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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Summer Garden, Flowers and Food!

Thanks to Blotanical, I now have 40 followers to Tiny Green Cottage. Thank you so much everyone! What started out as a way to track my goings-on in the yard has turned into a fun hobby to share with others. I want you to know that I read each and every one of the comments I receive and truly appreciate all of them!


 This time of year is always fun because of how rapidly the garden changes.

I bought this Purple Passion Flower (Passiflora x belotii) the other day at the PSU Farmers Market (in one of the stranger business transactions I've had, I might say) and it bloomed for the first time this morning! I've had debatable luck with Passion Vines in the past, but this doesn't stop me from purchasing a new plant every now and then.

Once upon a time, we had a Blue Passion Flower (Passiflora Caerulea) crowning the entrance of the front door. After three years of growing it was quite magnificent until a wood-boring insect found its way into the stem and effectively killed it. Later, The Husband built a metal trellis featuring Passion Flowers as a sort of homage to its  memory. Besides being a beautiful addition to any Cottage Garden, I like to save the petals and stems for a tea which like Chamomile, is thought to induce a restful sleep.


More Lettuce Leaf Poppies blooming. I don't remember buying this Lilac-tinged variety, but it is quite lovely, don't you think?


Our first Calendula blossom! Planted these in succession with the Nasturtiums around the periphery of the main beds. I save the petals for tea, eating (see below) and beauty products.


Harvested this enormous 'Purple Globe' Turnip last night and the cats refused to enthusiastically participate in my size comparison until I gave them some Catnip.


You can tell Biscuit is doing his best to resist the powers of the Nip...


But Siouxsie was less fortunate and was downed immediately. At only six pounds, she is more susceptible to its powers!

Victory!


Speaking of purple produce; I also harvested these 'Purple Plum' Radishes for a salad. Aren't they lovely? I found the seeds from Uprising Seeds based in Bellingham, Washington.


I paired the Radish with some Garlic Chives, Nasturtiums, Snap Peas, Hollyhock and Calendula Petals, hearts of Romaine and Green Onion, and made a fabulous salad from our Potager.



It went wonderfully with our Vegetarian Lasagna which featured garden-fresh Spinach and Broccoli!


Speaking of Garden Produce, the wet weather has wreaked havoc on our Watermelon, Pumpkin and Cantaloupe starts..I am very distressed. I'll have to purchase new ones as soon as possible, since there isn't much time to start from seed. I think Portland Nursery will come to my rescue later this month!

As an aside: after dinner I was soaking my feet in a relaxing herbal bath (equal parts Hops, Rosemary, Lavender, Calendula and Epsom Salts) while reading a lovely gardening book. I think this title may be of interest to readers of Tiny Green Cottage. The book is entitled: Heirloom Country Gardens, and is by Sarah Wolfgang Heffner. It features garden plans, history, plant profiles and recipes! It was a a beautifully organized book with plenty of useful information, fun crafts and beautiful photographs! Check it out if you can!

5 comments:

SeaBlush said...

Thank you for becoming a follower! I am also so happy to have joined Blotanical. It is a great way to meet people that love what you love and enjoy gardening as much as you do! Thanks for recommending that book--I will be sure to seek it out. And also, the rain has been wreaking havoc up here too. Someone told me it was because of the volcano erupting and now weather patterns have changed. Amazing how events around the globe can affect us all (if that is indeed true). Good luck with the rest of your produce~~Your salad looks amazing! Wow.

Rainy Day Gardener said...

Your garden salad is so colorful! I was late in getting my nasturtium seeds in the ground and well, as you know, this soggy spring has not been helpful to growing..anything lol...so mine will be a little late but I am quite keen to add them to a salad now!

Anonymous said...

I see that there are 41 now. Congratulations. Blotanical was instrumental in launching my debut in cyber world too.

I wonder if borers are what is causing my Solanum crispum 'Glasnevin' to look as awful as it does. I hadn't thought of this until you mentioned it. Tomorrow I'll look for the telltale holes. Thanks for the tip. :)

Several years ago I grew Passiflora caerula but when it kept threatening to swallow the house, I took it out. It still tries to reestablish itself so I'm constantly on guard. As nice as the flowers were, I think it qualifies as a thug. Your hybrid is probably much better behaved. Good luck with it.

I have a tuxedo cat too and I have to admit to being his enabler/dealer. He's come to expect a routine hit of catnip on a fairly regular basis.

Beautiful edibles!

Melissa said...

Your flowers are beautiful and the kitties are cracking me up. I can see them saying things like "really?! you want me to sit here and do nothing so you can measure me next to a veggie? ugh. I think I will lie down." Super cute! Your salad looks beautiful too...it's part food part decor..

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I love the Passion flower, I've always wanted to try growing them. I never did plant nasturtium this year, probably the first time in many years. The Calendula never came up. The salad is so pretty!

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