Camomile

Picked Camomile tonight. One. Flower. At. A. Time

Yarrow

Nine years ago, Karen's brother and I built a formal patio with brick pavers. The job was brutal in the August sun and with all the bending and crouching, I could barely walk for a week afterwards. The next summer I got three pallets of irregular flagstone for an informal area. I planted some thyme, iceplant and a few other herbs to fill in the spots between the flagstones. One of those plants that I used was Yarrow.

Yarrow has been used by humans for centuries as both a food and medicine. In fact, Achilles was said to have his army carry it because of its use in stopping bleeding from battle wounds. Too bad Yarrow couldn't stop a spear to the heel, eh Achilles?

Yarrow spreads quickly and as you can see, it has taken over a large part of the flagstone garden. When the Yarrow blooms in June, we get a sea of tiny white flowers. In July, the flowers turn brown and the plant starts to look ratty. So I will cut them down to show off the flowering thyme behind the Yarrow.

Late June blooms

About every two weeks I have posted with pictures of what is in bloom in the garden. As I look back over the posts, I am amazed at the variety of flowering plants we have planted over the years

As I write this in late June, Tiger Lillies are in bloom along with one of my favorites, Lavender. Hollyhocks, Lillies and Delphinium are also in bloom.

Cactus

Years ago, our friend at Fenner Hill Farm kept turtles with their sheep. We would bring some of our lettuce when it went to seed to feed the turtles. They loved the greens and we liked watching them happily gobble them up. Our friend gave us the cactus in the picture above as a thank you for the feeding the turtles.

We planted the cactus outside, not expecting much, and for years, our expectations were met. Then a couple of weeks ago, Karen dug up the cactus along with a nearby Azalea. Karen replanted the Azalea in a bed next to the driveway. She put he cactus in a pot and put it on the patio along with some newly potted Hydrangea and Margarite Daisies. Wouldn't you know it, the cactus immediately took to its new home, sent out dozens of new buds and bloomed with the first flower ever this morning. The lesson we learn over and over again is, if a plant is struggling in one spot, try moving it to another spot. It just might thrive with a change of scenery.

Garlic Scapes

Last year, I posted about how everything came in two to three weeks early. Garlic scapes were cut on June 12th. This year, I'm harvesting them two weeks later. Garlic Scapes are the flower pod for the garlic bulb. If you don't cut off the garlic scape, it will go to seed and flower. When this happens, the plant sends all its energy to reproducing the flower pod and takes it's energy away from the bulb. But, if you cut off the garlic scape, all the energy goes to the bulb. This is how you get a nice, full bulb of garlic come the fall.

An added benefit is using the garlic scape for some great eating. Some folks use the scape in stir fry like a scallion. I've also been told to marinate them in soy sauce. But my all time favorite way to prepare Garlic Scapes is to make pesto. Just take the Garlic Scape, put it in a food processor with some salt (and maybe some cayenne pepper) and drizzle in some nice olive oil. We put the pesto in sterilized jars and freeze. Then, we enjoy the pesto in soup, with pasta, in salad dressing and as a vegetable marinade before we put them on the grill. Harvest your garlic scapes now and tell me what you like to do with them.

Romaine Lettuce

We grow two kinds of Romaine at One Love Farm; green and red. Both taste great and have a wonderful crisp texture. Romaine is best known as a salad green, especially in Cesar Salad. The problem for vegetarians is Cesar Salad dressing usually has anchovies. So, I've added a link for a vegetarian Cesar Salad. Romaine leaves are also large and sturdy so they are great a great substitute for flat bread or tortillas when making wraps.

I like to harvest Romaine when it is very as a cut loose leaf and also in the traditional large heads. Either way, Romaine is delicious in salads. The key to a nice crisp salad is the wash the leaves well and spin them dry. Soggy leaves will dilute the dressing and make an untasty mess. Once dry, cut out any large ribs on the leaves and cut the leaves into small bite size pieces. Way better than any bland lettuce you will get at the grocery store! Let me know your favorite kind of lettuce.

Peas

I have not planted peas in many years. When I got my first house in Warwick, I tried to plant peas a couple of times, but they never germinated. I can't explain why they never sprouted, maybe I planted them too early, maybe too late. Maybe they were over watered or not watered enough. Whatever the reason, I didn't plant peas for ten years figuring it was just not meant for me to have peas in my garden.

This spring I decided to give peas another try. I planted them in early spring in a raised bed with a lot of compost worked in. I built a small trellis for the peas to climb and watered the seed bed every day until they sprouted ten days later! The pea tendrils climbed up the trellis and tons of white flowers covered the vines. The next week I was picking pea pods and steaming them with other veggies for dinner. The great thing about peas is that they keep coming for weeks, so we will have a supply of fresh peas well into July. If you have more peas than you and your neighbors can eat, blanch them and freeze them.

Red Winged Blackbird

I was talking to my mom on the phone Friday when I heard the red winged blackbird in our backyard. I snapped a few quick pictures and told my mom the story of Enzo, the crazy bird at One Love Farm. She reminded me of a bird that built a nest in our mailbox when I was a kid. For two summers, he wouldn't let anyone near the mailbox so we had to stop home delivery and my mom would drive into town to pick up our mail.

Sweet Willaim or Candytuft

In October 2009, Karen and I took a trip to Virginia and Washington DC. One of our stops was Monticello. Thomas Jefferson was a dedicated botanist and even listed his occupation as "farmer" on his census form. In addition to the garden for the plantation, he had grapes for wine and planted an orchard.

