Summer Garden Update

The photo above was taken earlier in the summer just before the sunflowers (behind the zinnias) started blooming.

The photo below was taken this morning, and the teddy bear sunflowers are now showing their faces:

I love walking down to the garden...seeing the flowers and gathering the new produce:

Cucumbers, yellow zucchini, squash, tomatoes, okra, and peppers...just some of our garden veggies this year:

Last summer I tried yellow zucchini for the first time (loved it!). I had a few seeds in the packet left and planted those this year. Great harvest and great for making Zucchini Squares, a favorite of mine.

The okra did well this year, even though a bunny sneaked in and nibbled some leaves when the electric fence was turned off. I have learned....you cannot turn your back even for one day on okra!

I like to saute okra in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and cajun seasoning...not slimy at all:

This year I planted watermelon for the first time!  The smaller Sugar Babies are coming along better than I thought after a very slow start!

Here's the watermelon bed with Italian sweet peppers to their right:

Don't forget the black eyed peas...a favorite of mine. I used this link to prep perfectly cooked peas in the instant pot. I like to season with rosemary from the garden:

I harvested rosemary earlier in the season:

We planted rhubarb about 10 years ago before Sarah got married. She always made rhubarb pies for the farmer's market. Now we have even more rhubarb plants because the seeds will blow in the wind and spread:

I like flowers inside the garden and around the perimeter,too. This group of zinnias and sunflowers is inside the picket fence garden:

These pink yarrow and lavender are inside the larger garden:

These tall yellow yarrow are beside the garden gate...planted many years ago as one of our first purchases from Andre Viette Nursery:
The hyacinth bean plant finally started growing through the obelisk. Then I think that same rabbit found his way inside the larger garden and all those leaves in this photo, except where he couldn't reach at the top, are all gone! So pitiful! 

That's willowy asparagus in the background:

And last, but not least, the hollyhocks are growing at the front of the garden...not around the outhouse as seen at most homesteads long ago. You can check out this link to read about hollyhocks, the outhouse flower!

 

"I was going to town today...but my hollyhocks are blooming!"

Since I love gardening and quilting, I absolutely love this wall hanging below which I saw recently on the Red Button Quilt Company website. It's called Hollyhock Heaven, and I would love to make it!

 

So you know where I'll be...you can find me in the garden or in the sewing room!

Thanks for following along on the blog and checking out the garden update!

~Deb

Comments

[Nix]

¡Qué belleza, Deb! ¿El huerto te lleva mucho tiempo de cuidado?
Saludos

[Deb]

Hi Nix!
Yes....tons of work!!! But I do love it!
See my email reply back to you.

[Jill Lancieri]

Love your garden! I am so impressed! I admire the hard work you put into it and I am sure you are thrilled with the results.

[Tammy C]

A gorgeous garden.

Your garden looks like it should be on a garden tour.

Enjoy

[Hannah]

I love seeing the pictures of the beautiful Mountain Musings garden! So beautiful, more than it's ever been! Christopher said it looks like a magazine.:)

[Donna]

Beautiful blog post - agree that it looks like a garden magazine article. So much love put in and it shows!
Sew, (pun intended) if one has a green thumb for their bountiful gardens, what does one have as an excellent quilter? ;-)

[Carol Blair]

A nimble needle?

[victoria]

Your garden is beautiful! Lots of hard work and love went into that. You have done such a great job.

[Deb]

Thank you everyone for the garden compliments! It's a fun chore for me, and I love to make it pretty. Not sure how much longer I'll be able to garden, so I'm enjoying it while I can!

Thanks for taking time to leave comments!

Carol, I like your answer!

[Holly]

I love hollyhocks but rarely grow them successfully. This year I gave up, rooted them all out, and planted Joe Pye weed in that corner. I was delighted that I somehow missed one and got a pink one after all. :) I've been looking forward to having some free time this summer to spend in my sewing room, but I think guests have used it more than I have. It's been a lovely "problem" but I'm hoping to get at least one project on my list started before school starts in the fall. Thank you for the garden tour and the info about hollyhocks. :)