The Year of the Tomato

When I sowed my tomato seeds back in March, I never thought that this is what I would end up with:

Do I  need to mention that we have had quite a crop this year?  Obviously, tomatoes have been on our plates often in the last weeks. They are also seen frequently (on said plates) in my Instagram feed.

Bruschetta, Caprese, sliced tomatoes with cream cheese on whole wheat bread, and Texas Caviar (recipe via Jules) are some of the things we have been having in the last few weeks.   I know the garden tomato season will come to end soon, but for now I will it enjoy every single day.

Back in the Garden

This year I am going to expand my kitchen garden to include some more vegetables.  Since we moved into our house three years ago, we have had one or two tomato plants each summer.  Mostly we have lots of kitchen herbs (thyme, oregano, dill, sorrel, savory, etc.) and some fruit (raspberries, grapes and strawberries).

We purposefully left this little corner (to the right) of the garden empty because we plan on putting some kind of water feature there eventually.  In the meantime, it was a good place for Sam's kiddie pool or for him to dig around in.   This year we are going to use it to add some square footage for the additional tomatoes, peppers, etc.

I wasn't going to say anything but looking at the picture I really must.  Our property ends with the fence and the grey border stone.  Everything behind it is our neighbor's property, which they have elected to use as their junk depot.  It drives me crazy!  Last year I was having a conversation with her and she said, "I just love sitting on my patio and look into your garden."  I am thinking, "I wish I could say the same."  Hopefully this will be the year they finish up their yard.

I spent some time in the seed aisle last week and settled on three types of tomatoes, one hot pepper, and a mix of carrots.  I also still have some salad, radish and bean seeds from last year.  I tried my hand at salad last year and the snails really loved it.  This year I will plant it in pots and hope that the snails don't find it.

Sam and I planted the tomato and pepper seeds in seedling pots and by mid-May they should be safe to plant in the ground.  I just hope that these seedlings do better than the strawberries I tried growing last year.  We are going to plant the remaining seeds directly into the ground or in the case of the salad in pots. 

I have a total soft spot for violas and just couldn't walk by them at the garden center on Wednesday. 

Have a great weekend!

September Garden

Here we are in September, the month that brings autumn.

Looking at the garden  I can see the first signs of the changing season, but I think there is still some summer left. 

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This time of year is actually my favorite, with the crisp mornings followed by warm afternoons and most the green in the garden looking, well still green.

Open Garden

Last year a friend and I visited several gardens in my area that were participating in an open garden day or Die Offene Gartenpforte for Hessen (the German state or Bundesland that I live in).  We decided to start at the one located in a small town near us.  Thinking back about it, we should have never left and here is why.

 

 

This private garden also has a wonderful store attached to it, Feldmann Haus und Garten (unfortunately they do not have a website), that sells garden/ home accessories and furniture from companies like Lambert and Gervasoni.  They are open every week on Thursday and Friday. The best part is that garden is also open to the public on the days the store is.  Needless to say that I have spent a few hours there since my first visit. 

Address:

Bergstr. 70
64319 Pfungstadt.

Both the store and the garden are so worth a visit.

Summer is Back

Well, that might be a little overstated.   The title of this post should probably read  "The Sun is Back", because the despite mostly sunny skies we only had a high of about 21º C or 71º F today.  I guess after days of rain it doesn't take much to get that feeling of Summer.

My tomatoes don't seem to care about the weather though.   For the past few years they hadn't really done all that well, so this year I only planted two plants:  a San Marzano and a cherry tomato. Had I only known, I would have planted more.

Figures.  But I really shouldn't complain.  Instead I will make a simple tomato sauce and enjoy it this evening with my two guys.

Happy Monday everyone!

Lavender

I love lavender and a walk through my garden should give you an idea just how much.

It bloomed pretty early this year as can be seen in this post from May and gave me a wonderfully long and fragrant season. 

I took this photo about two weeks ago and you can see that the blossoms were already a bit past their prime.  The bees where still all over it, so I decided to keep it around a bit longer.  This weekend it was time to trim it though (thanks Honey).

This year I couldn't bear to just through it out, so I decided to make lavender oil.  As you can see I was optimistic in this picture. See the three empty jars.  After a perceived eternity I plucked enough flowers to fill one jar and topped it off with extra virgin olive oil.

I have placed the jar by a north facing window and will try to wait two weeks I have been told it takes for the oil to be infused.   The remaining lavender is stored in a large plastic bag with the idea to fill another jar for oil or to make some sachets.  Note to anyone interested: plucking lavender is highly tedious, but relaxing. :)

Strawberry update

Several weeks ago I posted about the strawberries that I received as a gift from Marie.  I am absolutely thrilled about how well they are doing and wanted to share some pictures of their progress.

Here they are making nice green leaves.

 

And here they are making nice runners.

Here they are making flowers....

And here they are making fruit.  YES!  I just know that these will be the best strawberries ever.  They are from Brooklyn.

Strawberries

Way back in March I planted some strawberry seeds in an attempt to prolong the strawberry season.  We are surrounded by fields of them here and I am always really sad when the season is over.  I bought seeds of the everbearing variety Florian F1 and sowed them.

