the past few days we have been working on our little side garden. it started out as a strawberry patch but of course we couldn't stop there. we planted our snow peas there, lemon balm, lavender, and more pansies. it is also the home for one of ryan's bonsai trees during the warmer days..jpg)
lavender on the left and lemon balm on the right
sorry for the glow around the little white fence, dunno why it is doing that
sorry for the glow around the little white fence, dunno why it is doing that
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lemon balm and strawberries
some delicious strawberries calling my name :)
ryan's first bonsai (surrounded by more strawberry plants) that i got him when we first started dating(that puts the bonsai around 12-13 years old)
we had planned on doing some gardening today but it rained pretty much all day. hopefully tomorrow we can get it done.
photos by moi
photos by moi
10 comments:
Nice garden! The bonsai is great. I really appreciate my houseplants than have been with me for many years. My oldest houseplant is 9 years old (with me) now.
i gathered you were a fan of bonsais (and orchids which i need to get a pic up of my tiny one) from your blog. that particular bonsai was about 9 years old when i bought it for ryan and that was 3 1/2 years ago now. i do keep house plants as long as i can too. as long as they are healthy i figure why not?! it's like they become part of the family.
Those strawberries look fantastic - homegrown always taste so much better. Love Bonsai trees - they are so neat and tidy!
I like your garden! Do you use the lemon balm in cooking? I've heard it's very effective in keeping away mosquitoes.
Wow, your garden looks great! I have lemon balm as well, and it seems to be taking over! Gotta love the smell tho. And your soil looks like it's in great shape, ours is a mixture of clay/sand - yuk!
globetrotting cacti - you are right, homegrown anything always tastes better! ryan is taking a bonsai class thru west virginia university and once he is finished with that class he will be able to bring his other bonsai home. he's going bonsai crazy. everything we see now, he's like 'wonder if i can bonsai that' lol.
cooking accountant - t.y. i sometimes use lemon balm in cooking. i need to find ways to incorporate it more. we had it there last year and i dried a bunch of it (thought of adding it to some tea or cooking) and it came back bigger and better than ever this year.
naturally jules - thanks! i didn't even realize that my lemon balm was a perennial but i'm happy for it :) part of working on that garden was adding that nice soil to it. it's a dark soil so it makes it look attractive.
Love your garden! Those berries are to die for, we have a big strawberry festival coming up in a few weeks. So good, I pick tons to freeze.
Does your lavender come back every year? Up here in NY, it's very sensitive so I bring it indoors because I can't bear to see it die. I just hauled everything outside...my rosemary rewarded me with adorable purple flowers. You should try that, it's really fragrant and great for cooking.
Agree with Jules, lemon balm can totally take over so be careful.
lynne - i left my lavender out all winter and it never died. i actually transplanted it into the side garden as it was in the actual garden last year. i wasn't sure if it would handle it but it seems to be doing just fine! if you look very closely (and maybe it's not visible in the pic) but it's getting ready to bloom :) :) we have lots of other herbs growing including rosemary in pots. i'll get a pic of that up soon too.
It's so cool that you're growing lavender. Just out of curiosity, what kinds of things do you do with it? Can you use it to make tea? To scent bathwater? Or do you cook with it? I love the scent of lavender, but I must admit, I am clueless about how it's used in its "raw" form.
analiese - well it is rather small still so i don't know if i will use it for anything right now. you can do all of those things that you listed in your comment but for now i think i'm just gonna let my little one grow. :)
there is a lavender festival in late june in wv that i plan on going to. that way i can learn more about how to use lavender in its raw state. i'll keep you posted.
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