Amy's Garden 2022

When i was in my twenties and thirties I always had a vegetable garden. I bought my first house alone in 2006 and tended the yard and attempted a garden in the lawn which failed. The past few five years I have had a fallow area in the middle of lawn with goldenrod for the bees. It was usually wasps that came by to feast on the flowers. That spot in the yard was cleaned up and meticuously exfolieated and derocked and roots of weeds removed by my friend Vern. He is German born and is an amazing worker. Very methodical and thorough. I dedicate this post to him becasue without his hard work i would not have such a garden as i do. He planted some of the potatoes and also the garlic. The garlic was planted in the fall

The garlic was from my son, the tomatoes, onions, shallots,zuchinni and some of the potatoes were from my daughter.My daughter starts seeds in greenhouse. The sunflowers self sowed. There are three lupines that also self sowed. Some of the potatoes sprouted initially in the kitchen, they were from the grocery store (Vern planted them early in the spring) I have never grown dahlias, this is a first for me, and I found a punky old treestump nicely rotted down to put them near and in. They came from my friend David. I put bone meal down and sprinkled them with flower fertilizer. Friends and family make a garden special!

Bee Garden and Goldenrod

I went to my bee garden with the intention of gathering some goldenrod and peppermint in order to make a autumn tonic.  One steeps the goldenrod flowers with the peppermint for ten minutes(in water brought to a boil).  I captured a moment in the lives of several insects.

These tiny creatures are famished as most gardeners in town do not let a patch of lawn go wild.  The insects and I share a liking for goldenrod nectar.  It is good for the kidneys and can help ease discomfort from arthritis.