 A few weeks later they sprouted and I could already taste them.

This is what they look like now.  No, I did not accidentally post an old picture.  For some reason they did not make it and I am back to square one.  It really shouldn't matter because now I have these (incidentally they are doing great and I will post about them again soon) from Marie, but it is a matter of pride for me now.  Florian wants to play hard, I can do that.

Peonies, Lavender and Roses

Today I thought I would share some pictures of the flowers that are blooming in my garden at the moment.

 

Peonies are among my favorite flowers. What is not to love?  I dug up these from my Grandmother's garden last year before the house was sold.  I am amazed that they are flowering at all because they usually don't take well to being moved and take a few years to really perform again.  Apparently somebody forgot to tell them.

Lavender is another favorite.   This particular variety is Munstead and great to use for edging as it is low growing.  I have seen lots of bumbles bees so far, but not nearly as many bees and that worries me.  Have you noticed a decrease in the bee population in your part of the world?

David Austin "Eglantyne"

David Austin "Alnwick Rose"

"Leonardo da Vinci"

"Eden Rose 85" is my favorite rose for many reasons.  The shape, color and scent are all lovely and it makes a beautiful cutting flower.  The main reason is that this particular rose grew in my grandmother's garden.  She had it for many years and so I grew one from a cutting I took from it.  Last year it was still in a pot and this spring I planted it in the ground.

More of Less

Or should I say "More of Late"?  Not too long after I committed to organizing our storage shed and hit the "Publish Post" I seriously regretted it.  That moment came after I went back in to take stock of stare at the mess.  Honestly, I spent the rest of the week avoiding the project.  Seemed like a good week to clean the windows to me.  However, yesterday blogger guilt got the better of me and I got started.

Like I said, I got started.  In my eyes the space has a long way to go.    There is still a lot of stuff in there that we really don't need:  a folding wheelbarrow (no idea why I thought we needed it), planters from our apartment that we haven't used since, a bent up pitchfork etc.   You might have noticed it already, but in case you haven't I forgot to put Sam's bike and Kettcar back in before I took the pictures.  I didn't realize it until I got back inside and downloaded the pictures.  Thought it looked to good to be true.

Unfortunately we still have this stuff.

 

Have I mentioned before that Hot Wheels toys are ugly and that at times I don't care for my brother?  Consider it said.

We need to re-work how/where the garden tools are hung and the placement of some of the miscellaneous stuff on the shelves.  One day I plan on getting matching storage containers. Maybe I will do an accent wall. :)

In the Garden

During the last few weeks I have spent quite a bit of time in the garden.  Partly because the weather has  had been unseasonably warm and we have had no rain, but mostly because I will procrastinate any task to get spend time in it. 

Last week I stopped by my favorite nursery (you know,  just to have a look) and came back with this little box of plants:  two hosta "Gold Edger", two white creeping thyme and a pachysandra.  Hosta are among my favorite plants and I always find it hard to resist when I see a new variety.

Since I have been spending so much of my time in the garden,  I am planning to post about it more.  It is not big, especially by American standard, but I can spend hours in it.  Might have something to do with me constantly re-arranging my plantings or may be I do that to spend more time in it. :)

A Gift

A few weeks ago I received a package in the mail from Marie.  I have been following her very lovely blog, 66 Square Feet,  for about a year.  It's about gardening on her terrace and roof, travel and living well. She also writes on food and cooking here  and is the kibble sponsor for the Cat.

In several of her posts she'd written about her Fern strawberries (an everbearing variety) and I started searching for them with no luck.  I mentioned it to her in one of her posts and she offered to send me some of her offspring.  It was such a lovely gesture and I more than eagerly accepted.  So, she packed them up and they arrived here a few days later.

I am really amazed how well they took to their transatlantic flight.  I just soaked them in water for a few hours, clipped the yellow leaves, planted them in organic soil and kept them out of direct sun for the first few days.  The current planters are temporary and I haven't decided yet if they are going in the ground or in a new planter.  They produce runners and I am already fighting the raspberries.  I can't even begin to tell you how anxiously I am awaiting the first blossoms and the fruit that will follow.  I will keep you up to date on their progress.

Thanks again Marie.

Vacation Flowers

Hi everyone!  A day late and not with the topic that I intended, but here I am.  I was going to start up with a More of Less post yesterday, but I will have to put that off by another week.  My dad is in the hospital and so my mind had been a little all over the place.  I did, however, want to quickly share with you some of the pictures that I took while on vacation.

We spent 10 relaxing and much needed days in Safaga, Egypt located by the Red Sea and about 570 km from Cairo.  During our stay I took pictures of the flowers located on the grounds of the resort.  A feeble few I was able to identify, but I have no idea what the names of the remaining are.  Maybe some of you can identify some of the other plants or can correct what I have identified incorrectly?

Hibiscus

Bougainvillea

Calendula?

Lantana

I have quite a few post topics floating around in my mind and I will have to see how I will squeeze it in.  It is odd how in such a short time this little blog have become so important to me and it really is a good outlet.  Somehow therapeutic even.

Have a great day everyone.