Garden in Mid July

  Joining Susan at Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.

Our garden has been producing very well!  Our lettuce has been wonderful and the french cucumbers?  Yum!

 We have been getting piles of green beans - snapping, blanching and putting them into the freezer!  I have 4 gallon bags and 2 quart sized!

 My sweet Feverfew!  The settlers homes in Jamestown and the gardens in Williamsburg all have Feverfew.  It was a highly prized medicinal herb.  We have used it, and it works.

 Black Eyed Susans are such a cheerful flower.  They are blooming in several spots in my gardens.  They make me happy.

 The Echinacea is blooming so well this year too.  I should cut some up and make a tincture for cold and flu season...I wonder if Tim would mind if I bought some vodka out of the grocery money?  Either that or I can make echinacea capsules.

 My hydrangea is so pretty this year...I have really enjoyed cutting the blooms and bringing them inside!

 This is a flower that a friend gave me years ago...she couldn't remember the name of it though.  It grows very tall - between 6-8 feet in my gardens.  It is a great country style flower looks good with my daisies and purple cone flower in my wire jar holder.  Does anyone know what this is called?  I'd love to find out!

So pretty!

When we moved to our cottage, it had been neglected for years.  The soil was hard and compacted.  There were no gardens at all.  Well, there was a flower bed by the driveway that had some rhododendrons in them.  Tim dug hole to plant something for me and we found the remains of one of the previous owners dogs!  I try not to think about that too much - ewww.  Anyway back to the soil.  Tim used my Dad's rototiller and it was difficult.  So we added mushroom mulch, and the next year it was better.  We did this for years until now the soil is so delightful.  I have often been amazed at the size of some of my plants in my front garden especially.  Maybe it was all that mushroom mulch.  Great fertilizer and mulch all in one.

 Here is a photo of Kyle the other day standing next to some of my cone flower.  It is taller than he is!  

And lastly for today I leave you with a photo of my Shasta daisies.  Love them!