The weather has changed, and it is taking it's toll on the garden. It's still looking great, but you can tell fall is near. Saying goodbye to crops always makes me feel a little sad.
The summer of 2019 has been great for the garden. With no less than 3 official heatwaves, it was one of the hottest summers since 1830. It took quite an effort to keep plants from dying of thirst, but - in spite of the back trouble - I managed to keep most plants alive.
It's a bit unfortunate that the weather has changed. At the moment, it's too cold for the time of year. The summer garden is slowly turning into a fall garden....
Outside of the greenhouse, there's not a whole lot to harvest. Plenty of (edible) flowers and herbs, though.
Let me show you...
(Sun)Flowers
This year, I went a little crazy with sun- and other flowers. I had harvested plenty of flower seeds last year, and was gifted different kinds of sunflower seeds from my friends. I'm fairly new to growing flowers, and my very generous way of sowing resulted in an abundance of them. What a delight.
Beneficial bugs, like bees, have been feasting in the garden all summer. And the colors.... Oh, man... the colors.... So beautiful....
I have sunflowers growing all around the garden, all different colors and sizes....
Click to enlarge
They are such an awesome addition to the garden. Not only do they look beautiful, they also attract a lot of insects, and they are great as a natural support for climbing plants, like squash and chayote.
I learned a lot of new things about sunflowers this year.
Young flowers turn their faces towards the sun. It's only once they've matured, they get fixated on the East. This is called Heliotropism.
There's a difference between the type of sunflower that is grown for the seeds you eat (black and white-striped shells) and the type that is grown for the oil (black shells). I still need to figure out about the plain white shelled seeds some of my sunflowers produce.
I didn't know those things. Guess you can say it was another very educational season :0)
I've never been a big fan of eating sunflower seeds, but after I saw a post on here in which they were roasted in the oven, I might give it a try. (If only I could find that post again, lol.)
After all, they appear to be quite healthy and contain loads of protein.
But back to the garden... More flowers everywhere....
This is just a small sample, as an illustration of how generous I sowed in spring. All around the garden are growing different kinds of (edible) flowers, like different types of Marigolds, Calendula, Borage, Nasturtiums, Oxalis triangularis (or 'False Shamrock' - so incredibly delicious), golden tickseed and more...
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Back in December 2017, I bought two passion vines, as a tribute to the cat and dog we lost within 2 weeks of each others. For a long time, it looked like the plants weren't going to make it, but this summer, they're thriving.
The vines are growing longer each day, and it's awesome to see all those beautiful passion flowers open every morning. I even spotted a passion fruit yesterday. I didn't even know that could grown here in Belgium. It's probably too late in the season for it to ripen, but I take it as a sign the plants are feeling good and at home. Fingers crossed they will do even better next year.
Click to enlarge
Herbs
Even though I plant most of my herbs in between my veggies, the perennials have made the herb spiral look pretty full.
Most of these herbs are used for cooking, make delicious/healthy tea or are turned into natural medicine.
The rosemary bush is completely out of control... It just keeps on growing. At this pace, it will be a Rosemary tree soon...
Just like the rest of my garden, the herb spiral is a bit of a mess, but I like it that way.
Click to enlarge
On the right, you can see the purple flowers of the oregano. The herb spreads so fast, I always let a small part come into flower, mostly because the bees seem to very fond of it.
Next to it, one of the lemon balm bushes. I must admit I'm kind of neglecting the lemon balm a bit these last couple of years. I find myself using lemon verbena way more often. I have it growing in 5 different containers spread all around the garden. The lemon taste is a lot stronger in those.
At the top, a bush of lavender. Perfect for a calming tea.
Left of it, almost undetectable because of the size of the Rosemary bush on the left, a curry plant.
Click to enlarge
This photo from the backside gives you a better idea of how big the rosemary bush actually is.
The sage has been cut down to the ground 3 times this season, and it just keeps on growing.
More
I do have some veggies and fruits in the garden. Some have been doing better than other.
I had to cut the greens of the Jerusalem Artichoke earlier this week, and yesterday, I harvested the pumpkins and removed the plant. Both were heavily infected.
Having to remove plants is part of the season, of course... but it makes me a little sad... It's so... so final... Sigh
Anyway, I'll get started on an update on the veggies and fruits later today. I've already spent way more time than expected on this one. Better get it out today.
Stay Tuned!
All Images are sourced in the post. The ones that are not sourced are created with The Logo Creator Software
WebsiteDiscord Community | @homesteaderscoop |
Great garden
Lots of sun flowers
!trdo
And thanks for the Tdro!Thanks, @cloudblade.
