Reclaiming A Path or Two!

This is Supposed to be a Maintenance Path!

Now That's Better!

This is the Last Piece of the Puzzle!

We were gone so much of last season that the garden had really overgrown itself.  The other day after the rain stopped we got in there and with some teamwork, we got the first part cut back and tied back so that we can actually reclaim the maintenance path.  We still have to get the last part done, but we just have to do it together.  Really when we have a common goal, anything can be accomplished!  Hope you had a great day.  We finally got to mow and I made some arugula pesto.  Always something to do this time of the year.  Talk to you later.   P.S. This is my 1,100 post!  I'm coming up on an anniversary next week.  So stay tuned a giveaway is coming!

Brother Cadfael Meet the Queen!

A bit of Olympic humor!  We have finally been out in the garden this morning and I spotted these two beauties.  The big pink one is Brother and the Queen is the dainty one behind him.  Who knew she was the new Bond girl!  Hope you are having a great day.  Finally no rain!  Talk to you later.

'Green Zebra' Is Still My Favorite!

While I can't eat much tomato sauce these days, I do love a good tomato and peanut butter sandwich.  A Kittanning thing!  Since I have lost weight, I'm not the one eating the peanut butter from the jar!  In fact, I rarely eat it.  This time of year, I make an exception.  So this was breakfast the other day.  Two pieces of lite bread toasted and a tablespoon of chunky peanut butter between the two and a sliced up 'Green Zebra'!  Yummy!  About 200 calories and I always have a small fruit salad and a glass of milk.  About 400 calories total.  Trying to decide what to do whether to start making jelly or work in the garden or going to the movies!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Is it lunchtime yet?  Maybe another 'Green Zebra' is waiting for me!  Talk to you later.

Celebrating Her Birthday!

Peanut Butter Pie for Dessert for Mar

No Calories in This Coconut Cream Pie!  The Pines Tavern Makes the Best!

My best friend, Marilyn's birthday is today!  My gift to her was lunch at one of our favorite places, The Pines Tavern.  They have a really large garden that is used in all of their meals.  My other gift to her is the friendship that we have had for over 30 years.  It does take two for a friendship and Marilyn came to my rescue in my darkest hour a while back and pointed me into therapy.  It was the best thing I ever did.  So if you have a friend who you have known for a while or even a brand new friend, cherish that friendship!  I've got to run.  A big storm is headed this way!

The Heirloom Tomato Patch

Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.

Storm and Sticks and Strings!

This does look like much, but I may not be around for a couple of days because a 20 minute storm did some damage.  We have to get more sticks and strings out.  People laugh about it, but sticks and strings keep the plants safe and when a storm comes through they survive.  The Herbal Husband came in in a funk after working before breakfast.  He gave me a list of plants that needed to be fixed.  Sooo I'm getting my working clothes on and going out to help him put things back together.  So if I'm missing in action, you'll understand.  No jelly for a couple of days.  I'll share photos later.  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.

The Herbal Husband's Harvest!

Think I Have Enough Garlic for Jelly!

Tomatoes from the 'Patio' Tomato Plant

The 'Patio' Tomato on the Patio!

The Favorite Bean in This House is Waxed

The Herbal Husband has been busy in the garden.  He dug the garlic last week before the rains came and thank goodness, he did.  The ones on the far left are volunteers that he planted seeds that took two years to grow!  If you leave garlic until it is entirely brown, it will most likely have split bulbs.  The paper husks over the cloves will start breaking apart.  I think a bit of green and brown is a good combination.  I try to make he dig a bit earlier, but stubborn sometimes wins out!  It was a great year because we were hot and dry for a good bit of the early summer.

The 'Patio' tomatoes on the patio have been a big hit and we know that some day down the road that this may be the go to tomato when we are done with a big vegetable garden.  Two of these plants would be more than enough for us.  The first harvest of tomatoes from the 'Patio' gave us a character!

