Saturday Dinner at Preservation Kitchen

We had a lovely dinner last night to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend. Preservation Kitchen had some wonderful dinner offerings, and I chose a Lenore Syrah to go with my free-range Braised Chicken Breast. It had a savory sauce with organic marinated onions, Yukon Gold potatoes and fresh carrots. It was garnished with fresh thyme.

Our appetizer was crostini with tomato bruschetta.

Azaleas, A Part of the Rhododendron Family

Azaleas and rhododendrons used to be made up of two separate classifications--now they are both botanically classified as rhodies. Azaleas have only one blossom per stem, and rhododendrons have many blossoms per stem.

Azaleas love acidic soil, and do well in shade and under trees. I have a lovely pink azalea in my front yard, and it needs little care. It's in full bloom now, and will continue to bloom for a month or more.

The hybridization of azaleas have produced over 10,000 species worldwide.

My New Garden Shed Just Left Ohio!

My "Skyline" 8 x 10 shed left Ohio last Friday, May 20. It's now on a truck headed for my home in Maltby. Once it arrives, it will be built on my site in one day by the owner of Amish Country Originals in Clearview. I'm so excited to have this dream of a shed turn into a reality!

Here is a picture of a similar shed. Mine will have double doors with 'barn door' trim, and I will paint it Cape Cod Grey to match the house, with Country White trim and teal accents. It has one window and a gable roof. Later on, I'll order window boxes and a cupola.

Ornamental Crabapple Tree Blossoms

The crabapple blossoms are at their peak this week, and I enjoyed the lovely colors and fragrance this evening. This is the most beautiful tree on my property.

Garden Reflections

Gardens help us learn to create order in our lives. So much of gardening involves the routine tasks of maintaining order. I spent the weekend cleaning up my garden, preparing it for planting on Sunday. I mowed some grass, also, and picked up the rest of the autumn leaves and put them in the composter.

Our post-modern world rushes us from one event and place to another, creating stress, raising adrenalin levels, and bombarding us with so much information. It's easy to lose touch with the natural rhythm of life. Gardening brings us back to that primal rhythm, and teaches us that delicate balance between action and contemplation.

May Garden and Raised Bed #4

Here is my May garden, with two new geranium baskets up against the fence. Raised bed #4 (on the end near the solar woodshed) contains the following:

Japanese Long Cucumbers

Tom Thumb Lettuce

Rainbow Swiss Chard

Corn Salad Dutch Greens

Lincoln Garden Peas (will grow up against the picket fence)

Aren't the names of the heirloom seeds evocative of bright colors and lush vegetables?

Rosemary and Thyme

My rosemary and thyme are sharing a raised bed this year with the Ruby Red Rhubarb and the purple and yellow iris. I'll be using the herbs in my organic frittatas, a favorite supper dish here at home, paired with homemade honey wheat bread and fresh organic cantaloupe.

Raised Bed #2--Carrots, Cabbage and Greens--May 2011

Raised bed #2 contains Danvers 126 Half Long carrots, Brunswick cabbage, Oriental Greens, Japanese Giant Red Mustand, and Bloomsdale Long Standard Spinach. These selected vegetables are beneficial to each other and can be planted together in the same beds.

Raised Bed #1--The Three Sisters Garden

Here is raised bed #1 in my garden plot. After importing three-way garden mix and two batches of compost, my Three Sisters Garden was ready to plant this last weekend. Three mounds of soil were created, and I planted corn, beans and squash in each mound. In a month, all three plant varieties will emerge, and the 'three sisters' will care for and nurture each other through the growing season. They share and exchange the exact nutrients that the other plants need, and the corn shades supports the beans while the beans shade the squash. This is an excellent example of companion planting, and it's also a method that the Indians taught the settlers in the 1800's when they came out west and settled here.

Here are the heirloom varieties I planted.

1) Corn = Country Gentlemen Sweet Corn

2) Bean = Contender

3) Squash = Butternut Rogosa Violina Gioia and Waltham Butternut

"In late spring, we plant the corn and beans and squash. They're not just plants- we call them the three sisters. We plant them together, three kinds of seeds in one hole. They want to be together with each other, just as we Indians want to be together with each other. So long as the three sisters are with us we know we will never starve. The Creator sends them to us each year. We celebrate them now. We thank Him for the gift He gives us today and every day. " --Chief Louis Farmer (Onondaga)

Apple Blossoms

Right before sunset tonight, I caught this picture of a perfect, white apple blossom on one of the orchard's trees. The arborist did a good job caring for and fertilizing all of the apple and cherry trees this year. I hope they yield an exceptional crop this season.

