Still Growing!!!

We have had absolutely wonderful (in my book anyway) weather for the month of June. It has really helped all of my plants just thrive. But I am seriously ready for some veggies off of these plants. We are getting close though, and I have been using the herbs like crazy!

First my herbs - June 6th

June 15th

June 25th 

I have to work on my cilantro, it has already gone to seed and I have hardly gotten to use any of it. I also talked to my friend J and she said her boyfriend had a magic way with basil so that it grew bushy instead of tall, I think it would go a lot further that way. This week coming up will be a good time to use lots of recipes with herbs. I have a Thyme Lemonade on Pinterest, that I think if I add a little gin or vodka to it, would make a great cocktail on the dock.

Tomatoes

June 6th

June 15th

 June 25th - I had to tie the plant to the cage so that it didn't tip over. Also we had to replant it in a bigger pot as it was getting a little root rot, and we had a wind storm that blew through and toppled it. Hoping that this will work. Yesterday I counted 19 little green tomatoes. Now if some of them would just turn red! Cannot wait for some blt's, tomato, mozz and basil, just good all around tomatoes!

Veggie garden
June 6th

 June 15th

  June 25th 

 Last week while we were up at the farm where my mom grew up, I saw my cousins vegetable garden and asked him when we could expect some cauliflower, he said not until August. He also told me how when it does start to come in, I need to wrap the leaves around it and rubber band it, to protect it from the sun. Can't wait for cauliflower. The spinach is growing like crazy and I have already picked a bunch of leaves to add into salads!

My first jalapeno - I think I will pick it to take with to the lake to make some guacamole or fresh salsa!

  Tons of blossoms for cucumbers, I am definitely making refrigerator pickles this year!

 The tomato plants in the vegetable bed are doing pretty well too! We have three different kinds down here, the only one we have green ones on so far though is the plum tomato plant.

We had the in-ground sprinkler guys here for the fourth (and hopefully last) time this week. We now have the  sprinklers all set up to run on a schedule and water the whole yard, SO happy about this! The flowers are really looking good!

I love these lillies, and I do have more to plant. I need to make the time to do it!

 Miss Stella has been enjoying a little outside time, but only right on the front stoop and on the deck. Truth be told she is a bit of a fraidy cat. If she hears a noise or a car goes by, she gets spooked and runs back inside.

 I love waxed begonias, they are really filling out nicely too.

 Our hostas along the walkway came in really nicely this year. The first year we were here, we moved in August, and the deer had pretty much eaten them down to nothing. Last summer, the deer or the turkeys ate all of the flowering shoots coming out of them, but this year, I think we have staked our claim on the house and the yard and they haven't been coming around as much, so they are really popping up nicely.

The first people to live in our house, were master gardeners and spent a great deal of time and money on the yard. The last people lived there for three years or so, and they really let the yard grow. We spent most of last summer fighting with it to get it to the point where it was presentable, now this summer we took a lot out, so that we could bring it back to something we could maintain and I have to say, it is really starting to look a lot better. We have four to five feature gardens throughout the lawn that we still need to work on, but we will get there. It is a LOT of work, but the boy wants it to be more maintainable, so we are going to pull out a lot so that we can get it to that point. The inground sprinklers will help a lot as well.

As soon as we can get to some of these feature gardens, I will post some before and afters. I do love the summer and all of the flowers!