Monday, July 6, 2009

Weekly update

4th of July already! (well, now the 6th) The garden is exploding with all the warm, finally dry, weather. The nasturtiums are still producing flowers like crazy. The butterfly bush is putting out pretty purple flowers. The beans have made it up to the bottom of their dream catcher, their pretty peachy blossoms are giving me a treat for the eyes while my tummy waits its turn! I have had plenty of mint for mojitos, basil for tomato sauce and oregano to start drying for the winter. And of course parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Sometimes I just can't resist pulling a few leaves off for a whiff of these lovely smells.


Herbs are a great thing for a city gardener, or anybody with limited time or space. With just a few pots on a window sill, in a window box or on a patio, a family could have enough herbs for pesto, mojitos, pizza sauce and garnishes all summer, and if done correctly, all winter too! Sage is a tender perennial and survives Philadelphia winters with just a little help, so I tend to plant it right in the garden. Most of the others are annuals, and so I plant them in pots and bring them in for the winter. When they start to look sad or extremely leggy, I add another seed or two to the pot so a baby plant can fill in behind it.
Finally, the squash have baby squash on them! There is one in a pot on the tiers that is about 4" long, throughout the rest of the garden they range from 2" to flowers. I am hoping to be eating those when I get back from New Hampshire!




Oh, and my lilies bloomed!

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.... just wanted to make sure the song was stuck in everybody's head!

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