Rhododendron--"Girard's Salmon"

I have a stunning rhodie in my back yard, common in Zone 8 where I live. It's an evergreen, and has lovely green leaves all winter long. It's a member of the broadleaf evergreen family Ericaceae. It's about six feet tall with three feet of spread, and blooms in May here in the Pacific Northwest.

Rhododendrons, Washington's State Flower

My neighborhood is a profusion of all colors of rhodies this time of year. My neighbor has some 30-year-old rhododendrons that he lets grow wild, and they are as tall as trees. They have a perfect environment beneath the cherry and Douglas Fir trees behind my picket fence in the front yard. Over the years, I've enjoyed the bright red and pink bushes that nestle together along the gravel road. Tonight, they reminded me of gardens gone wild, breathtaking in their size and beauty, determined not to yield to any gardener's pruning shears. They live and thrive on their own, with no human intervention.

Blue Bird macropetala Clematis

I have a lovely variety of clematis climbing up my back deck in the spring and summer. It peacefully co-exists with ivy, hostas, and hanging baskets. The vivid blue color catches the eye, and makes a nice backdrop while spending time on the deck. It grows larger each year, and I've enjoyed watching its progress.

Elephant Ears (Colocasia esculenta)

The Elephant Ears plant, known for their big leaf size and shape, grow from tubers which create corms. It is the corm that develops into an above-ground stem when the plant emerges from dormancy. The most widely available species is Colocasia esculenta. This species is an old standard for gardens, but there are numerous new cultivars of Colocasia on the market now, providing different variations in leaf coloration and texture.

Generally Colocasia are grown outside in semi-tropical and tropical areas (in my Zone 8, they survive year round in the ground). In northern states, they can tolerate full sun and thrive in humid weather. Grow them in fertile, humus-rich, moist or wet, slightly acidic soil (my yard is perfect in acidity for these plants). They also need plenty of water.

Here are my emerging Colocasia plants, growing up against my cedar fence in the front yard. They thrive at the base of my little pear tree, and I love their pink flowers this time of year.

First Rhubarb Pies of the Season

My Ruby Red Rhubarb is bursting out of the ground, and I picked half of it last evening for two strawberry-rhubarb pies. The kitchen was filled with the aroma of fruit and baking pastry, and the pies looked so good as they cooled last evening on the sideboard in the kitchen. This is just one of the first creations to come out of my garden this year.

Sunset Under the Cherry Tree

My neighbors Jackie and Roger have the most beautiful ornamental cherry tree I have ever seen. It's in full bloom now, and the white blossoms are very large and dense--it looks like snow covering the tree branches!

I stood under the tree this evening, right before the sun set, and it made a lovely moment, which I've captured here in this picture. I love Spring!

A Fuschia on the Asian Pear Tree

This evening, I hung a new fuschia basket from a branch of the Asian Pear tree in the front yard. It is a great spot for the fuschia, which likes both sun and shade. I hang a basket each year at this spot, and it spreads out over the lovely cement bench under the tree. This corner of the yard is a place where plants and shrubs come together--ornamental cherry, pear, skimmia, hostas, holly, English Ivy, and roses.

Dogs Love Gardens, Too!

Juno the Dog had to come out to see the garden, after being in the house barking for about an hour. She strained on her leash to get down to sniff the overturned dirt and weeds. She paused long enough to pose for this picture, and then took off after the bunnies she knew had been by recently.

The Iris and Rhubarb Patch

Here is the Rhubarb/Iris patch after being weeded. I will pick the rhubarb this week and make a rhubarb/strawberry pie. In a few weeks, the purple and yellow iris will be two feet tall with gorgeous blooms.

Weeding and Tending the Garden

Here's the gardener Jacque weeding the iris patch, which has gotten overgrown with weeds during the last few weeks of rainy weather. He brought garden soil in today for the raised beds, and worked in the last batch of compost that was made in the Composter Wizard Junior.

Tomorrow we will plant our Three Sisters Garden and all of the vegetable seeds from Turtle Creek Farm and Baker Creek Farm.

Companion Planting--Tomatoes and Basil

Today I got my tomato plants in the ground with their new companions, made up of six basil plants. The two species will live together in harmony, enriching the soil with the nutrients that the other needs, and the tomatoes will provide shade for the basil. Each variety will grow larger and more hardy as a result of living together in close proximity.

