I Love My Bloomin' Kitchen Garden

Chamomile, Chamaemelum mobile, in the herb garden

This is a bloomin' marvelous time of year in my kitchen garden. I can see, and finally begin to taste, the results of my hard work. It's been extra-hard this year because of the dreadful, hot, humid weather with no rain until this week. But vegetables and herbs have beautiful flowers, so I decided to feature some of them in this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post. I have an ulterior motive ... I need to document the progress of my vegetable garden, as lately I neglected to do so.

As you may know, if you have been following this blog, I plant my vegetables in raised beds, containers, grow boxes, and a lasagna bed because of the proximity of a walnut tree. Walnut trees poison the soil with juglone, killing many vegetable plants such as tomatoes.

The kitchen garden is surrounded by a picket fence and pasture fencing. It is adjacent to the lower cornfield ... see how high the corn is now...

Four raised beds 4ft x8ft each.

I made the border along the picket fence in the lasagna method using layers of newspaper and organic matter.

The border along the picket fence is planted with perennials

Three tomatoes in containers next to the potting shed

So what is blooming in the kitchen garden on this July Bloom Day?

Pole bean, Scarlet Runner

The pole bean blossoms are making a striking show. My grandsons helped me plant the seeds around bamboo canes to create a tepee. We planted directly in the soil in front of the potting shed which is at the farthest point away from the walnut tree. There are no problems so far.

The boys love playing inside the tepee, and snacking at their little table.

We are enjoying the zucchinis. The plants are loaded with big, yellow blossoms, so we expect a bumper crop.

Squash, Sweet Zuke

I slice a zucchini and toss it in olive oil in a skillet, just adding ground pepper. It is delicious, but HH can't wait for me to make his favorite zucchini bread.

Future zucchini bread?

The blossoms on the cucumber plants are smaller versions of the squash flowers. The baby cukes are so.o.o cute.

Cucumber, Burpless Beauty

Some cukes are ready to be harvested. I'll slice them in cucumber sandwiches at my next garden/tea party, scheduled for this next weekend.

These will be in cucumber sandwiches made with dill butter

Just a few flowers  remain on the snow peas, but we harvested several quarts. I froze some of them. I will soon pull out these plants and sow another crop.

The bush bean blossoms are not so dramatic.

Bush Bean, Bonanza

Of course, there are no blossoms on the carrots, parsnips, onions, and beets. I love the way they look in their neat rows, but I will not show a close-up right now.

I am very nervous about my tomatoes as late blight has been seen in the Northeast. I lost all of them last year to the blight. I am growing three varieties this year. This one is the most advanced so far ...

Tomato, Celebrity

Other vegetables include sweet peppers and lettuce.

Sweet Pepper, Big Bertha

Can you believe we still have lettuce in this immense heat?

Lettuce, Heatwave Blend

Sorry, blooms are not featured in the previous three pictures and it IS Bloom Day, but I have planted annual flowers in the kitchen garden, to attract butterflies and bees and promote pollination. My favorites are zinnias, marigolds, and nasturtium (and sunflowers, of course, which aren't blooming yet). I grew the zinnias and marigolds from seed indoors for the first time this spring, I am proud of them.

Zinnia, Jazzy

Marigold, Happy Days

Nasturtium, Dwarf Jewel. Edible as well as beautiful

The kitchen garden perennial border includes purple cone flower, spiderwort, coral bells, lungwort, and bleeding heart. On one side of the purple cone flower is a new strawberry patch, and on the other side are three blueberry bushes. We have to be patient -- no fruit from the new plants this year. The green leaves you see by the water-hose are rhubarb.

Purple Cone Flower, Echinacea Purpurea

Spiderwort, Tradescantia

Coral Bells, Heuchera

HH provides a water dish for the butterflies; it contains horse manure. The male butterflies like to 'puddle' in the concoction from which they obtain needed minerals.

I see many butterflies, including these swallowtails, in the kitchen garden ...

Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio glaucus

Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes

Finally, my son gave me a mechanical owl to ward off the birds. When approached, a motion detector activates ... its head moves round and it makes a hooting noise.

The owl works a little too well, because it really annoys the crows. They squawk and swoop down, 'dive bombing' the poor creature.

I thank Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day on the 15th of each month. Don't forget to visit her blog to see flowers from all around the world. Thank you, dear gardening friends, for allowing me use this forum to showcase my kitchen garden.

Happy Gardening!
Pam x

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