Friday, June 25, 2010

My Kitchen Garden

I have to start out here by saying that I love gardens, but I have never been the best gardener.  I live in climate that has very hot summers and so unless I wake up very early, there's not a lot that gets done in the garden in the summer.  Summer is my project time since I'm a teacher and that's when I can get things done - things in the air conditioning that is.  :)

But this year is different.  We have always had a VERY shady home, in fact, that's one of the main reasons we bought this house - the trees.  But this year we had to take out two liquidambar trees that were destroying our driveway and working their way towards the foundation of our sweet cottage.  You can read and see about the end of Mr. and Mrs. Liquidambar here.

So Worker Bee and I decided to tackle square foot gardening.  We built raised beds, filled them with compost, and planted seeds and a few transplants.  This is what it looked like in April.

Then there was a little more progress in early May.

And now today we're already harvesting!  



We're even trying to grow corn!


Did I mention we're also growing a cutting garden?






These two gardens are just steps out my kitchen side door and if I decide I need some fresh herbs I can just walk out and snip some.  The other night we were having some marinated grilled flank steak, a green salad and some of our baby squash when I decided to liven things up a bit and make an herb butter to put on our baguette.  Just a short stroll, a little bit of chiffonade, and we had a tasty little accent to our delicious dinner. 

Can you tell I love my new kitchen garden? 

Today I'm joining the parties at Cindy's My Romantic Home

and

Tootsie's Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie's Time.

Hope you can stop by and see what's going in at both parties.  

And, if you ever need me to chiffonade for you, come on by!

 

25 comments:

  1. How sweet is this?! Your cutting gardens are wonderful! LOVE bachelor buttons.
    Don't you just love going out and cutting something to use in a recipe?
    Herbs rule!!!!
    Debbie@houseatthelake
    Thank you for stopping by and leaving such a nice comment.

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  2. Your garden is fantastic! I'm showing hubby this one for sure.
    Enjoy your summer!

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  3. The garden is lovely -- veggies and flowers for cutting - I'm jealous! I don't get enough full sun for a veggie garden; I miss lots of peas and green beans. But I do have the Saturday morning Farmer's Market thankfully.

    Happy weekend!

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  4. Wozza..it has really blossomed( lol)I love that you have cut flowers also..It is doing great!!

    Hugs..Cindy from Rick-Rack and Gingham

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  5. What a wonderful kitchen garden! Flowers, herbs, and veggies... perfect.

    I think S.F. Gardening is still a wonderful use of space; I stole the book back from my Dad years ago and still refer to it. I haven't done a strict "SF" plot in some years, but when I used that method I had the best yield of any method, much better than traditional rows.
    Keep taking pics and sharing them!
    Happy FF -- Cass

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  6. Wow your garden is wonderful! I would love to have one outside my backdoor but I am like you, not the greenest thumb and the afternoon sun hits really hard out my door. I'm going to have to think of a different place as you've inspired me :) Have a great day! ~ Laura

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  7. Looking wonderful! One of the sweetest things to do is go to your garden to pick a bunch of fresh veggies and a darling bouquet of flowers!!

    xoxo
    becky

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  8. Good for you, enjoy your new gardens! There is nothing better than using things from your own garden!

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  9. This is wonderful!!!! Would it be OK if I kept a couple of your photos???? This fall I am putting up a small ( and I mean small) garden like yours...this can help us figure out how to make it! I love the idea of the string too!!!!! You have done a good thing here.....:):)

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  10. It looks fantastic! I just love eating the vegetables out of our garden! Great job!!!
    Kathy

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  11. Congratulations on your harvesting! I just love bachelor buttons.

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  12. Gosh....I keep marveling at your beautiful garden,,,,,mine are so sloppy and disorganized....you are quite the FINE gardener.....hugs, Genie

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  13. I'm happy to see an update on your garden. Wow, harvesting already! Time flies, and plants grow! Everything is definitely thriving, and I like to hear what you've been cooking. You always make the best dinners for your family!
    Have a great weekend!
    Carol

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  14. You should love your kitchen garden. It's wonderful!
    So pretty!
    Have a lovely weekend,
    Molly

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  15. Aren't you proud of yourselves! You should be. What a marvelous garden you have there.
    Brenda

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  16. They are fabulous your gardens. I think I will work towards a cutting garden next year! Love how it looks!!

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  17. Happy Friday! I am stopping by via the linky party.

    Your garden looks utterly charming!

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  18. My goodness! I sooo enjoyed seeing how you are gardening! I really enjoyed your pictures. I really loved seeing your cutting flowers. How is it I have been forgetting to plant bachelor buttons? I love those!

    Oh yes, our jam was quite tasty. I really loved the batch where I doubled the almond extract. It gave it a very cherry taste!

    We used to live in Atwater...anywhere near you?

    Thank you for your visit!
    Donna

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  19. oh.my.GOODNESS! This is very funny. Oh, please, you have to come back to "In the sunny spot" and see the post that came after my "Simple Summer" post. It's the one with Mr. Toad.....

    If you do make it back, then, leave a comment and I will come back and explain, yet, even more why this is sooooo funny!

    Your garden is coming along beautifully! We moved to a beautiful old farmhouse, two years ago. I left behind my too cramped (Although very adorable) cottage in town. I don't miss anything but the gardens. I had two gardens - just outside the kitchen door - that look about the same size as yours. One was for herbs and one was for vegetables. I just feel plain ol' lost without them. Someday..... someday we'll get to them, again. Do me a favor and absolutely love yours for me - okay? Thanks!

    Love, Katy Noelle

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  20. oh wow!!! what a great post...I love seeing the difference a few weeks can make in a garden...yours is outstanding...again...great post..thanks for linking in!

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  21. The corn will be so fun! I grew it years ago, and even if we only got a couple of meals out of it, it was SO worth it!
    As is the herb garden. Well, all the gardens are more than worth it.

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  22. I love square foot gardening too! It is much easier than the gardening I remember from childhood. Your vegetables have really done well this year. I planned on putting in a dedicated cutting garden this year, but we had such a long cold winter that I have not done it yet. I need to though because I have such a hard time cutting the ornamental flowers around the yard. :D

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  23. Lovely! It's too late to do much with mine this year (and we may be moving soon), but I hope to have something like your veggie garden next year.

    My flower garden looks good, though! :)

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  24. I'm so impressed with your beautiful gardens - I'd love to start a cutting garden myself!

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  25. Hi Bee,
    I have a brand-new inspirational blog...and I am featuring guest artists who would like to show their work on it...
    It's at:
    http://Ioweitalltohim.blogspot.com

    If you would like me to display one of your garden pictures, I would write an inspirational story to go with it, and have you as a guest artist...

    Just let me know....
    My email is: cindylou_20hotmail.com

    Also, I'll be announcing a Linky Party tomorrow...
    (that's for something different.)

    When you write, just make sure to put your blogspot address in the letter so I will be sure to find my way back!!!
    HUGS,
    Cindy

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