2021 Garden

We had such a great garden this year! This doesn’t even show the squash and pumpkin!

HAWAIIAN SKIES DAFFODIL4.9.21 Last fall I bought some bulbs and planted them. These were some of them. My first flowers to bloom.

KINDRED SPIRIT OAK4.16.21 We requested a parkway tree before we even moved into our house and it took more than 2 years for the city to plant it. We got a Kindred Spirit Oak in the fall of 2020. I was so anxious for it to start to bud this spring and finally it did. I’m hearing that oaks bud late.

5.3.21 Getting some leaves going now.

5.16.21

5.25.21

LILAC WONDER TULIP4.24.21 I loved these tulips last spring and did research to find out that they are Lilac Wonder tulips. I planted the bulbs in the fall and they are finally blooming!

4.27.21

STRAWBERRY4.26.21: Last year the strawberries grew and spread, but did not produce any fruit. Looks like this year will be different!

6.3.21 YES! FRUIT!

6.5.21 Makai said the strawberries are SO sweet!

NIGELLA DAMASCEANA [LOVE-IN-A-MIST]5.4.21: Dad was going to pull these weeds out, but I stopped him, literally a second before he was about to do it. I’d remembered sprinkling some seeds around that I’d gotten for free in the neighborhood gardening group. It was late last summer or early fall. I wanted to see what this turned out to be. I posted in a couple gardening groups and some people had hunches, but no one was for sure. Some thought dill even!

5.26.21 – Finally blooms!

HERB GARDEN5.4.21 I’ve planted the herb garden. Back row is parsley, chives, cilantro and basil. In the front is oregano, dill, thyme and rosemary. The thyme keeps coming up every year. I dug out all the mint and literally threw it away! We never use it and it is hard to manage. The problem is that KC thinks its fun to jump into the raised bed and dig. I’ve replanted the chives 2-3 times now.

I got these fence pieces from Home Depot and put them around the herb garden. KC looked at them and jumped right over the top!

I ended up putting the fence pieces around the front flower garden. I think they look nice and give it a more polished look. I need to get a few more to complete the area.

9.5.21 Front Garden

For now, this is the best way to keep KC out of the garden!

5.25.21

7.4.21

7.9.21

8.14.21

COLEUS FLAMETHROWER – SPICED CURRY5.2.21: Makai did not want flowers in the turtle!

6.1.21

7.4.21

8.6.21

10.10.21

10.26.21

PANSY 5.14.21 Planted in the front garden near the bird feeder.

LILACS5.17.21

IRIS 5.19.21 The irises have grown so tall!

PUMPKIN5.20.21 I started these from seeds that Makai picked out at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

6.6.21 bloom!

6.17.21 Squash on the left, pumpkin on the right.

6.17.21 The pumpkin leaves are HUGE!

HIBISCUS5.21.21

7.7.21

7.13.21

7.15.21

8.4.21

BROCCOLI5.22.21 Starting to see some growth.

6.6.21

6.8.21

6.14.21 Roasted it

SPAGHETTI SQUASH5.25.21 Makai came home from gardening class with a spaghetti plant (and a very large onion)

6.7.21 bloom!

6.17.21

7.1.21 Squash + Pumpkin

7.9.21

LILY OF THE VALLEY5.31.21 Makai’s preschool friend Sam’s mom gave me some Lily of the Valley. I planted it around the oak on the parkway in front of our house.

RASPBERRY6.1.21 Picked this up at Home Depot randomly.

7.3.21 raspberries!

MOSS ROSE 6.2.21 I love these moss roses.

6.15.21

DAISY6.3.21 The daisies are in bloom! They’ve grown and spread so much since last year!

6.14.21 I have so many daisies, I cut some for my office.

6.21.21 I can’t believe these are so big compared to when I planted them!

BLACK SWALLOWTAIL CATERPILLAR 6.6.21 I discovered my dill is filled with caterpillers!

6.8.21 It loves the dill!

6.9.21 – spotted a butterfly!

“CATALINA GILDED GRAPE” WISHBONE FLOWER6.10.21

6.21.21

OTHER CRITTERS6.17.21 Someone thought maybe a mayfly?

7.8.21 gorgeous gold bug!

8.29.21 Grasshoppers!

9.1.21 Slug

9.4.21 Cicada

CALIBRACHOA6.21.21 I have these in three planters on the front steps!

7.4.21

CONE FLOWERS
6.23.21 I planted these at the end of last year. So pretty.

GREEN BEANS6.28.21 First green bean harvest.

DAYLILY
7.1.21

MARIGOLD7.3.21 Dad and I added a planter to the back of the Little Free LIbrary. I planted marigold seeds in there and they are blooming now!

