I loved so many things about my Grandmother, Elsie. She was one heck of a great cook and baker, our family was treated to many a three course meal at her elegant dining room table, good china used regularly! ..( I think my mom still has it). Boy, could she make a mean pie – Apple, Chocolate Cream, Banana cream, Blueberry – and speaking of blueberries – she knew how much I loved them. Often when I came to visit, she would offer me one of my favorite snacks – a bowl of blueberries in heavy cream with just a little sugar sprinkled on top. To this day it’s one of my favorites…
With global food transport nowadays, you can get just about anything at any time of year. But, when berry season comes around, I buy local and oooh, that fresh local berry taste! Of course, blueberries and strawberries, blackberries and raspberries warm from the sun, fresh off the vine and popped right in your mouth is the absolute best, and we tried to create that experience here on the farm – more than once. The bird and insects and bunnies won out, however, and we gave up that ship eventually.
Along with my love of berries comes a love for warm berry cobbler, berry pies, scones, the list goes on. Below are a few recipes I’ve found over the years and prove to be a hit – *these are not my recipe, nor are they my pictures. Served warm with slightly melty vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream, delish!
Now, on to the gardens.
We had a glorious weather day yesterday, so I took advantage and stuff got done here at the farm in the gardens.
First, we got rid of all the knock.out roses we planted around the foundation of the house 9 years ago when restoration was complete, because despite their reputation for being a really easy rose, they turned out to be a pain in the @$$. They just were never truly happy – between the bugs and the rain rot and the mold and the grubs and the beetles and the worms – we finally ripped them out and replaced them with some interesting shrubbery…
Below is a shrub that’s new to me – an orange Azalea that has a lovely scent –
In front of the back porch – (this picture taken just minutes ago – yes, rain again. ) I planted two spirea yellow/green leaf) and another in the center, who’s name I have forgotten. There are day lilies and Sweet William in front of them, a hydrangea to the left, bee balm, daisies and two large shrubs who’s name I have also forgotten on the right, that have tripled in size in one year.
Three of the four shrub nest babies have hatched! They are Chipping Sparrows,
thank you to Florida Farm Girl, who correctly identified the parents!
I cleaned up the bird bath garden – and beyond it you see our vegetable garden.
The raised beds are now full with Tomatoes, yellow stringbeans, purple peppers, sweet basil, eggplant (the little ivory and purple striped variety) artichoke – because my son wanted to try them, Spinach, dragon tongue beans (yellow purple stripe) and two rows of Zinnia (Thanks, H).
Over at the shed in the little Pig Garden …
It felt so good to get all that in the ground, I separated some perennials that could afford the thinning ( well I could sure afford some thinning) in the remaining shrub pots and brought them down to Stella by the Sea this morning and planted those too, before the raindrops began to fall.
Some gems hand painted in water color by Susan Branch…
I’ll just never be a toenail painting chick, and I suppose this blog is as close to a diary as I’ll ever get, but the rest of it sound perfectly wonderful to me.
Thanks for stopping by –
