Summer Fun

Breakfast in teh garden

swinging on a hot summer afternoon or clear starry night

Summer afternoon - two of the best words in the English language

 Family of Yellow shafted Northren Flickers in the tree hole

Broad bean Harvester- 6 of them rolling by

new Adirondack chairs for by the pond and painted  green!

Edna taking it all in before she takes a nap.

Late Spring at Chesnut Hill, . . .in the garden

      This time of year is so lovely, everything is green and growing, the hot days that never end are still a distant thought.  All the plants and plantings still look fresh and un touched by heat or bugs,

Late Summer . . . .

Late Summer the shadows start to fall in the afternoons, the leaves of the Horse Chestnut and English Walnut are falling too.  The Thistle is in fluff, the Hops have formed and are curing on the vine before we can harvest them .  The Kale is coming into its fall beauty, the fields are a gorgeous brilliant golden hue.  They are especially beautiful in  the  early morning light. The crickets are singing non-stop night and day.  There can eb a chill in the air late night and early morning and things are starting to die off.  It seemed like a short summer in the North east.   We had a hot sunny June but then a rainy July and cool August.  It has been a wet summer up until just now.  Today I am watering a few things as every thing is dry dry dry. I am not sure that I am ready to change seasons just quite yet- need some more of summers beauty and charms- roasted corn, sweet peaches, mouth watering tomatoes.  Are you done with summer yet?  What does late summer look like where you are?

Garden Mid- August 2014

Hibiscus Flower

Rose of Sharon - Bush

Main Garden

Walkway colorful and filling in

Lots of red tomatoes and orange marigolds

Hops are making blooms - ladybugs have arrived as well.

Coleus are bright and bold.

The garden in Mid-August is full of color.  The Tomatoes are ready, very sweet adn juicy.  The strawberries are producing again.  Many of the flowers are mature and in full bloom.  Zinnias, Marigolds, cosmos. The Hops are beginning to flower as well. The crickets can be heard chirping all day long.  Oddly we are having September weather , cool, dark, cloudy, rain and feeling like Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup days.  We are busy packing up 2 kids to head off to College this next week. I was just thinking today that it will be bulb planting season soon- it seems to early but September is but on our footstep.  It is headed our way whether we like it or not. While I miss the sun and its warmth- these days can be reflective too.  I am busily trying to finish a Quilt for one of my kids to take to college  - I am in the quilting stage . . .  Hoping I can finish it!!!
 Be well and enjoy your gardens. 
I need to do some serious weeding- just one week away and the sweet clover has taken over.   This year the birds have dropped Poison Ivy seeds in my garden and they are causing me havoc.

The Garden this week- late July 2014

Getting very Colorful

Hops has started to Blossom - need to post a closeup

Still lots of Bee balm- got the Hedge trimmed this week.

Tomatos are doing well, getting ripe and tall!

Fun visitor!

Flowering Kale that the Cabbage worm - did not get!

IT is fun to look back and see how much the garden has changed over the weeks. I don't think I would notice it as much if I was not keeping photos of it this year. We got 4-6 inches of rain yesterday - so every thing is rain sodden and somethings need staking.  Lots of bugs and spiders are showing up in the garden now.

Book Chatterings at Chestnut Hill

       

                 I picked this book up by chance at the local Library for $1.00  the cover was attractive and I liked the name and description  Embroidered Ground by Page Dickey.  I really had no idea what it would be like.  I was not to far into it and realized that I had indeed read her first book and still owned it, Duck Hill Journal.  Page Dickey lives in "UpstateNY"  meaning in this case outside of NYC and many years back established her garden Duck Hill as she calls it. The first book Chronicles that time frame.
              This second  book delightfully written in small readable chapters of 2-4 pages  looks at the the aging of the garden or shall we say the maturing. There is wonderful wisdom about many things - from plants to light to watering to change- lots of change and how to relate to it both in the garden and in life.  I have had gardens here at Chestnut Hill for 26 years now- some have come and gone, some remain, others are still in my dreams. There were many things I learned and that I could relate to or implement because of reading this book.  If you really love gardens and outdoors then I think you would like this book.  I do not think you have to read the first book first as they can hold up independently.

" In earliest Spring, when the air is still chill and the garden beds around the house  are damp and slow to wake, this patch of woodland is alive with small happenings that thrill us.  The witch Hazels are studded with yellow, and snowdrops flower beneath them and all along the paths, mostly the ordinary . . ."  Pg 17

"We don't use paths enough in American gardens.  Of course we all have a path from the garage, or parking area, to the kitchen door, and usually a more formal but less used path to the front door.  But we don't take advantage of paths sufficiently in our gardens or along the perimeters of our properties to suggest a journey , an adventure" pg.37

" My bouquets are, in essence, a reflection of my garden, a mixture of branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits in a style that is structured  and yet loose, relaxed and a little wild.  Making them is one of my favorite occupations.  When I put together a bouquet for our house, I think in a similar fashion as I might when plotting a garden."  pg. 179

Summer Storm 7-8-14

Hard to see the pick up stix of trees here. The biggest one is resting on a Maple Tree and the butt end is about 1-2 feet from the house.

Before Backyard

After Backyard

Before

After

Clean up

Twisted right off

top Twisted right off

Pile by road of clean up

We need to hire a bucket truck to come take top off

          The morning after . . . is much calmer, the hour after was as well. The yard still smells like Christmas.  We are safe and the house is safe and we have power- life is good!  The Norway spruce out back are about 60 feet tall - not really sure but amazingly tall trees that have been here a very long time. We lost the tops in three of them.  a Tulip and Maple tree  both took a beating but saved the trees from crashing into our home. 
                A strong storm front was crossing the area yesterday about 4:30 and our town took a beating with downed trees and Power outages. Many roads were quickly closed and impassable. This morning our power is restored and yes there is more clean up to do but nothing like what we faced last evening. We were blessed to have neighbors come help us with the clean up as well as our 2 older kids.  ( younger one is at camp)  working together and steadily we had it all cleaned up in 2-3 hours. The Power of nature continues to leave us in awe.  The winds and rain that came in sheets yesterday was totally amazing.
                We humans in our capacity to help, care and provide assistance are equally amazing. We have been here for 26 years and have had many power outages . . .each one has its own unique story to go with it. Sourdough bread and Pepperoni bread will be part of this story as I had just baked both and was able to feed our helpful neighbors and hungry family. We were blessed yesterday and we are thankful for limited damage and helpful friends and family.

Garden week of 6/23 . . .

Hops still growing wild

Feverfew starting to show off

Tomatoes before staking and weeding

Still very Wild  . . . . .

Evening Primrose From Grandparents farm

Beginning of the Bee Balm