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Front Yard Garden Update
- by Laura
Okay, so we're slacking a bit. Weeds are growing. Some tomatoes are cascading onto the sidewalk. And this is no time to slack. It's August! There's weeding to be done, and harvesting, and then planting some fall crop. But hey, my kids were away with their aunt and uncle and grandparents in Florida this weekend, and it's the first time in years that my husband and I had a weekend off together. We headed to the city one day, the beach the next. Sorry garden, but no way was I staying home to tend you.
Still, it's hard not to beam with pride--and we do all the time. Our beans are very productive growing on the tee-pee in the center. Biggest success: cucumbers, which you see on the trellis in foreground, a long prickly skinned variety that is very crunchy. We eat them every night. Tomatoes a little slower than we'd hoped, but coming along and lovely. Hot peppers turning red. Chard ready to harvest. Root vegetables slow but coming. All in all, a great joy.
The biggest surprise for me was the bees. As I've written earlier, this garden--which mixes flowers, herbs, and vegetables--was inspired by the front yard gardens I saw in Italy. Now I'm really wondering why in the world we segregate or vegetable patches and flowers here. Clearly they belong together. Honeybees are attracted to flowers and then pollinate everything we've got. All summer long there have been dozens of bees in the garden at any given moment. They especially liked the cucumbers. Who knew that our garden would be helping bees--giving them food so they can make honey?
For those just visiting jellypress for the first time..... you can see how this garden was transformed from a useless patch of grass, by clicking the link below “tomatoes at my front door.”
see also: Tomatoes at my Front Door
To find out about Laura's search for a long lost family recipe, click [