A Glimpse Of The Garden

In The Beginning

We still have just a few seeds left to plant. Once we get out second 'teepee' set up, some peas will be planted at the bottom. Also, I have more arugula and I think I have some more beans. There is still a corner of the garden that these can fill so we can get as much as we can come harvest time.

I also have more mulching to do with cardboard and leaves. G is supposed to pick up some more big sheets of cardboard on the way home tonight, which makes my cutting and laying job much easier than when I'm just using bits and pieces of cardboard.

Things are sprouting already and I promised you some before shots, so here they are.

An overview.  See where all the leaves are? There is cardboard under those leaves, all in an effort to keep the weeds down. It will eventually at the end of the season, compost into the garden. For now, leaves and cardboard are my best friends.  Now look closer.......see the green coming up among the leaves? That's my rows of veg seeds starting to pop.  Once they get a bit bigger, it will be more obvious, like the row next to the cardboard.  I had to leave a couple of rows undone, just to be sure I didn't place the cardboard over the seeds. Now that the rows have for the most part sprouted, I'm ready to lay more cardboard down, and top it with leaves.

I love going out in the morning to take account of what's happening in the garden.

Guess what? If you pull a radish seedling out of the ground and eat it, lo and behold it tastes just like radish. When I quizzed G in a blind taste test, he got it right away just like I knew he would.

Heart shaped early sprouts.

Sweet, yes?

Ah, the powerhouse.

Kale!

Another beautiful leafy green, swiss chard. I think this is rainbow so when it grows up, it will be a beautiful, bright and colorful.

Behold the wonder of planting a seed and watching it sprout. So cool.

 

I do love my beans.

You know the funny thing is, I really didn't have a taste for many vegetables as a kid.....salad, corn, potatoes, tomatoes............but I kept trying. Now, I'm don't think there is a veg I don't love.

Now these might be G's favorites, Dublin man that he is. 

They came up from last year! Sometimes that happens. I think we have four or five potato plants that came back from last year's crop.  Can you tell it's a mound? As potatoes grow you're supposed to keep mounding the dirt up around them, and then they grow more potatoes under that ground you mound.

This teepee is ready for pea tendrils to climb all the way up to the top. We have the branches ready to go for the second, just need to put them up and string them together.

I think the first peas may sprout today. Fingers crossed. The cukes which I planted in the middle of the teepee already have. We'll have to wait and see if that was the best planned spot.

Beyond the vegetable garden, flowers are blooming too.

How gorgeous are peonies? The layers and layers of petals. Swoon.

My rugosa rose looks better than ever. Even G noticed yesterday, and this bee this morning having a feast.

My rose by the door, which I have dubbed Audrey Jr. after the little shop of horrors because if visitors aren't careful they can be eaten up by it, is starting to bloom before I've even pruned. I'm so behind. I've got to give it a spray today with some soapy water. I see some little caterpillars munching and I will be having none of that. Happens every year but the soapy water usually does the trick. Works for aphids too.

That's what is happening at The Bates Estate this Monday, what's happening in your world?


In World Cup news, I was thinking of my blogging/etsy friends Marieken and her mom Wilma on Friday, as I watched the rematch of Spain V. Netherlands. In the last World Cup, Spain beat the Netherlands in the final. Friday, Netherlands stomped on Spain 5-1. I could picture Marieken and Wilma decked out in their team and country's famous bright orange, leaping with joy each time a goal was scored. It was quite a match. Sorry Spain, better luck in the next game. There were other great matches over the weekend as well, a good start to the month long competition. USA plays it's first game this evening against Ghana, always a tough competitor for us. I think we're well prepared though, under our manager Jurgen Klinsmann, a former German player who was quite a powerhouse and part of the West German team who won the World Cup in 1990. We've got a great roster of players, including my man and our captain Clint Dempsey and the rest of the guys. A well rounded team.
 

  AP photo by Jack Dempsey

I believe that we can win.

I will of course, be watching this evening. Will you?

Ciao for now,

Take A Walk With Us

 

Around The Bates Estate

 

The weekend was busy. Well, busy enough. In a good way. The week ahead looks to be more of the same.  There was a lovely glow as the sun went down last night. This morning the sky was pink to the East, and the sun is still out for now. There is rain heading our way, which we could do without since we got a good bit the other day. In fact a really good bit. The sump pump is still running.  Better than not running if you needs to be, know what I mean?

 

But before the next rain..........a stroll. Take a break and come along.

 

 

 

 

If you have a second, check out this lovely feature on Bates Mercantile Co. over on Eyelah. And while you're there, wish her happy birthday! Happy Birthday Aylah!!!

Happy Monday. Make it a great day in your corner of the world and I'll do the same in mine.

Ciao for now,

Take Time

A Rose Is A Rose

Just a reminder today to not miss the small things. Take time to stop and smell the flowers.

The moster rose bush by our front door is about to burst. Had I known how big it would get, I wouldn't have planted it where people could get mauled. Of course, this forces visitors to our house to stop and smell the flowers.

We're off the to city. If I can figure out how to post via my phone, you may hear from me. If I can't, I'll be back at it on Monday.

