It started out as any July morning:I enjoyed a cup of coffee in the party garden at 6:00 am while Riley stood guard and patiently waited for her run.
While we were running, I saw a hot air balloon. We stepped up the pace, got home, and I grabbed my camera and drove out to track it down. (Riley had a drink and a nap on the sofa.)
The balloon had a friend.
When I got home, I noticed a pair of Cedar Waxwings nesting in my yard. This is unheard of. I am thrilled to see them once a year, in a group, in winter. I have never seen Cedar Waxwings during nesting season.
They are very active, so the pictures aren’t great – but I have high hopes for the future.
summer
early july : my favorite things
My yard is bursting: with birds, animals, flowers, vegetables. Sometimes July can feel parched, but not this year. We are ripe with all of the things I love.Zinnias I planted from seed are in their full glory. When they no longer look pretty to me, I will leave them as a meal for my goldfinch friends.
The cherry tree is overripe to me, but it is alive with blue jays, red-breasted woodpeckers (and a fledgling – the first I’ve EVER seen), robins, brown thrashers, finches, cardinals, flickers, and titmice. The hummingbirds spend a great deal of time perching in it – but I have never seen them eating the fruit in any way. There are also a crazy amount of bunnies beneath the tree. Are they eating the cherries that fall?
The bird house gourds are happy to climb the trellis I made to keep them off the ground. I have big plans ahead for these, but the hummingbirds love their blossoms right now.
But of all those things to love, beautiful tomatoes, just days from being ripe, are my current favorite things.
free heirloom seeds
So, not only do my local libraries supply me with all the books I can read (no small task), the Woodbury and Pitman branches here in Gloucester County, NJ also lend out seeds.
They give me free heirloom seeds; I plant them, enjoy the bounty, and give them back some seeds at the end of the season. (And no fines if it doesn’t work out.) Sweet deal!
Below are just a few of the flower, vegetable and herb seeds I picked up. All it takes is a library card.
I’m hoping my backyard looks like this in a couple of months.
tomatoes
Every year around this time, I start to run out of ways to use up all the tomatoes. Here’s a list of my current favorites:
1) tomato & pesto sandwich
2) tomato pie
3) tomato salad with green beans & black olives
4) pizza topping
5) salsa (always)
6) halve cherry tomatoes, chop green pepper & onions & sprinkle with oregano. Keep in the fridge ready to add to: pasta, omelets, salad, soup, quiche, or pizza
How do you use tomatoes?
gardening
I can’t keep myself out of the garden. The laundry is piling up and my desk is a messĀ because I am spending way too much time checking on the progress of the sweet peas and planting flowers around the herb garden.
There’s something so compelling about planting a seed and watching it sprout, nurturing the plant and then picking and eating the produce. It feels like a little bit of magic, and it makes me see vegetables in a whole new way.