Update on previous post

BORAGE AND BLUEBERRIES

Well, I never wrote anything on this post because I ran out of time. So,you might wonder what borage and blueberries have to do with one another.  Well, nothing really.  Except they are both blue.
Borage is actually an herb that will take over your garden if you don't keep pulling out the small plants whenever you see them.  It looks quite similar to a sunflower at this point, so be careful when weeding it.  The way you can tell the difference is that the 3rd leaf that grows on borage is sort of fuzzy and the sunflower's 3rd leaf isn't.  The benefits of borage are the beautiful star like blossoms that appear on the mature plant.  They are edible and make quite an impression on dinner guests when served atop a nice green salad.

Another benefit is that borage acts like a bug repellent in your garden.  This is one plant that you want in your garden if you are an organic gardener.

Isn't this beautiful? 

This image of blueberries bushes doesn't do justice to the beauty they possess, but I  felt I needed to include it because picking and freezing them and making jam from them was a big part of my summer.

SHARING TIME IN THE GARDEN

MORE THAN VEGGIES

Flowers have brought such joy to my life, I decided that they deserved their own post.  Here is just a smattering of some I have grown (or cut from the woods) over the years.  Enjoy!

Cosmos are a delight.  They are so fragile, but so so vivid in color.

Another "Jack-in the Beanstalk."  It's actually a Runner Bean plant that hubby trained to go up a very tall pole.  

Lavender, my favorite.  I haven't always had success with it, but finally have a plant  that has made it through a few winters.

We've had some extremely tall sunflowers.

Gotta have zinnias!

Passion flower that our daughter gave her dad.  Unfortunately it only made it one year.

Violas come up wherever they want every summer.  They are like Johnny-jump-ups, but larger.

They previous owners of our house must have thinned out their daffodils and thrown the bulbs in the woods behind our house because every spring there is a huge patch of them out back.  I have to walk through some pickers to get to them, but it's worth it.

Assorted weeds from our property.  The awesome pitcher was a wedding gift given by a friend and made by a local potter,  Virginia Sheret.

Lilacs from the neighbor's.

Day Lilies

Chives

ENJOYING PAST HARVESTS

        BEARS, BIRDS & BUGS

I made an interesting and helpful discovery this summer.  Many of you have heard my story about the bear that I spotted in our back yard.  The first time he was seen, he had destroyed  our bird feeder right outside the kitchen window.  He was ready to do in the hanging feeder outside the other kitchen window when the dog saw him and started barking.  When I saw him, he was lumbering away past the sandbox.The damage he left behind made me realize that I couldn't put bird feed out for a while.  I found this very upsetting because the birds outside the window by the sink help me to enjoy washing dishes. Just when I thought that it was safe to put some food out, he was back.  This time he was right outside the window by the kitchen table staring in at me!   Now I was really spooked.  Not only did I decide to forgo bird feeding for the rest of the summer, I wondered if I would ever feel safe in our backyard again, not to mention the woods below our house.  Well, after a few weeks I got over it, but I still find myself looking over my shoulder when outside.

What does this have to do with a discovery?   Well, because I wan't feeding the birds, I decided to make a bird bath for them in the garden and they love it!  So there is a ton of birds in our garden and I believe they are eating the pesty bugs that destroyed some of  our crop last year.  So thank you Mister Bear, you have helped this organic gardener in unexpected way.

Here are some birds that have been in our back yard over the years:

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An Eastern Blue Bird

                                                             An American Goldfinch

                                                              A Mourning Dove

A Red-Tailed Hawk

A Hummingbird

    

MORE LOOKING BACK

For the last several years I have picked rhubarb from the neighbor's back yard at the edge of the woods.  This has been a HUGE blessing!  She has given me permission to dig some up and plant on our property.  I really need to do this because she is 89 years old and I'm not sure how much longer she will be in her house.  (Even though she is in extremely good shape.  She still shovels, weeds, and I've even seen her cutting wood a few years back!)   I think that must be some wild phlox in the basket with the rhubarb.

Another neighbor (who passed away a few years ago)  let me pick her hydrangea.  They are so beautiful, dry nicely, and stay that way for many years.  I love them!

Early Spring 2011- tilling is done!  Old telephone poles are in place. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that it might not be a good idea to expose the soil to any residual creosote that might be on the old poles.  Hubby agreed after some convincing.  I felt much better to get them out of there.

Since we decided to eliminate borders all together, we were able to vary the size of the plots.

The fence is up!  Hubby built a four foot fence with a strand of wire going around the top in order to keep the deer (and other critters) out.  Looking back over these photos makes me really think about how hard he worked.  He's awesome!

First crop July of 2012.  We harvested quite a bit that first summer.  Praise God!

Winter 2012-Good morning, garden

High tunnel was added in 2012

day 2 continued

BERRIES

Today I went blueberry picking with my berry picking friend, Shelley.  We were rained out, but luckily I was able to pick almost 10 lbs.  before the storm rolled in.

LOOKING BACK-  Getting started



Husband's labor of love:

A whole lot of planning went into this adventure!  This was an initial drawing that evolved into something totally different.  We both wanted to experiment with a designed based on a portager (French for kitchen garden)

 which is basically the use of plots instead of rows and includes herbs, vegetables, and edible flowers.

The tilling began the spring of 2009, I think.  It took many hours of labor on my hubby's part, but we both think it was worth it.  It's hard to believe that our back yard was ever this bare.  Boy, has it changed!

day 1 of a blogging adventure

A BLOGGING ADVENTURE

I am creating this blog to hopefully document and share my experiences of growing, gathering and storing the healthiest food that I can get my hands on.  I am not an expert by any means, but I do enjoy learning more about those things for which I have a passion.  And gardening and foraging are two things which definitely get me in my zone!   Thanks for coming along this journey with me.
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These may look like huge zucchini, but they are actually loofahs!  We purchased the seeds in Savannah, GA.  They were one of the first things that we planted (in an existing flower bed) and harvested at our present house about ten years ago.  Unfortunately we had to pick them before they were fully ripe and the insides never dried out properly.   The growing season isn't really long enough for them in our area.  Maybe we can try again by starting them in our high tunnel.  It was interesting to watch them grow.  They reminded me of Jack and the Beanstalk!