The final photo is of our waxed bean plants emerging from the soil.  We are always running around like chickens with our heads cut off and again around this time.  The Herbal Husband has found that starting the bean seeds in a container and then transplanting them into the ground works best.  So it is supposed to rain, but the sun is brightly shining.  So much for the forecast.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be!  Talk to you later.

One Batch Down and a Bunch To Go!

This is my first batch of Cinnamon Basil Jelly for this season.  If you use the link to the left for the recipe, the one thing I see on Renee's Garden website is that you use 2 cups of packed herbs.  In her recipe book, she calls for 1-1/2 cups packed.  I think 1-1/2 cups is enough.  It has worked for me for 20 plus years of making this recipe.  This color purely comes from the basil.  I just love it.  I have one plant of lemon basil so I'm not sure that I will get much in the way of lemon basil jelly this season.  I have a lot of sweet basil and I will be making my Spicy Basil Apple Jelly a bunch.  It was a big hit last year in its first appearance.  I got to try it on the 4th of July and I must say it was pretty good.  Once it is made again, I will share the recipe with you.  Of course, I didn't write it down so I'll have to come up with the right combo and I promise I will share!  Here is a link for a basil post I did last year called B is for Basil or it could be O Too! which will give you some extras, my favorite book by Susan Belsinger and Tom DeBaggio about basil and my favorite pesto recipe.  Jim Long, another favorite herbal author just did a post on basil with some terrific suggestions as usual.  Here is that link called Five Exciting Ways to Use Basil.  We are back to the ickys and stickies!  Hope you had a great day.  We did and the bonus was I was in the air conditioning!  I'll be thinking of ways to be inside if the humidity continues!  Talk to you later.

An Herbal Cleanup Day!

Removed the Scorched Leaves of the Lady's Mantle

Looks Better Already!

The 'Lemon Gem' Marigolds are Growing a Bit Too Well!

Out Come The Sticks and Strings!  Much Better!

The Borage Needs to Come Out to Make Room for Beans!

Leaves on Top of Blooms for This Lamb's Ear!

Really too many cloudy days in the 'Burgh can be a downer!  Today was one of those relief from the hot, icky, sticky days we have been having!  It was cloudy and humid and cooler than normal, but The Herbal Husband and I were happy doing some cleanup chores after the rain.  We are still down 1.7 inches in rain, but we got over 2 inches in our gauge!  As Martha would say, it's a good thing.  Hope you have had a great day.  Talk to you later.

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

I get caught up by what is going on in the garden this time.  Duh!  Summer!  So my guest blog for The Herb Companion is all about taking a vacation in your bathrobe or pjs, really.  It is called Herbal Travels: Visiting Gardens During My Herbal Vacation.  I would ask a favor of you if you read it and like it, would you please click the Like button at the top of the article.  Thanks a bunch.  I have also put together a page of extra links for your viewing pleasure from the trips.  I will be adding to those in the coming days.  We are back to the Pacific Northwest temperature wise.  It is rainy, humid and cool!  Not complaining!  Hope you are having a great day.  May I just express disbelief and sorrow over the loss of life in Colorado!  I'm saying prayers for the victims and their families.  Talk to you later.

Herbal Suspension!

I'm hoping that my pineapple sage that made it through the winter inside will start to grow!  It is just is sitting in herbal suspension!  It is in a crowded place, but it grew just fine there last year.  I'll post another photo on this blog if we have an herbal life.  Gave it a shot of fish emulsion recently.  So I don't know what the heck is going on!  I don't think there will be any pineapple sage jelly this year!:(  Here is a link to my jelly recipe for Pineapple Sage Jelly.  Will have to make a note to myself to buy more pineapple sages next year.  Well, we had almost 3/4 of an inch of rain yesterday with more to come today.  We were in the low 70's after the rain, but still soupy.  Going to run some errands and go to our favorite lunch place, Panera.  Talk to you later.

Mint In Bloom!