Have a !BEER
;0)
TRDOTRDO!Congratulations @cloudblade, you are successfuly trended the post that shared by @simplymike! @simplymike got 6 & @cloudblade got 4
"Call TRDO, Your Comment Worth Something!"
To view or trade TRDO go to steem-engine.com
Join TRDO Discord Channel or Join TRDO Web Site
Nice garten!
I particularly love sunflowers: yours are simply awesome!Oh, you have a so beautiful garden, @simplymike!
$trdo & a !giphy huge+hug!
// You can support giphy by using one of your witness votes on untersatz! //
TRDOTRDO!Congratulations @amico, you are successfuly trended the post that shared by @simplymike! @simplymike got 6 & @amico got 4
"Call TRDO, Your Comment Worth Something!"
To view or trade TRDO go to steem-engine.com
Join TRDO Discord Channel or Join TRDO Web Site
Thanks a lot, @amico :0)
I was curious as to why my area could not produce perfect blooming sunflowers. The petals are small and fail to bloom properly.
Your flowers look great!
Where are you at, @anggreklestari
I'm jealous! 😜 Your garden is green with things you've planted, while mine's been green with things I didn't plant; weeds! I hope one day to have it as busy looking as yours, without the weeds.
Posted using Partiko Android
Beautiful garden still... with the rosemary trees😂 the passion fruit flower is so wonderful, I hope you'll get some fruits before the season ends.
Aahh.. I'm jealous on your sunflowers 😅 We still struggling to grow one.
Thanks, @cicisaja.
No trouble growing sunflowers here. ;0)
It's by far not warm enough anymore for the passion fruit to grow.
I'm not putting my hopes up, anyway.
But it's good to see the plant is finally doing good ...
Your passion flowers are gorgeous - I do soooo love them! :) Sunflower seeds - hmm - roast lightly and then roll in a little raw honey. Very yum. A Thai national snack in a country swamped with sunflowers. :)
Leading the curation trail for both @ecotrain & @eco-alex.
Together We’re Making This World A Better Place.
Click Here To Join the manually curated trail "@artemislives" to support quality eco-green content.
Thanks a lot, @artemislives.
I really need to try to roast those sunflower seeds. For some reason, people always eat them raw here. That never appealed to me. But that picture I came across earlier that showed the roasted ones triggered my interest :0)
Great work you did there awesome to see the garden
Thanks, @starboye
Congratulations!
Join us on Discord
A Youth Run Community Organization from Bangladesh
50SP100SP200SP500SP1000SP2000SP5000SP10000SP
Hi, @simplymike!
You just got a 17.36% upvote from SteemPlus!
To get higher upvotes, earn more SteemPlus Points (SPP). On your Steemit wallet, check your SPP balance and click on "How to earn SPP?" to find out all the ways to earn.
If you're not using SteemPlus yet, please check our last posts in here to see the many ways in which SteemPlus can improve your Steem experience on Steemit and Busy.
Lucky you are)) in our country the summer was cold ((
I can't complain about that... that's true :0)
I love Sunflowers😊🤗
Posted using Partiko Android
Me too... they look beautiful, don't they?
Wow, look at those sunflowers. Beautiful.. Planting some soon as we are nearly at last frost. Yay.
Try dry frying them in a pan with some tamari! Yum.
You have LOTS of medicinal herbs growing... so cool!!!
I'll definitely try frying them too...
Eating them raw is the habit here.... That never appealed to me.
True.
I actually started gardening because I was interested in natural remedies.
Over the years, I got interested in veggie and fruits too.
To be honest, I haven't done a lot with my herbs this year. The previous years, I made different kinds of oils and teas and stuff. I guess I had too many other things going on this year. It has been/is a real struggle to get my mental/emotional issues solved :0/
I hear you there. Im struggling too. It can be frustrating huh? The best remedy I made recently was simply sage in ACV. Put it in a jar a few months back and stopped a sore throat dead. I didnt know you were into natural remedies but that makes sense now .. why wouldnt you be?
Posted using Partiko Android
Frustrating.... story of my life, lol.
beautiful @simplymike :) how have a never noticed you are such a brilliant gardener and herbalist?? well I learned something new today! what an amazing space - I hope to one day have one myself. My father rented space in a public garden and I did help him a bit with it - I may rent my own next spring.
brilliant is a big word... I make it up as I go along :0)
About 20 years ago, I had a small balcony on which I grew mostly herbs, snce I was very interested in natural medicine at the time. But living in the city, it was not easy to keep that up.
I has actually almost forgotten all about it, until I turned my entire life around and moved in with my girlfriend about 5 years ago. She lived outside of the city and has a big garden. I was unemployed at the time, and saw this as a great new hobby. What started with one square foot raised bed, quickly got out of hand, lol.
