturally, they last forever in bouquets and dried arrangements.  Aren't they unusual?

See the little hunter?

We have a lot of other life around here.  Deer...with baby!

A lone turkey, hurrying into the underbrush.

Growing tadpoles!!

Bees...

Dragonflies...

...and loads of butterflies.

Pests are abundant, like Japanese beetles...

...and the flea beetles on my amaranth.

You have to take the good with the bad in gardening, of course.  Now that the heat has set in, "the bad" includes 3 hours weekly of monotonous watering for me, and around the same for Todd with mowing, just to keep our paths clear around the barn and to the pond.  Typical summer stuff!

At least the dry, hot weather slows down the weeds. 

Have a great week!

P(r)esto!

 From the vantage point of my upstairs office, window open and overlooking the garden, I've come to recognize the sounds of quite a few visitors.  The raucous whistles and chatter of blue jays, the sleepy hum of bees, and, daily, the officious buzz of hummingbirds.

They are territorial and frequently annoyed with trespassers.  Many times I've been sideswiped by one while working outside, letting me know that they could oust me, if they really wanted to.

The high, 5-note twitter of goldfinches is something that I hear all day long.  

A telephone line runs over the garden, and goldfinches perch there, giving me the evil eye, if I'm out there working.  They wait until I leave, and then swoop!

They chatter and eat sunflower seeds for hours at a time. They have company, too.  Catbirds, phoebes, and finches are all found in and around the garden, every day.

They are there for the seeds, but also the insects.  See all of the gnats hovering above this young bird? It's a feast!

I'm so glad that I didn't give up on this late garden.

Claudia enjoys the company...

...and rewards me by keeping the garden rabbit-free.

In other news...the barn addition is complete!

Todd is doing some last-minute putty-ing...and puttering...before boxes are stacked on shelves, and my third is freed up for garden space.

The views from this space are quite nice.  The back pond, with wild black-eyed susans in full bloom and reflecting on the water...

The barnyard (soon to include chickens), and the fields beyond.

Blue skies overhead.

I'm excited to start spending more time out here!  

Bringing the 'outside in' is a way of life for me, and I'm not just talking about flowers.  I've grown massive amounts of basil, which I love.  I picked several bunches yesterday...

 ...and made a quick pesto...just garlic, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper.  I boiled green beans and diced potatoes and stirred the pesto in.  Add a little red wine vinegar, salted pepitas (or sunflower seeds), and parmesan, and you've got a great fresh-garden meal!  Here is the recipe.  The pesto smell lingered all day long...ahhhhhh.  If you've got an excess of basil at this time of year, I highly recommend it!  I'll be making and freezing more soon.

Have a great week!