With all the rain AND sunshine here in Upstate NY, my flowers and herbs have taken off.
Let me give you a sampling of how things have grown since the last entry in my #gardenjournal .
The top two pictures are of the wild sunflowers I planted last year. What started as just a hunk of roots given to me from my cousin, who has such a green thumb, this perennial wild flower has shot up quite nicely from just a month ago. It won't bloom until August, but when it does, wow, bright yellow sunflowers will dazzle you.
Those two pictures below are marigolds started from seeds outdoors, germination took about 5 days, the seedlings looked strong from the get go and have grown substantially over a 30 day period. They are already producing buds, should have some color soon.
Here on our #homestead, we make pickles from our kirby cukes and pickles always require a good amount of fresh dill. Here you see some nice growth from a little over a month ago. Dill can be tricky to grow, as it is a very delicate herb that we have found must be germinated in our window box, then teased along under the grow lights before it can be transplanted outside.
The dill on the right side has grown dramatically, notice the yellow flowers? They will produce the dill seed I also use in our pickle brine.
Salad anyone?
All it took was a month to grow this leafy lettuce, it's time to start harvesting and enjoying some nice big salads for lunch or dinner, heck, there's enough crispy leaves here to have it for both.
This is where the magic happens. Most of my herbs are grown in pots, they sit in the sunshine just outside my kitchen door. From now until the cold weather hits our mountain, I will be clipping the goodness off my plants to add to all kinds of recipes. Then as the weather starts changing in the fall, I will strip the herb plants and dehydrate much of the herbs. Or, as is the case with sweet basil, I will make pesto and freeze it. I love having a good amount of pesto on hand, really adds a lot of pizazz to soups, stews, sauces and of course, grilled panini sandwiches.
The last thing I want to leave you with is just a show off of my new roses. These were just planted about six weeks ago. This is a double bloom red rose bush. They will remain in these big pots until the fall, then they will be transplanted into the new garden, not yet built, but I have been promised by @thebigsweed it will get done. If per chance it doesn't get done, we will bury the whole pot in the compose and leaf pile, cover with hay and hope they make it through the winter. I have had success before with potted rose bushes.
Go ahead, take time to smell the roses.
This my entry for July #Gardenjournal #challenge.
I would like to invite @goldenoakfarm, @plantstoplanks and @pandamama to join this challenge @naturalmedicine.
If I get out to the garden tomorrow, I'll post something....
You really should post, just once a month in #gardenjournal, you pretty much have done it all along.
Your gardens are so awesome, with such variety, beautifully kept.
Can't wait to see your wild sunflowers in bloom. We have what is called Mexican sunflower which grows wild.
Dill self-seeds and grows wherever it likes in my garden and I don't mind it at all.
Interesting that you would hide your rose in the compost leaf pile to protect it from the cold. Hope it does well.
Good morning and thank you for your nice comment. I will most definitely post some pictures when that wild one blooms, it was beautiful last year.
I love dill, a much under-rated herb, I like putting the seeds in bread, too. Sometimes, I'm torn between dill, caraway and fennel seeds. I guess I could put them all in 😁.
The roses look gorgeous! I have really appreciated the abundance of roses where I live, they've been so uplifting to see every day in everyone's gardens. I'm planning some climbers for the fence at the back of my vegetable garden next year.
Well hello. Dill, dill and more dill, love it in so many dishes, great on fish.
Glad you enjoyed the roses, yes go for climbers, I was thinking of getting those for next year also. I have many different types of roses but not a one that climbs, they can be so awesome when trellised.
Have a wonderful day!
Oh man I love caraway seeds! My german nana used to make roast potato with caraway and it reminds me of her. OR caraway seed cream cheese - or in rye bread. YUM. I tried planting them this year but they didn't take.
A promise is a promise. I've yet to break a promise that I made to you over the past 51 years, no sense starting to go back on my WORD now.
If it weren't for the overhaul on Ryan's Recroom, the new garden would be taking shape already.
By next week we should be able to get started.
The first thing we'll be doing together is milling some of those Black Locust Bolts.
The last time we milled together it was rather cold, as you can see, you're pretty bundled up.
This time around, it should be a lot warmer, I would expect that you will also dress appropriately for the hot weather! 🤞👍😁😍
You're the prettiest sawyer I've ever seen.
You guys are too cute.
Not even a ten foot pole will coax me in to responding to that one.
What a great selection of plants in your garden @farm-mom, can't wait to see how the marigolds are doing next month!!
Hi there, thank you for checking my post. Sorry it took so long to get back to you, busy times on our farm.
So, you liked my garden, nice of you to say. Growing just about anything is fun for me, but it's the herbs and flowers that give me real peace. I go out most mornings just to pinch some basil or mint, roll it in my hands then sniff, I call it nature's perfume. I sniff my roses daily too.
Anyway, this is my first marigold bloom.
As you can see here, there a lot more buds ready to bloom.
But don't sniff marigolds, they stink.😊
Look at all that beauty! It really is amazing how a month, or even just a week or days can make such a huge difference. Love to see how things are coming along up there. Dill, ughh, it really is fickle. I adore the herb, but mine this year fizzled out quite quickly. I think we have some more seeds so I may plant some more in a shaded spot to give it another go. We have some going to seed, but as the cukes are really coming in--I would love plenty for pickles, too!
Thanks for the tag and the reminder as I just got my latest post up, too. :) Happy July!
Sorry this took so long...Good morning. It is amazing how quickly everything took off this year. Some of my herbs are so bountiful, I may start processing them much sooner than is usual here. I am NOT complaining, my stash from last year is dwindling fast.
Happy July to you also. We are having my daughter's bridal shower on the 17th, so excited for her. Really looking forward to seeing lots of family and friends. We invited families, not just the women and we are having it at a beautiful park with a lake. Can't wait.
Have a great weekend! As ALWAYS, nice to hear from you.
Oh how exciting for the shower! What a great occasion to bring everyone together. I always like the co-ed showers, myself. Especially when you can get the family together after such a crazy year and a half. I hope it is a wonderful time!
Oh, you and @thebigsweed are such amazing project people. I love to see updates from your place. Looks like all your herbs are growing well. I'm a huge fan of basil too - so good to freeze pesto as it does add that green freshness to winter foods! I still have tulsi growing in the greenhouse and it's midwinter here - I might try to extend the basil growing season next year as it just makes me swoon with the smell.
Made you a couple of footers - you can choose which one you'd like for your next garden post!
So I can just add this to my blog?
Then I say it's from @riverflows?