Garden Update ~ Home Sweet Home

After a week in Pennsylvania with zero human garden intervention, I wasn’t sure what I’d find upon arrival home. David and my friend Kimber kept me updated on the major storms and almost daily deluges, so no one watered, and only David ventured into the growing jungle to harvest a few things he could recognize.

Before I left, Kimber and I made arrangements for our friend Dan to treat our yards with the special treatment he normally reserves for huge organic farms. He knows how much she and I care about the land, though, so he makes twice per year exceptions to treat our yards with his unique formulation. In addition to arranging with Dan, I also had a little chat with the Deva of our yard, requesting she keep an eye on things and not let anything dry out or go to seed, unless I wanted it to do so. When I arrived home last night, everything looked surprisingly well maintained! Well, I guess no surprise considering the Devic help, but still … I was treated to flowers and sometimes a foot or more of growth.

David and I visited on the way back from the airport and enjoyed a GMO-free Chipotle burrito bowl salad dinner, but then he kindly excused me to survey the yard. I definitely had a date with the weedwhacker this afternoon, but on the whole, all I did last night was harvest and take photos. Gardeners probably know that cucumbers love to hide. I kept suggesting David help himself to cucumbers while I was away, but he couldn’t find any. They sure are tricky! I came in with three armloads last night:

Extra cucumbers make a perfect base for fresh green juice, this one with cukes, parsley, lemonbalm, kale, chard, collards and two tiny unripe pears harvested so the Asian pear tree can focus mroe energy on fewer fruits:

The potatoes in bags also look almost ready to harvest. (I think! I’ve never grown potatoes, but they’re drooping like I think they do before harvest.)

Everything else just looked lush. Please excuse some blurriness in the photos, as I took them at sunset last night. I like how the low light captures a different feel in the garden — more like how the garden feels all the time, just with more visible faery action in liminal twilight. 🙂

The white lilies have been delighting David all week, but they saved a little bit more of the show for me.

Things are growing so full that I’ll need to move some of the perennials to spots with more room!

Roses and two new blueberry bushes, growing in containers in a former black walnut area where pokeweed and comfrey thrive. I need more wood mulch! Much more, actually. I had a foot high grape vine bust through landscape cloth and four inches of mulch while I was away.

Sweet potatoes will eventually climb the trellis and look like morning glories:

One brand new strawberry plant put a lot of energy into this one, scrumptious berry!

I think these squash plants doubled in size while I was away.

My favorite scene from last night:

David said this area’s been full of butterflies all week. Last night it just looked lovely, a soft welcome home after a wonderful visit with family, friends and students in Penn’s Woods. Stay tuned for the post on my trip, as well as a very exciting announcement about some changes to my business and how that affects the gardens and opportunities for in-person trainings and Wheel of the Year celebrations. I know, the suspense, right?! Hopefully, the flowers will tide you over until I can make things official. 🙂