Weddings and Anniversaries

Last weekend in our presidential life we had a big weekend.  We celebrated my in laws 40th anniversary and the wedding of one of my good friends!  It was a fun filled weekend filled with family and friends.  I meant to take pictures of the food my sister-in-law and I made, especially the food from the garden.  But alas when you are throwing a party you tend to forget to take pictures but to tend to guests.  Congrats to both happy couples!

Tomato Frustration

Lately I have been frustrated with my tomato plants.  This one being a major culprit of my frustration.  This huge and healthy looking plant is an Early Girl variety.  However she is definitely not early.  There is no fruit to be found!  All of the blossoms are dying and dropping off.  All of my other plants have set fruit so I am not sure why this is happening.  Maybe my less than regular watering habits is causing the problem, but whatever the reason I still don't like it.

My second reason for being frustrated is that I do not have any ripe fruit from my full size tomatoes.  I have had cherry tomatoes for a long time but have been staring at huge green tomatoes for weeks.  This time last year we were swimming in tomatoes so again I am not quite sure what the reason is.  But at least they have started to ripen and will be ready very soon!

Other Uses of Coleus

Coleus!

Over the past year I have developed a love affair with coleus.  Sure it starts out small but soon it grows into an abundance of leafy color that does well in sun or shade.  No deadheading flowers needed for this friend.  This beauty holds its color all season from deep black/purples, burnt oranges, a spectrum of greens, white, and even pink.

In one of the local communities they have used coleus in lieu of flowers.  Here you see three different colors of coleus flanking King Tut grass.  Magnificent!

Farmers Market Meal

This meal was made of 90% Farmers Market Finds. I have to say since we have switched to grass fed beef from the farmers market our burgers have never tasted so good! The pesto was made using our garlic and basil. The garlic in our garden wasn't quite ready but I only needed a little bit and did not want to run out to the store for something that was in my garden.

Failing

My zucchini this year has been failing big time.  Last year we only got 1 big zucchini.  This year I was determined to do better.  However I have yet to get 1 zucchini and all of our different squash plants have a powdery mildew.  The summer squash is still producing despite the mildew but not the zucchini.  I have been cutting the foliage off that won't rebound from the mildew.  I have found one organic spray that seems to have been helping a little bit.  The plant has been flowering but I am afraid that this plant is a goner.  I read that squashes could be caged to reduce needed space I'm not sure if this has had an effect on the mildew.

1 Year Anniversary!

Last weekend was our 1 year anniversary and one of the ways we celebrated the day was by going to a local farm and picking blueberries and blackberries.  The blackberries are some of the best I have ever tasted, no tart or bitter berries here.  The blackberries went fast but the blueberries were plentiful, we ended up with about 8 lbs.  I have been debating back and forth but have finally decided to enter the world of canning.  So my first venture into canning is going to be with blueberry jam.

First Squash

We finally got our first squash!  I also needed to thin the carrots some more and got a few of decent size out of it.

Poor Tree

We have some type of maple tree in our front yard. I love this tree because in the fall it turns vibrant colors and in the winter it has red branches from the new growth. This young tree in the past has taken a beating from deer and we have used tree paint to protect the trunk afterwards. This weekend we realized it has taken another beating. Something has taken some real chunks out of the trunk and the top half of the tree snapped off. We are hoping the tree recovers and if so some real precautions will need to be taken for the future.

Farmers Market Finds

I enjoy finding produce at the Farmers Market that you can't get at the supermarket .  Here are more types and shapes of squash and Dragon's Tongue purple and green beans.

I also found fresh currants awhile back.  I have had dried currants but never fresh.  They are quite tart but still good!  The currants are keeping well in the fridge while I figure out what to do with them.

One More Argument

Today on the Martha Stewart show I watched a clip about the Rodale Institute and the beginning of the idea of organic farming.  It is just another argument for organic gardening and why we need to change our farming methods.

Watch It! Click here then click on the icon watch clip.  To learn more you can also visit www.rodaleinstitute.org.

Hydrangea

Last year I bought a Color Fantasy shade hydrangea that was a beautiful purpley magenta.  When I bought the plant it had a couple of gorgeous jewel colored mop heads.  I was told not to prune it at all since it sets it's flowers in the fall on old wood.  If pruning you need to do so as soon as the current blooms are starting to fade otherwise you run the risk of cutting off next year's blooms.  I also wanted the plant to get bigger so no pruning took place.  This year I was a bit disappointed by the plant.  Only one bloom appeared and it lost some of it's purple color.  I don't want to make it blue so I'm not sure if adding amendments to make the soil more acidic is the answer.  The bloom was still beautiful, I just hope next year I get many more.

Virgils

A couple of weekends ago after the Newport Garden Walk we went out to lunch at a place in Bellevue, KY that one of the home owner's recommended.  The restaurant is called Virgils and makes delicious food that is French New Orleans inspired.  It was a cute boutique cafe.  The decor was warm and inviting, draped fabrics, and original artwork.  I ordered a Croque Madame with sweet potato fries.  I have always wanted to have one of these quientessential French sandwhiches but I have never seen one on a menu.  All I have to say is it was a piece of heaven on a plate.  I definitely plan on going back soon!

After lunch we went next door to a cute little store, Adaptique.  This store was a mixture of antiques and new pieces that were made to look antique.  The stop rounded out a perfect Saturday in the summer.

Herbs

Our tomatoes, squash, and eggplants aren't quite ready for harvest but we have plenty of herbs!

Not Looking Good

These are my onions (white and red) and they are not looking good.  I have never grown onions before but I know they shouldn't look like this and I am not sure what went wrong.  I planted them according to the package directions.  In the beginning the leaves were growing upward but now they are just laying all over the ground.  Some of the onion tops are starting to pop up at the soil level and I'm not sure if I should cover them.

1st Place

I hope you had a wonderful July 4th holiday weekend.  We did!  It was busy with hosting family, a friend's wedding and the most exciting Andy winning the Madeira Mile.  This has been his illusive hometown race that he has been running for over 10 years.  He has gotten 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and almost every other finishing place except first until this year!

Baby Eggplant

We have had blossoms on our eggplant plant for awhile but we finally have eggplants growing.  I am very excited because I have never grown eggplants before!

Newport Garden Walk 4

Garden 7

More mirrors in a garden.  I like the way it reflects plants and makes the yard seem larger. 

Below I like how the gardener added shutters and painted the back of their garage to make it seem like the garden was against a cottage not a garage.

After seeing lots of different patios I am really enjoying rustic natural stone patios that leave a little room for ground covers to grow in between the stones.  Something about this look that screams warm, cheerful garden to me.

Garden 8

This Garden was themed around the Red's 1975 World Series Winning Team.  So obviously all color is read and white.  It was a cute yard and they pulled the theme off well.

This guy handed you a ticket as you entered the "ball field" or as we like to call it, backyard.

The patio table was decorated with a centerpiece made to look like a baseball with red stitching.  The place mats were made from turf from the old stadium and the grass in the cups is actual grass from the stadium too.  I'm not sure how that works to have turf and real grass also, but that's what they told us.

Yep those are seats from the old stadium.

Garden 9

This was a beautiful terrace garden.  I really enjoyed the pink hydrangeas and all the beautifully matched pairings in the containers.