Enjoy the rest of your week and the weekend.

Sunset Meadows

Now, I know the phone lines are in this sunset shot, but sometimes I like the way they frame it.

Peace out,

Monday, Monday

Wouldn't Sunday be so much better if Monday wasn't to follow? Anybody on that bandwagon except me? 

We did enjoy the day, but you just want it to last forever. Watered the gardens and happened to find my rose bush out back blooming again, beneath the poke weed. I think the shade from the poke weed was making it happy this week.

You can see some of the poke weed in the foreground, bottom right. Those green pods will turn into purple berries that the blue birds LOVE come fall.

I weeded for most of the afternoon. Never got beyond the small east flower garden, which wasn't even really looking like a flower garden. The grass next to it is toast from the heat. (Seriously, the earth was like concrete from the heat and lack of rain.) And the only place grass was growing was in the flower garden. Why is that?

Please note: lots of crab grass and weeds in the garden.

Yes, we still have siding to finish on the east side of the house. Eventually, when we get the mudroom built, it will happen. Someday. For now, it's kind of an ugly backdrop for the garden, but there are worse things in life.

Went as far as I could and then, like the lawn, I was toast. It was still hot. But got most of this little flower garden weeded.  Will attack the rest later.

I know it's hard to tell, but there are way less weeds in this garden now. Promise. The wheelbarrow is full. I've only the far end to finish. Then another round of mulch. I'll take a picture after the mulch as I'm sure that will make it look much, much better. Plus, the Rose of Sharon at the end is about to burst into full bloom. That will be a show!

I know you'd never guess (wink, wink), but with the heat we've had, there have been some really wonderful sunsets this week. Last night was no exception.

It started off so soft and pretty.

It quickly went to hot summer sunset.

Always a lovely way to end the day.

From my from my perfectly imperfect weed-ridden garden, dead-grass corner of the world to your corner of the world, have a marvelous Monday.

Stuff It!

What To Do With All That Zucchini

We don't plant as much squash and zuch as we used to.  Our neighbors Tom and Joan always have prolific plants and can only eat so much. We are the lucky recipients of the extra.  Last night I stuffed one of their lovely zuchs. It's not hard to do and there are no rules. You get to use whatever you have on hand.

Last Night's Stuffed Zuch

1 big zucchini, cut lengthwise down the middle (yay! two sides to stuff!)
handful of baby bella mushrooms sliced thin
1/4 of a leftover onion, chopped
the 'guts' of the zucchini, chopped
cojito cheese- Mexican cheese similar to feta (maybe 1/4 cup), but again, use what cheese you've got
spices ( I used some sun dried tomato spice mix I had on the shelf and some lime pepper spice mix)
sea salt
breadcrumbs
butter about 3 - 4 tbs

Once you slice zucchini carve out around the softer middle and scoop out. Leave enough meat of zucchini around the edge so when it cooks it doesn't flop over and you lose all the stuffing.  Chop the veg, throw into sautee pan and cook for a few minutes. When translucent, add the bread crumbs, the cheese and the butter. Take stuffing and STUFF zucchini. We wrapped ours in a tin foil pouch and grilled for about 20-30 minutes.....one side of grill on med-high, other side on low. Gar started it up top for about 10-15, then moved down to the low temp side.

YUM.

Speaking of garden veg, our garden is coming along, though the weeds have taken over. Except where we were smart enough to lay down our 'always in good supply' leaves, around the tomatoes. The rest of the garden is fighting the proverbial battle. Probably time Gar and I took the garden weasel too it, but it's been so hot (good excuse, don't you think?).

We were late in getting things planted this year, but all is well- the lettuce, green beans, chard, potatoes and yes, squash (only four plants) are looking good. Here's the first tomato trying to make the grade with many more babies on the plants. Never did plant kale this year. It came back on it's own. It grew fast this spring which was a nice surprise, and then I cut it all the way back and have a second round. You gotta love a garden surprise like that. Easy peasy. That's the way we like it here.

Our flower gardens are still surprising us too. We could both see a yellow circle across the yard from the pool area last night, and said 'That must be the St. Patrick Rose'. It's most prolific year (and this damn thing is at least 7 years old) was three roses. That's it. But it is pretty despite it's low numbers. I will admit, it's not the same kind of rose as the pink one by the front door, if I had to guess I'd say this is a long stem variety, perhaps this is the reason for its low output.




It is so bright out, and this flower is right in the sun, and the setting I had the camera on was probably
not the best choice for those conditions. Ah well. You get the picture.

 I came around the side of the house and spied the honeysuckle, completely covered in its red berries. The birds will be quite happy come fall. I'm happy now because it's very pretty. I love plants that give you a two for one- blooms and then pretty berries that the birds are happy to consume.

It's another hot one here so it will be a challenge to stay cool. The will be a pool involved at some point. Probably at more than one point. The dog is sprawled on the floor in front of the fan. He's no dumb bunny.

If you have a zucchini recipe, please share. Everyone is always trying to find new ways to mix up the abundance of squash in the summer.

