harvesting the view

i have always love surrounding myself with beautiful things.
plants are beautiful things.
seeing their green leaves shining in the sun after freshly fallen rain.

it makes me happy...then to see a new bud about to bloom...well
it can give me the shivers...so exciting.

having a piece of my sisters garden in mine has been extra special.

the miss muffet caladiums in yet another container are faring well.

these great little ornamental peppers are just as pretty as any bloom.

one thing that has just captured my heart this year is adding

so many eatables to the gardens.

our blueberry plant hasn't yielded much but they say

sometimes you don't even get fruit the first year...i am okay with that.

as you know we have inter cropped flowers, fruits, and vegetables.

bacopa still hanging in there.

you've got to have lots of water to keep the birds around to

eat your bugs...this lovely handmade low~leafed bowl was

bought at our local farmers market in franklin. it sits amongst the

watermelon leaves, tomato plants, zinnias, and the shallots.

native asters

tomatoes ripening on the vine provide lots of colour.

the cantaloupe adds the much needed texture even though

it works like camouflage under their leaves.

gazanias are a wonderful little flower that opens and closes with the sun.

butterfly bush looks great spent or freshly blooming.

our organic tomato are imperfectly beautiful.

zinnias are placed in and around the tomato plants.

they make the best cut flowers...

last year cosmos at this time were taking center stage...not so much this year.

i am thinking they might come around in august, usually our hottest, driest month.

the morning glory uncurling in the early morning sunlight.

smart weed

asiatic dayflower...found it's way to bloom on the borders of our farm.

i love being able to go out to the gardens and harvest

for tonight's dinner...marigolds for the salad...basil for the sauce.

purple basil, lemon balm, cherry zinnias surround the bee skep.

a few weeks ago we harvested our first carrot of any size...but

since then we have been pulling them out regularly...renny gets

a few fresh carrots almost everyday.

abbey doesn't mind at all and has a keen interest in the garden.

she also loves to photograph the harvest...her capture of a

recent trip out to the okra.

dinners have been the main place we are using the herbs...

on this night we were making spaghetti sauce...

lemon basil went into the salad.

purple basil, italian parsley, oregano into the sauce.

stevia into the freshly brewed tea.

i call dh my sous chef because he's great at chopping all my fresh

ingredients.

( The sous chef has an eye on the chef's job, but never lets on. That sous chef, he's good at being all things to all people...It's a hard position. The sous chef has to do anything and everything the chef wants him to do.)

having the fresh flowers and veggies makes for a great impromptu

dinner with our daughter rachel and her girls.

my center pieces these days are less likely flowers and more likely

colanders of beans, bowls of okra, platters of tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

we love dining al fresco(in the fresh air; outdoors) anytime the weather permits.

this night's dinner was whole barbecue chicken on the grille,

fresh from the garden carrots, grilled organic corn~on~the~cob

topped with sour cream and asiago cheese, whipped potatoes and iced tea.

having fresh from the garden flowers is the best.

my life is filled with beauty... harvested straight from the view.