Here they are planted together in front of the solar woodshed.

Flowering Crabapple Tree--Spring Blooms

The lovely fuschia-colored ornamental crabapple tree blossoms are ready to open in the next week or so. I wait all year for this spectacular display of color and beauty unequal to anything else in my yard.

Kelly's Tulips 2011

My neighbor Kelly's tulips survived our harsh winter this last year, but their numbers are limited. While there were about a dozen tulips last year, only five flowers made it this year. I took this picture this evening, and the yellow and red flowers still make a wonderful picture as you drive into our rural neighborhood.

Tomatoes and Basil--Companion Planting

My tomato patch this year has some new roommates--six basil plants! Basil and tomatoes not only co-exist, but are instrumental to each other, creating a symbiotic relationship. The basil creates nutrients in the soil that the tomatoes need, and the tomatoes provide nutrients and shade for the basil. Each plant will grow larger and more hardy as a result of this partnership.

Bird's Nest

I went to water my English Ivy hanging basket today on the deck, and found a bird's nest built over the top of the basket! I was wondering what was causing the ivy to look brown and dried out. The birds always win out over the flowers, so I got a few drops of water into the plant without bothering the nest and the eggs inside it. I can't wait to see what type of bird built such a large nest in the basket.

Flowers for the Deck

I got around to potting my primroses on the back deck today, and added another fuschia basket to the area. A classmate from my high school days made the wind chime out of old silverware, and it has a mellow and restful tone as it comes together in the breeze. My two white Adirondack chairs are located here, and on spring and summer days, I crank up the canvas umbrella, bring out a cup of Tazo iced tea, and enjoy the view from my perch on the desk.

My Corner of the Yard

I love this corner of the yard, tucked up against the gate into the front yard under the apple tree. The English Ivy has dutifully worked its way up the trunk of the tree, and I love the way it looks, even though it is considered a noxious weed.

I've got my birdbath in the raised bed in the corner, with an old church window propped up against the fence. It's the coolest place to sit on hot summer days, and I like watching the birds fly in and out of the birdhouses in the tree.

The Shed Site is Coming Along!

I stopped by Amish Country Originals today, the store in Clearview where I ordered the new garden shed. The shed is almost completed (it's being built in Ohio), and the salesman told me that as soon as it is put on a truck, he will call me and let me know. He estimated it would be here in two or three weeks. Then he will bring it to my property and install it in one day.

We are almost done preparing the site for the new 8 x 10 foot shed, and this week we will level out the gravel to ensure a proper site for this lovely architectural element in our yard.

Yellow Begonias

I found a beautiful yellow-orange begonia today, and hung the basket on the fence in the pasture. This location has full shade all day long, and my begonias love living on the beautiful fence my neighbor Roger built for us a few years ago. He is a master workworker, and even his fences are works of art.

The yellow begonia joins two red ones in the pasture, and over the next few months, they will double in size and will bring color and beauty to this more remote area of the yard.

Cherry Tree in Bloom

Our arborist did a great job a month ago, caring for our wounded trees, and now the orchard is bursting into lovely blooms. The cherry tree today is in full bloom, the it's the first tree in the orchard to reach this state. Soon we will see the cherries form, and will hope for some hot summer weather to help the trees create an abundant crop this year.

Petunias

Here in Western Washington, a large number of petunias and petunia baskets are sold as 'annuals', flowers that bloom and grow and complete their life cycle in one season. Petunias originate in Southeast Asia, and they are really 'perennials', which mean they bloom over and over, year after year. Their native climate of hot, humid weather makes them thrive.

I love petunias, and I bought two small ones today to stand at the base of the pergola. They are sun-lovers, and over the next weeks and months, they will grow and spread in their containers. They are beautiful all summer long, and I'm glad to know that in their native habitat, they have long, fragrant lives, and not just one season like they have here in Washington.

Hanging Fuschia Baskets

I hung a new fuschia basket from the pergola this afternoon, right next to the stained glass window we bought a few years ago at Ocean Crest Resort on the Washington coast. A wreath made from red willow boughs hangs nearby on the fence. It's really looking like Springtime today, with bright blue skies and fragrant breezes carrying the scents of blossoms and freshly-mown grass.

Lunch in Snohomish

It was a beautiful Spring day today, so I drove to downtown historic Snohomish and had lunch at a restaurant right on the river. The view was spectacular, with the old railroad bridge in the background, and the sun shining on the water. I watched canoes and kayaks float by as I enjoyed my lunch.