Early August Update

Moving right along...well here it is August already!  We began with some much needed rain as the end of July had been very dry. All open fires are banned in fact, so our firepit is getting no use, except to be filled with garden debris...not a pretty sight. The sun came out today, and I can almost feel the garden perk in it's gratefulness, blooms straightening up to kiss the sky. The daylilies are in their prime, although those spent are like sodden hankies and need plucking off.

Variety of daylilies, Persicaria Firetail to the right, clematis growing on fence.

Still, I can't believe it's August, even though the tomatoes tell me so. They've had a bit of blight hit them...not much, but enough that if I don't get on it today, snipping off lower leaves, the whole thing might get out of hand. Mulching underneath with newspaper and straw has, over the past two years, made a big difference but some varieties are more susceptible. This must be the case with Amish Paste as it is the worst hit and yet, it is in a prime spot. Go figure. Carrots and other crops are starting to make it to the table, which on rainy days, we like roasted in the oven, bit of rosemary, olive oil, hunks of garlic....lovely.

Carrots, onions, red and white beets.

Can you see our steps in the background of this photo above? When we started the garden, thirteen years ago, the back yard was a huge plot of stony dirt, with a white gravel patch where you could park a car, at the foot of where the steps are today. When I think back over the years, and the soil we made, and brought in, collectively, it seems a lifetime. But we knew even then, we wanted to see the garden from our kitchen window, and not have to walk far to gather food for supper.

I'm working outside today, so will give an update on what's growing in the veg garden shortly and in the raised beds. The bean tepees, you can just see them off center in right of the above photo, have the vines right to the top now, and are showing a variety of flowers. Meanwhile just off the deck, the tall purple flowering Verbena bonariensis, and the hugely fragrant Nicotiana 'Jasmine Alata' from Renee's Garden Seeds, are popular with the hummingbirds. The Nicotiana  pumps out perfume from late afternoon into the evening. Can't ever be a better annual to bring scent to a night garden.

Time to get my hands dirty.