Have a great day Tuesday in your little corner of the world.

We Knew Yew When

Yup, they’re gone! The yews that surrounded our entrance are history. Hasta la vista. Toast.

Neither G-man nor I liked them very much. The sparrows did, but the yews didn’t really float our boat. They’d been here since we bought the house, and they did give it some green and were pretty enough on the outside, but they were cut like hedges. Problem being, when you cut yews with hedge trimmers, once you cut back the top couple of inches, there’s really nothing but branch.  So each year, even though we were trimming, they were getting taller, causing wetness in the box that houses the phone lines, creating mildew on house, and looking sort of –bleckh. Gar took the hedge trimmers to them one last time while my pal Tina was here visiting from Ireland last week. Well, you should have seen the sight of them. We had to have a morning viewing and a damn good laugh. Just kept shaking my head saying, ‘Honestly, do you think he's finished? Does he think this looks good? It looks like Edward Scissorhands was a little angry when he trimmed these bushes.” 

Lo and behold the master plan that I was not privy to at the time. Hack ‘em down. Be rid of the beasts. That’s exactly what he did. Of course, there were roots left and neighbor Tom and his tractor took care of what he could, the others will have to be cut further and any remains, buried. We have electrical and plumbing to consider.
Now the fun part, well first clean up and then the fun part.  As you can see, the overnight rain added to the mess, splashing the fresh dug dirt right up the front of the house, but I digress. 




Copyright Roger Roley for Southern Accent magazine

Beautiful, just a little too froo froo for us.  I do like it as 'inspiration'.


Garden room dreams……..Along the front of the house (the side without the door, it faces the driveway) poor rose bush currently has nothing to climb on. The yews were at least for providing a lovely strong backdrop for our beautiful creeping rose (who knew when I planted it?).  I’m thinking some type of rustic pergola is the ticket.  It can’t be real deep or it may get in Tom’s way when he plows us with his tractor in winter.  Below the pergola and rose, a vintage or rustic bistro table of sorts, so the neighbor ladies and I have a place to sit and enjoy a cocktail while the neighbor hoodlums have a beer in the drive while discussing their latest duct tape project. 




Ston Easton Park in the book English Hideaways

Love this! But ours would just have the ends of pergola and not the sides.

 The other side by the door couldn’t be anything other than a Sunset Meadows viewing area, complete with a couple of Adirondacks, preferably wood because I won’t be lugging these ones around the yard. Due to the cost of wood Adis (ad-ees as we affectionately call them in my family), I may have to make-do with plastic ones until I can find some yard sale steals like my neighbor Lauren did.

Copyright Laura Halett Taylor

So nice! But we don't have as much room, just enough for
chairs and little table in between. At least I hope.

We’ll be lucky if we simply get it cleaned up for the big 4th of July lobster bake, but of course, that would be an improvement from what it looks like this morning.

That’s the plan Stan.  What do you think?

Raindrops on Roses

It’s a gray day here in New Hampshire. I’d prefer sunshine, but at least it means I don’t have to water the vegetable garden or the flower gardens.  And, the way a rose holds raindrops on its petals is one thing to cherish about this kind of gray day in June.

Who can't be happy, despite a gray day, when channeling Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music?

On the subject of gray, I just love it more and more in all sorts of design. How about these dandelion screen printed napkins by Giardino. So lovely-especially paired with bright yellow to balance its muted effects. Just brilliant.



Copyright Giardino

I fell in love with these whimsical cylinder hanging lamps with silvery gray flowers from West Elm- and they were the only ones left. Score one for me. If I remember right they ran me about $25 each. Classic color paired with fun and unexpected floral design. What else could I ask for? I had the perfect spot for them, hanging over our night stands.  I came to love this accent piece even more once they were hung, realizing they gave us a lot more room for books on our bedside tables.



Copyright Pamela J. Bates

Bates Mercantile Co.



One of my own designs is what I would deem ‘elegantly gray’. My ‘96 Step’s design was inspired by the scrolling ironwork on the terrace of the apartment we stayed in while in Rome a few years back. Sitting on that terrace was simply sublime. A dream-come-true.

Copyright Pamela J. Bates

Bates Mercantile Co.

The 96 Steps to get to the ‘penthouse’ apartment, in roasting Rome September weather, perhaps not. I’m lucky Garrett survived coming up those steps after roaming in the Rome heat for close to two hours (I opted to stay put and deadhead the flowers on the terrace, sip espresso and watch our neighbor hang out her laundry). We did learn from his experience however, to leave with all we needed in the morning and not come back until we were done exploring.  My husband's face after that first climb was something similar to this (of course, it may have had something to do with is inability to breathe at that point):

Copyright Pamela J. Bates

Bates Mercantile Co.

But I’ll leave red for another day.

What’s your favorite way to see gray used? Classic style on its own, with another neutral, or with a pop of unexpected color? I’d love to know. I'm not sure I can even pin myself down with a favorite way to use gray, but one of the other reasons I like it is because ‘nothing is black and white’ and gray is the perfect example of that- it’s somewhere in the middle.