Garden Friday

 

watermelon lemonade

 

Welcome to Garden Friday,

where we share what's growing on in our

Zone 7b Piedmont garden.

Summer has arrived and it's the perfect weather 

for this tasty treat.

You can find the recipe here,

although I now sweeten with honey instead of sugar .

 

 

The garlic that had been cured over the last two weeks

has been braided or placed in a net bag

for all of our culinary needs.

Feels good to have a year's worth of it on hand.

The green beans are starting to strut their stuff.

This is a summer staple on the supper table,

and beans will grow throughout the summer,

as long as they are continuously harvested.

We also have drying beans growing,

so that they can be dried for use all through the year.

Rice and beans, soups, and bean burgers

are some of the different dishes in which they are used.

 

 

 

 It looks like the corn will indeed be knee high

by the Fourth of July,

so something is going right!

Time will tell if the squirrels beat us to it!

 

Next to the corn grow pinto beans,

which are making their way up

the bamboo poles.

Bamboo is one of the most versatile tools

in the garden, and its strength

makes it optimal for trellising and staking.

 

 

The elderberry is blooming,

which is a first for us.

This plant has been on the property for 

a couple of years, but we haven't gotten berries yet.

Maybe the surrounding trees being trimmed aided this along,

by providing more sunlight. 

 

 

We have tithonia blooming,

which is one of my summertime favorites.

This plant is a prolific bloomer and will 

bless you with flowers well past summer.

 

rudebekia blossom

 

The pollinator bed where the old garden was located,

is exploding with blooms, 

including these beautiful Shasta daisies.

We also have marigolds, nasturtiums, rudebekia, 

sunflowers, and zinnias planted there.

I'll take another photo in a few weeks

when everything is in bloom.

cactus zinnia

nasturtiums

 

I've never before seen the Japanese beetle damage

on zinnias, but they are eating them this year.

It seems they are getting less fussy about what they munch.

Fortunately for us, we have chooks that enjoying

the beetles as a daily treat!

 

 

Apparently, someone didn't care for my pest management

technique.  I used insect netting to cover the strawberry bed.

Except for 1 or 2 berries, this gardener has been robbed!

They managed to find a way in to the goodies.

 

 

This critter was on our cannas.

Not sure if it is friend or foe,

so I left it alone.

I tend to let Mother Nature battle these things out.

 

 

Can you ever get enough of sunflowers?

 

 

 Most of these are the Mammoth variety.

Our summer garden just wouldn't be the same

without them.

 

 

The dust bath/chill area was recently expanded

for the chooks and are they loving it!

It's rare to see them all together like this 

in one big free for all!

Welcome to July!

 

"Roll out those lazy, hazy

crazy days of summer."

~Sam Cooke