Thursday, July 22, 2010

Mid-July in the garden



The mamouth russian sunflowers have gotten to be about 8ft tall, and have halos of buzzing honeybees circling around them- so much so that it seems as thought they hum.



On the left are charentais melons. The 17th century Saint-Amant wrote that "This melon is firm to the centre, with few seeds like grains of gold," and it's inspired poems and webpages dedicated to it's flavor. I've never had one, but am about to have a lot. I read that they sometimes cut them in half and fill the center with a sweet wine such as Barsac, Marsala, Port or Madeira as an hors d'oeuvre.

There are also some summer squash, and a few small eggplants that I'm not holding my breath for- they never really took off, but have recently started to flower, so there is a glimmer of hope.

In the back are the sunflowers. In front of them are the tomatoes and carrots. Then several pepper plants. The big purple plant in the middle is a red cabbage, which has amazing water-resistant leaves that puddle water (my dog loves to drink from them). A rogue sunflower stands to the right, surrounded by brussel sprouts, a few different types of kale, sugar snap peas, onions and lettuce.



My dog is a regular fixture in the garden, and actively fulfills her (self imposed) post of 'watch dog.'

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I stumbled upon your blog while looking for some good sunflower photos around Michigan. I really love them.

It looks like you've got some good ones growing there, but you seem to have a lurker. Who is he and is he waiting until you turn your back to steal those gorgeous blooms? Or that cute little doggy?

Whatever the case, that is a gorgeous little garden you've got there. I'll have to try some of the recipes you've posted as well.

Vanessa said...

The lurker in the background is my garden cohort- I didn't realize that he was watering from the other side of the fence when I snapped the photo.

I'll try to take more photos soon, though the russian mammouth blooms are so top heavy that they're all drooping over. They look kind of sad, but the bees still love them.

Anonymous said...

They are very lovely! I used to have a little garden myself at my parents house...but the little woodland creatures kept eating everything.