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Highs and Lows in the Garden...
August 26, 2010. 
It happens every year. Just when the gardens start to look like they want to shut down for the season I’m rewarded with an amazing encore. Joe Pye weed, sanguisorba and helianthus, propped up by huge clumps of ornamental grasses and sedum, are now reaching for the sky! As long as I garden, I will never be without English daisies and hardy geranium, Rosanne.
Along the walkway dainty English daisies soften the edges and snuggle up and around clumps of lavender; bronze carex looks downright romantic in the early morning light and hardy geranium, Roseann is winding its way along the grassy edge up and through viburnum, boxwood and Echinacea. Eventually I will prune the geraniums but for the most part, I won’t touch the garden until spring. There will be plenty of seed heads for our feathered friends.
The Kitchen garden has gone to seed. A mere shadow of its former life, I’ve had fun showing my grandsons what happens when lettuce and carrots go to seed and how easy it is to collect poppy seeds.
But mostly I want them to learn the value of seed saving so if they choose to garden in the future, they won’t have to rely every year on big corporate seed companies. I’d like them to know the difference between genetically modified seeds and open pollinated seed.
The fall harvest has captivated the boys too! Hunting for cucumbers, strawberries, apples or hiding in the cabbage patch keeps them going nonstop when they come to visit.
What a glorious season! Whatever we don’t have in the garden we are able to purchase at the local farmers market. Thank you everyone who participates at Farmers Markets!! Blueberries and peaches are the latest celebrities. Here’s my recipe for Strawberry Peach Simple Syrup:
2 cups strawberries, 2 peaches, 2 cups water, 1 ½ cups sugar, 1/8 cup lemon juice. Mash strawberries and peaches in a heavy saucepan. Add water and sugar. Boil until sugar melts. Add lemon juice and stir. (Optional: For added depth I add a few sprigs of tarragon flowers heads.) Strain through cheesecloth into jars.
Add to tea or club soda for a refreshing drink. Wonderful as a topping for waffles, pancakes, drizzled over cake and ice cream or, or, or….
The Scent of a Garden...
August 02, 2010. 
A rainy day is the perfect time for a walk in the garden but we haven’t had any rain for the month of July so for now I will be content with the early morning sound of the sprinkler on the herb gardens. The scent is heavenly. The dampness of the earth blends so perfectly with the fragrant leaves of lavender, marjoram, oregano, dill, savory and parsley. A soft breeze adds the sweetness of the lily and Echinacea. Mother Nature is a master blender. If only I could capture this in a bottle!
The lettuce has bolted to weird looking spires, lavender needs to be pruned into tidy mounds and the cilantro is morphing into coriander seed. Bees buzz from flower to flower in a drunken stupor. I love the casual attitude of the ornamental grasses and Echinacea. I won’t be in a hurry to clean up.
Summertime...finally!
July 08, 2010. 
No algae in the pond! After two days of harvesting with sis and bro-in-law, Arleigh is now ready to install the fountain. The compost pile is benefiting and we are crossing our fingers that extra aeration will keep the algae gone, gone, gone!
Summertime brings lots of visitors. The other day Bambi’s mom came by. She doesn’t come so often that she’s a nuisance so it’s a bit of a novelty to put up with her.
The cedar wax wings are back in full force. They watched over the clean up, darting from tree to tree and dipping in the pond for refreshments.
Yesterday I walked by our orphan ducks and big sister gave me a lame quack to let me know she was still taking care of her siblings (mother duck was breakfast for a marauding coyote when they were quite young) but this morning they all gather on shore for the photo op!
The Oriental lilies are blooming now. The gals from Botanus have supplied us with hundreds of amazing lilies, tulips, daffodils, scilla to name a few and we are looking forward to seeing the results of a recent bulb-planting marathon! That’s what so captivating about gardening….always something to look forward to!
Last week the neighbor had a bus load of kids visiting. The squealing and screeching started about 7 am. Did I mind? Never!! From what I could see from here, they played skip rope, basketball, and hockey, had numerous water fights and were taken on gator rides singing at the top of their lungs. They were in continuous motion! On several occasions there was silence for a short time and I assumed it was when they were eating. Now that’s summer!