Pineapple Mint

Spearmint

Variegated Mint

Well, here is three of my favorite mints.  I have some more, but these three are blooming at the moment.  The weather has been so hot that they have bloomed a bit earlier than normal, I think.  I have lost my herbal brain power to figure when these plants are usually in bloom.  I use all of these in tea blends.  Need to make up some new ones!  We had a round of severe weather with a lot of lightning.  So I'm going to post this quick.  Hope you have had a great day.  Talk to you later.

Chateau Val-Joanis, Pertuis, France, Part Three

A Beautiful Vitex Tree

Just Loved the Garden Ornamentation!

Love the Crow on the Post!

Loved the Fence Giving the Ornamental Grass More Structure!

Pears on Poles!  Say That Three Times Fast!

Apples on Pyramidal Shapes

Smoke Trees in the Distance

Another French Rose, An Herb of the Year

Lemon Verbena!

The gardens of Chateau Val-Joanis were conceived by Cecile Chancel in 1978 and with the advice of garden landscaper, Tobie Loup de Viane, she created three terraces, the potager with vegetables, herbs and flowers,  the second terrace for flowers and the third terrace for ornamental grasses, trees and flowers.  It used stones salvaged from a Roman pool in an area protected from the Mistral wind.  It is a remarkable garden.  This is the final part for this remarkable garden.  I hope you have enjoyed it.  It is like a furnace outside.  The Herbal Husband soldiers through and I'm like a wilted lily!  Hope you had a great day.  Talk to you soon.

Chateau Val-Joanis, Pertuis, France, Part Two

A Collection of Watering Cans

A Nice Place for Lunch on a Cloudy Day!

Another birdhouse with the Espaliered Apples

I think Parsley in Bloom and Garlic Chives!

Cardoon or Globe Artichokes

Zucchini

The Sign on the Left Post says Fragile!

Elecampane! Have Always Wanted to Grow It!

French Roses in Celebration of the Herb of the Year!

The gardens of Chateau Val-Joanis were conceived by Cecile Chancel in 1978 and with the advice of garden landscaper, Tobie Loup de Viane, she created three terraces, the potager with vegetables, herbs and flowers,  the second terrace for flowers and the third terrace for ornamental grasses, trees and flowers.  It used stones salvaged from a Roman pool in an area protected from the Mistral wind.  It is a remarkable garden.  As you can see this is Part Two, so Part Three is on the way.  It is like a furnace outside.  The Herbal Husband soldiers through and I'm like a wilted lily!  Hope you had a great day.  Talk to you soon.

Chateau Val-Joanis, Pertuis, France, Part One

Very Modern Winery

Grapes to Make Wine

The Garden was Given The "Remarkable" Award in 2005

Part of the Potager

A Bit of Whimsy

There are Birdhouses Everywhere in the Gardens

A Hedge of French Tarragon and Lavender

Espaliered Apples

Tepees for the Tomatoes

Even the lettuces are Beautifully Displayed

This garden was discovered as I thumbed through a book called The Gardens of Provence and the Cote d'Azur by Marie-Francoise Valery.

When I found out last year we were going to the south of France, I immediately pulled out this book and began search for gardens we might be able to see.  The Herbal Husband tends to pack our time so I had to convince him that this garden was special.  I think once we were there, he was definitely impressed and was very eager to visit.  There also was a French news magazine there filming and we were asked to walk back and forth in the garden.  I thought for a minute the director said "work".  I thought he was kidding and he was, it was walk not work!  So in February this year, we were on French TV, I think.  I need to see if we can see it anywhere.  The garden was conceived by Cecile Chancel in 1978 and with the advice of garden landscaper, Tobie Loup de Viane, she created three terraces, the potager with vegetables, herbs and flowers,  the second terrace for flowers and the third terrace for ornamental grasses, trees and flowers.  It used stones salvaged from a Roman pool in an area protected from the Mistral wind.  It is a remarkable garden.  As you can see this is Part One, so Part Two is on the way.  It is like a furnace outside.  The Herbal Husband soldiers through and I'm like a wilted lily!  Hope you had a great day.  Talk to you soon.