7.4.21

8.29.21

RED AMARANTH6.14.21 Someone was giving this away on Facebook, so I grabbed 2.

 7.6.21 Growing very big!

9.6.21 I can’t believe how huge these got!

SUNFLOWER7.13.21 Sunflowers will bloom soon!

8.4.21

8.7.21

8.14.21

Storm! 8.24.21

8.26.21 Cut some of the sunflowers that were on downed branches.

8.28.21

9.4.21. I gave some of the sunflower heads to a little girl for her preschool. They were going to dry them and pick the seeds out.

CUCUMBER8.3.21 – Back from Hawaii!! Cucumbers, beans, squash! Not eating the squash!

PHLOX8.4.21

BELL PEPPER8.6.21

8.23.21

 

JALAPENO8.6.21

8.14.21

8.21.21

9.4.21

CARROTS8.7.21

9.12.21

10.25.21 Finally pulled them all. All tiny but very sweet.

COLEUS 8.29.21 Somehow this coleus just started growing in my indoor palm!?!?

 

 

We have a garden!

I might have planted these things too close. We’ll find out. Makai picked out green beans, watermelon and a chocolate mint plant for himself. For Dallas he chose ghost peppers and bell peppers. I also got thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley and chives. Makai said the flamingo’s name is Fifi!

6.23.19
Makai is picking mint leaves for me to put in my coffee in the mornings!

07.06.19

07.09.19Lots of beans!

7.25.19The watermelon and mint were really taking over, so I moved the basil and parsley into one planter, and the rosemary and chives each into planters of their own. The rosemary and chives went on the front porch next to a plumeria I’m growing from a stick I got in Hawaii.

08.02.19I was roasting vegetables when we picked the green pepper, so we sliced it up and included it!

08.03.19Rosemary, chives, plumeria.

8.03.19What to do with all the mint that’s gone crazy wild? Drink mint water!

08.04.19
Our basil and parsley are doing GREAT! I made a salad with the parsley today:


Chickpea Salad

08.16.19Bringing tons of herbs to Wisconsin!

08.21.19
 This watermelon was small, but kind of damaged so we had to pick it. When I cut it open it was totally not ripe. We tasted it, but it was not good!

8.31.19Our basil did VERY well this year. I made a double batch of Fresh Basil Pesto and still have a ton of basil left! Jess, Sarah, Stacy and the Stubers all got jars of pesto and we used a lot ourselves!

9.14.19

Dallas harvested some of the ghost peppers! We were so afraid of how hot they might be. Dallas made some chili with the peppers and it was spicy but not unbearably so. He did take it easy though, because he didn’t want to ruin a whole pot of chili!

09.16.19
Our herbs did so well, I took orders at work and brought them in to share!

09.28.19
We waited as long as we could before picking to allow this little watermelon to grow. Finally we had to pick it and I was excited to cut it and taste it, but I forgot it on the deck. The next day we went outside and it had rolled onto the ground where the rabbits and squirrels got into it. And unlike the other watermelon, we could see that this one actually did get ripe inside. AW! I left it outside a couple days and then threw it away.

10.11.19
Brought more herbs to work. The last harvest before a frost scare!

Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse

Sunday morning we took Makai to the park and realized that the greenhouse and garden were open. We took a peek inside and one of the volunteers toured us all around and let us pick so many herbs and vegetables! Makai thought it was so cool to pull a carrot right out of the ground and to pick some of his favorite vegetable, broccoli. Everyone was so nice and giving of their time. We ended up with a bounty of produce: rosemary, oregano, thyme, squash, lemongrass, broccoli, carrots and tomatillos!

Fun With Hats


Rachelle, South Yarmouth, Cape Cod


Jessica, South Yarmouth, Cape Cod


Stephanie, South Yarmouth, Cape Cod


Julie, South Yarmouth, Cape Cod


Julie, Rachelle, Jessica, Stephanie


Denise, South Yarmouth, Cape Cod


Michelle, South Yarmouth, Cape Cod


Denise & Michaela, South Yarmouth, Cape Cod


Scott the Pianist and Edie


Singing along with the piano


Herbs from the Gods

Last night we went to a party at a little inn that had a lot of old-fashioned hats. Of course we had to try them all on. It was an interesting time. There was a piano player that everyone loved because he could play and sing almost any song that was requested of him.

About the herbs: Jess’s Uncle Brenden gave us a whole tray of herbs to use this week while we’re visiting. His family is going out of town, he didn’t want them to go to waste, and he knew we (Julie specifically) like to cook. There is spearmint, oregano, basil, two kinds of parsley, and sage.