Garden Update

The Farmer’s Markets have begun, the garden is shooting up and out and it’s strawberry time. So far, it’s sort of under control. I’m so glad I feel so good or I wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace. I still make time for quiet contemplation in the garden, always giving thanks for the abundance of this little plot.

A Taste of Spring!

The comfrey root I plopped in the ground this spring (thank you Mary Jane!) is blooming, along with its two compatriots. It’s just a little different from the one I started here from seed a few years ago. I know this baby will yield its miraculous cure in profusion. Its salve healed sweet husband’s bad knee that has bothered him for years, not to mention all the other people who have benefited from its root.

Comfrey Taking Root

I have many valerian plants, but this big mother on the hugel is the only one ready for harvesting this fall. Needless to say, it has greatly benefited from the goodies we buried underneath here. (See article “Hugelkultur” on this blog). The valerian tincture made from valerian root tastes terrible, but always brings relaxation for those infrequent sleepless nights. It’s a must for the herbal medicine chest.

Valerian

 I put one tomato plant in a pot for those early BLTs and it has tomatoes setting on already.

Potted Tomato

This geranium was over-wintered in the south windows in the attic. I didn’t realize I mixed a red and a pink, but it’s beautiful in form and color.

Pink and Red Geranium

 The iris is gone for another year, but the calendula is beginning to bloom.

Yellow Iris

Calendula Blooming

Here’s our new “fire pit,” sweet husband’s idea. It works great and now it has its own special place where we never have to move it again. It’s the bottom of an antique cast iron woodstove and weighs a ton. I hope to find a metal lid for rain protection. I get hungry for marshmallows and may have to get some, just once. We all need a little poison now and then!

New "Fire Pit"

 I’ll leave you with the ornamental strawberry path up front. They have taken over almost all the path and doesn't mind a little foot traffic.

Ornamental Strawberry Path