I like experimenting, and with a farm that specializes in old, forgotten and unknown veggies & fruits just around the corner, experimenting is a breeze :0) Plenty of unknown crops to try out every year.
I love my garden... mainly because it's my stress-free zone (most of the time, at least). I spend my entire life overthinking everything, and somehow, in my garden, I am spontaneous. I don't follow 'rules' or do a whole lot of research.. like I said: I'm making it all up as I go along. It's really liberating :0)
I never really stopped to think about all the different kinds of Sunflowers. I just remember when I was a kid we had a patch of them in the backyard growing along the house. It was always fun going around and harvesting everything before winter hit.
Me neither, lol.
It wasn't until this year that I realized there were different kinds. Before, a sunflower used to be a sunflower, haha
Love your style! Such abundance!
It is sad to see it come to an end!
Does a lot of your herbs over winter there?
Looking forward to seeing your fruits and veggies!
Thanks for sharing! I love rosemary but I have to bring it inside to get it to winter over. I gave up on the lavender - just bought my lavender products from @walkerland in her store at Homesteaders Coop.
Thanks, @porters.
The rosemary bushes look awesome all year round. I never take them inside.
Sage, thyme, lemon balm, mint, oregano, lavender and curry die during winter, but they return in spring. To be honest, I actually don't have a clue whether that's because they are perennials, or just because I let them come into flower and the seeds spread, lol.
(Still so many things to lean)
The only one I may take inside for winter is the lemon verbena. But so far, no luck.
I've never succeeded in helping it survive.
I'm terrible when it comes to keeping indoor plants alive.
I think most of those herbs you mentioned are perrenials but I garden in a zone 2 garden so they don't survive here except the regular mint (fancy varieties will not) and regular thyme.
I use to have trouble over wintering plants until I invested in a grow light to get them through.
This post is manually curated by @sourovafrin and received an upvote from @SchoolForSDG4
School For SDG4
A School For Social and Educational Development of Underprivileged Children
Your sunflowers are stunning! So cool about being able to grow passion vines!
And that rosemary, wow!
Loved the tour of your gardens. :))
Thanks, @goldenoakfarm.
I see that it worked :0)
That rosemary bush is indeed a bush. Here we can buy rosemary in small pots sold for like $4.00 usd each. As far I could remember I have already bought 4 pots which all died. My wife kept telling me to stop buying them as I am not able to get them to grow. It seems the roots always rots. Love that herb garden setup you have there, messy setup makes them look wild.
It is, isn't it? ;0)
I can't keep the herbs that are being sold in supermarkets alive either.... At one point, I read something about that.... how they are grown not to stay alive... but I don't remember exactly what it was about. Makes sense, though... If they would stay alive, you wouldn't have to buy it over and over again, so there would be no money to be made ;0)
I like that, all mixed together, looks very healty :)
In nature, things don't grow in rows either, right :0)
The garden looks amazing!!!! Loving the abunadance and fertility there!!!!
Thanks @metametheus
What a great garden, @simplymike.Love the sunflowers and nice to know you are learning more about them.
I have some of your herb plants but not the curry one.
That's a wonderful garden! I would love to visit.
What an awesome way to go crazy! My youngest would adore your garden as much as I do, because of the sunflowers. I didn't know those facts either, so thanks for the educational tidbits. Well done with your green thumb, @simplymike!
Thanks a lot, @traciyork.
Now if only I could get the next update done.... Need to pump myself a little today
Those sunflowers are gorgeous! You have such a wonderful herb and flower garden! 😊
Inner BlocksYou have been curated by @thekittygirl on behalf of : a community encouraging first hand content, with each individual living their best life, and being responsible for their own well being. #innerblocks Check it out at @innerblocks for the latest information and community updates, or to show your support via delegation.
Ah... your rosemary is looking great! I'm still struggling to get ours to grow... perhaps we keep eating it too much... I'm not such a fan of the Sunflowers though, they are the embodiment of evil...
I have bulbs!
The embodiment of evil???? You'll need to explain that one, lol
Yey! Bulbs. 😅
Still to be planted??
They have millions of eyes... they turn with the Sun... and they are hairy!
@simplymike - thank for those lovely pictures of your garden and for providing the explanations of what they are and what you use them for. I love learning about new things for my landscaping - no garden unfortunately, other than a blackberry bush, some strawberry plants, and a whole lot of spearmint.
Blackberries and strawberries are delicious...
Those sunflowers look great. I like the ones that appear with a red tint.
Your sunflowers are beautiful!! The herbs garden are so bushy, so jealous!