My Garden

The tomatoes need weeks to grow and ripen.

Had my breakfast eating the ripe cherries. The rest need more time to ripen.

What a wonderful garden, Abe! The most I could manage in my garden is a row of potatoes! The cherries look good enough to eat! Yum!

Amazing garden, Abe! So neat, and weed free! We had a cherry tree when I was growing up. They were the best!

I hang old CD's on a stick as reflectors to keep the birds from eating the new salad plants.
I expect to be eating some new salad this weekend.

Pepper plants and more salad.

Okay. I promise. No more pictures.

Is that a lavender plant in the lower left corner of the 2nd picture up?

Ann

Yes, it is lavender. I have several lavender plants around the garden. When they're finished blooming, I cut the stems and let them dry, then take the seeds and place them in a cloth sack. They are great to place under a pillow. They give a lovely fragrance.

Dear Abe,
Your garden is grand! Is that a cold frame by the little wall? You must love to work in your garden and it shows. What is that red lettuce? I have been looking for seeds for that.
Love,
Betty

Betty,
The frame is where I plant the seeds and cover it with old window frames. It functions like a greenhouse. I prefer to plant my own seeds rather than buy the plants. As for the red salad, we just call it red salad. I think it's called Red Leaf Lettuce. Don't know if there is another word for it.
We mix the red with the green when making a tossed salad.

Thanks to all of you for your comments. Gardening is lots of work, but rewarding. I don't use any commercial fertilizer in my garden. I place grass clippings and the remains of garden vegetables on a compost pile. In the Fall or Spring, I spread the compost over the garden before digging. It is a natural fertilizer and helps keep the ground from hardening.

6/3/2011

Abe..

Your garden looks fantastic ! Are you growing
Cucumbers ? I love the English seedless ones.


Cheers..Joe

Beautful garden, Abe.

Joe,
yes, cucumbers and zuccini. I didn't take a picture of that since I thought I have uploaded enough photos. The plants are just beginning to take root, but will spread quickly in vine form. I bought burpless cucumbers/pickle seeds when I was in the States. We'll see how they turn out.

Thanks Alice.

Abe F. March wrote:

Yes, it is lavender. I have several lavender plants around the garden. When they're finished blooming, I cut the stems and let them dry, then take the seeds and place them in a cloth sack. They are great to place under a pillow. They give a lovely fragrance.

They are also good for cooking; they add a delicate flavor. There is a blend called Herbs de Provence that includes dried lavender blossoms with thyme, parsley, and a few others.

Lavender grows well in the wine country here, so we have lots of recipes which use it with chilis, like lavender jalapeno jelly, which is delicious spread over cream cheese and served with crackers, or a lavender-chipotle-raspberry sauce that can be used in many different ways, including barbecueing.

Sorry to go on; just wondering if you grow other herbs, and which ones you like to cook with.

Ann

Abe,

You cannot have too many pictures. I see no peas.

Dear Abe,
I found the red lettuce. It is called 'Red Sails' and I can order seeds for this fall.

You should write a book about gardening there in Germany. It could be an ebook.

I have thought of writing an ebook about hydroponics. I am just so lazy about it. What it really is . . . I am still learning.

Love,
Betty

Betty,
glad you found the red lettuce, "Red Sails".
As far as writing a book, I've still much to learn and I am much like you with your statement about being "just so lazy and sill learning."

Ann, I didn't know lavender was edible and that it was a herb. Just considered it a nice spelling flower. See, I've much to learn.

Ann,
the herbs we have in our garden include:
Thyme, Rosemary, Chive, Parsley, Majorane.
Also use green onion tops.
Now I'll have to try lavender.

Abe,

Your garden is fantastic.
It is so well taken care of.

If eveyone did that, we'd be better off.

Thanks Alice.
It is functional and provides us with fresh vegetables. What we can't consume, we freeze for winter usage - what can be frozen. Too bad one can't freeze salad.

Most everyone in my village has a garden. We usually find a sack of something on our doorstep during the growing season. What one can't use is shared. We do the same.

I feel sorry for people who live in the city with no plot to have a garden. Some do use planters on balconies, however that has its limits, but every little bit helps.