Herb Garden

 My vegetable garden is a large area of raised beds, 

fruit trees, grape vines and of course lots of vegetables and herbs

 I have six raised beds made from stacked stones all found here on our property.  

Each bed is about 8 x 10 feet and supplies us with an endless assortment of vegetables 

through out the year.

I usually mix herbs in with the other veggies and still do that 

but I decided is was high time to give the herbs a lovely little spot all to themselves

 I like the idea of adding height to a bed by using pots and barrels.  In fact, I like pots scattered about the yard in interesting ways to keep the garden playful and to add color into the mix.

For those that have read this blog for a while you may remember when I planted the lavender garden. Part of the design was to incorporate these inexpensive wine barrels and fill them with flowers

The barrels are filled with geranium now and bloom almost continually throughout the year 

 The lavender is just about ready for it's first bloom of the year

 Here the geranium filled barrels are peeking above the lavender

OK.....now back to the herb garden

The urn shaped pot in the center is filled with creeping oregano.  It can be planted as an ornamental but you can snip it off and use it in your sauces etc.

Another small decorative idea I used are these 2x2 stakes place in a grid pattern 

and topped with tiny vintage green house pots

The pots actually tend to keep 

the squirrels and raccoons out of the beds

The raccoons have played with the pots on a couple of occasions and I have found them broken in the morning but they have yet to actually climb into the bed and dig around.

I saw this idea on an English gardening website 

and though it was pretty ingenious

The herbs are all placed symmetrically and include 

sage, oregano, lavender, society garlic, rosemary and 3 or 4 varieties of thyme.

Society garlic (tulbaghia) is a perennial with pretty lacy purple flowers.  

The leaves have a really onion-ey smell and can be cut and used in cooking.  

They make a pretty cut flower for arrangements too

The oregano is great in sauces or just tossed into a salad mix

The thyme varieties were planted all along the edge of the bed 

and then criss crossed diagonally

I'm not sure if I will let the thyme spill over the edges 

or try to keep it neat and tidy...what do you think?

Either way...it smells heavenly and it is one of my most favorite cooking herbs.

I have used thyme in my large pots of color along our driveway too 

and it flowers with delicate lavender blossoms that cascades over the edges of the pots.

I really like this herb garden!

You could try this in a very small yard too

or 

how cute would this look along a walk way at your front entry?

Have a great week

&

Happy Gardening

Vegetables As Art: Part 1

 As you may have guessed I'm a

 "little bit of a crazy" 

when it comes to flowers...

I love all varieties, shapes and sizes

I'm not picky 

and I'll try just about anything in

 an arrangement at least once

well, maybe not poison ivy!

 This year in the vegetable garden I planted leeks...

I wanted leeks to eat and sauté 

but I was secretly hoping they would blossom

 and they did!

 These are little globes of 

oniony smelling 

leek flowers

 The flowers are pretty large actually...around 3 to 4 inches across

 tinged with a bit of purple and lime green

 I picked these just before I harvested the leeks and they have already lasted about a week 

in this arrangement of old milk bottles

The flowers that had not opened when I cut these,  

are now fully in bloom... 

which was another surprise

 I have planted Allium bulbs in the past, in my perennial beds, which are ornamental and not edible,

 but honestly, these are just as pretty 

and you get the benefit of the edible leeks as well

Two for the price of one!!!

  now onto the  

"vegetables as art"

 part of this story

 About 10 years ago I purchased this cookbook (originally publish in 1996) 

and it changed the way I look at the beauty of vegetables

I am a HUGE fan of Alice Waters 

and her cooking style

Alice and her staff have been the innovative force behind the 

"farm to table" philosophy and style of cooking 

in her landmark Berkeley California restaurant 

Chez Panisse

since 1971 

Anyone who is interested in cooking, organic farming and home gardening 

has heard of Alice Waters

She embraces the art of French cooking and was a friend and peer 

of the legendary Julia Child

She has supported her local community of farmers and growers 

from San Diego to the Oregon Border and beyond in search of 

of interesting and beautiful fresh produce, 

poultry, fish and charcuterie  

"Alice Waters and her suppliers share the belief 

that optimal flavor and environmental harmony go hand in hand"

 When I purchased this book, primarily for the recipes, it was actually the art work

that left me so in love with this cookbook 

all of the art included in this book is the work of Patricia Curtan, print maker,

 designer and long time collaborator at Chez Panisse

Patricia works with linoleum blocks or Linotype on a very old printing press.  She studied the art of printmaking and letter press early on in her collaboration with Alice 

which resulted in a collection of amazing menus 

these are just some of the beautiful interpretations of garden vegetables

 throughout this wonderful book

she manages to take the humble butternut squash 

and make it a package of gold 

and here are the simple and beautiful leek blossoms that have found their way

 into my love of

 honest and simple flower arrangements

much more to come...vegetables are beautiful !

yes indeed

Planting Sunshine

 Seeds from Renee's Garden are my favorites

and this summer I have two big barrels 

in the vegetable garden that I want to use just for flowers

 I like these half wine barrels in a country garden

 because they are big, natural looking and 

the gopher proof

 What a great spot for sunflowers!

I chose three varieties and mixed them up in each barrel

I think these Sunflowers will be wonderful!

as Renee says

"Flower treasures for the eye and heart"
and....
Thank you all for stopping by
and for leaving so many great comments about the new look of the blog.

This was so overdue
and
I can finally reply to comments on each post
which I was not able to do before.

Have a wonderful week

Hope you have time to plant a little sunshine in your garden!