In addition to the house tour, there is a plantation tour where you can learn about the lives of the slaves who planted, and harvested the garden as well as keeping the house and tending to the animals. Though none of the slave houses are left standing, some slave house foundations have been uncovered. It is interesting to note that the talk about slavery on the tours of Monticello is a relatively new development. For decades, the treatment of slaves was glossed over, and there was no mention of Jefferson's treatment of the slaves.

After the tour, we visited the gift shop. In addition to the usual set of knick knacks, T-shirts and DVDs, there is a selection of vegetable and flower seeds. We bought some seeds, including a flower mix. Karen and I planted the packet in the spring of 2010 and they bloomed that summer. But, most of the flowers were annuals and did not come back this year. We got mostly Sweet William back this year, although Karen thought it could be Candytuft as well. Let me know what you think this flower could be.

Beets

I was never a big fan of beets growing up (who was?). I only knew the jarred, neon red variety overly sour and turning your whole plate and everything on it bright red. Then, Karen introduced me to roasted beets and we started growing them. Now we love the greens of beets in salads (including the baby micro greens) or sauteed with olive oil and garlic. And, the beet root itself is terrific roasted and in a salad with goat cheese.

Beets are fairly easy to grow. They like cool weather. In fact, they are one of the first things we plant in March along with radishes on St. Joseph Day. Once beet seeds germinate, it is important to thin them out. Beets like a little space to form the root, but don't throw the thinnings away. These tiny greens are are wonderful in salads. The full root will form and be ready for harvest in about 60 days. These beets took a little longer due to the cool and wet spring. Plant beets every two weeks to ensure a continuous harvest throughout the season. Plant again in late summer to get fall beets.

There are lots of different varieties of beets and it is fun to have different colors and shapes of beets on your plate. Touchstone Gold is one of the best yellow beets that we grow at One Love Farm. My new favorite is Forono, an Italian variety that is cylindrical in shape. The shape is interesting and the taste is terrific. If you see Forono seed, pick some up and try it.

Peony

We've never grown Peony before, but Karen planted one three years ago. As the old saying goes, the first year they sleep, the second year, they creep, the third year, they leap. As you can see, this is the leaping their year.

Poppies

Like many people, my first memory of poppies was in The Wizard of Oz. Of course, I had no idea what the symbolism of the snow falling on the poppies while Dorothy and her friends got sooooo sleeeepy. Later, I remember seeing Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page wearing a poppy suit while performing. Paul McCartney mentions poppies in his song "Penny Lane." This is a reference to poppies being a symbol of war dead in England as well as Canada and the US.

I didn't realize until much later that you can grow poppies in the garden. They are easy to grow and bloom in a variety of colors (see the salmon colored poppies above). The poppies we grow in New England are different from the California poppy which is a smaller annual flower. And, the opium poppy grown in places like Afghanistan is illegal in most western countries.

Hawk

When we moved to Hope Valley in 2002 one of the first things we noticed was the abundance of wildlife. rabbits and snakes, foxes and coyotes, hawks and herons and tons of other birds. And, of course, frogs. We only saw a couple of hawks at first, one, two or three circling above our neighborhood. The family has increased over the years and now there are at least seven hawks. They will circle over a spot, using their incredibly sharp eyesight to spot prey. If they don't find anything, they will circle again in a nearby area. I have seen them work for hours before finding something to eat. Usually, small rodents like field mice which are in the huge open field behind the house. I took this picture the other day and it is from a fair distance away. But, I have seen the bird circle only a few dozen feet above my head, heard the whoosh of the air as their wings keep them aloft and once, with my head down while weeding, was startled by a huge shadow as a hawk swooped right over my head.

Early June Blooms

The nice thing about having a large perennial bed is being able to enjoy a wide variety of plants. Our berm is "L" shaped and is 100 feet long and almost as wide. We've planted pine trees that will eventually completely dominate the base of the "L" (If they don't already) with ornamental grasses anchoring top leg. Mountain Laurel and other shrubs and small trees are also in this area, but the blooms in a flat area of bed contain blooming perennials like peonies, hydrangea, lavender, iris, creeping phlox, rose of sharon, poppies, hollyhocks, delphinium, russian sage and, of course, black eyed susan.

Above are some pictures of what is in bloom today. From top: poppy, iris, foxglove. As Karen and I were weeding the bed and taking down a couple of small dead trees (victims of a harsh New England winter) I noticed that in addition to what is blooming right now, the lavender is budding out. In a couple of weeks, we will have tons of sweet smelling lavender blooms.

Lettuce

We are in prime lettuce harvest season at One Love Farm. By practicing succession planting, we have a constant harvest of lettuce from May through July. Then in August, we will plant again for the fall and have more lettuce until frost in October. Some frost tolerant varieties of greens, like Arugula, will give leaves until November. The Providence Journal did an article on succession planting and interviewed me about which crops are good for succession planting. Kris Craig came to One Love Farm and took some pictures of our lettuce which you can see here.

Succession Planting

Last year, I posted about extending the growing season and boosting your harvest by succession planting. Tom Meade from the Providence Journal interviewed me about this subject recently and ProJo photographer Chris was at One Love Farm yesterday to take pictures. Check out the article by clicking here for some more of my thoughts on succession planting as well as the insight Tom has from his research and years of outdoor reporting for the Providence Journal.

Dianthus

Last year, a warm and sunny April meant flowers bloomed early and veggies were ready for harvest earlier than normal. For example, Dianthus bloomed two weeks earlier in 2010.

Dianthus makes a nice ground cover since it will spread. Some people find the pink flowers sickly sweet, but most people think they are fun. Since the blooms only last a week or two, the foliage needs to hold interest. I really like the blue/green spiky leaves that are soft to the touch.