summer garden

This year the garden exploded with flowers and veggies. I’ve been composting since I moved into the house, and diligently mixing the compost into the soil every spring. This simple work pays off double: no food-waste goes into plastic garbage bags, and the plants as well as birds and insects love it, and thrive.

my favorite things to grow are nasturtium, calendula, verbena, zucchini, cucumber, and not shown are tomatoes (just starting to ripen) and dill

yarrow makes such a gorgeous bouquet and attracts beneficial insects

gem marigolds are a new addition, the flowers are tasty, look great on the table, the leaves have a lemony scent, plus the plant nurtures the soil

the zucchini have been non-stop this year. I’m making lots of zucchini bread : I use olive oil, and for sugar mix 1-cup brown, 1-cup white. super moist and super tasty, sometimes I throw in a banana into the batter, or add blueberries.

these are butternut squash blossoms. planted three seeds, and now they are crawling all over the garden. some flowers I guess are male with no fruit, but the females are making lots of squash babies. good thing I love butternut squash soup

show-off king hibiscus flowers are as big as Berrie’s head in the front garden. the tiny white flowers are gaura, a drought tolerant perennial, which flutter like butterflies from June till September.

zucchini blossoms are yummy sautéed in butter, and scrambled with eggs. garnished with freshly picked dill, they are unbelievably tasty and simple

somehow I stumbled upon this book, and now am engrossed in finding out about perennial food gardens. annuals are tasty, and a bit tough on my back. so a mix of the two is a good idea moving forward. there is also a Paradise Lot blog. yay.

Happy summer and gardening!