Thursday in the Garden at Marshwood Cottage

This summer we only grew buckwheat as a cover crop to help build up the soil in our raised vegetable garden bed.

Since we couldn't live a year without fresh tomatoes, we also had a couple of pots of cherry tomatoes and one cucumber pot.

The buckwheat seedlings took off quickly.

At full summer's bloom.

About a month ago seed heads (and tomatoes) galore!

Just a couple days ago, I left the cuttings to be tilled under.

And that's how our garden grows!

Thanks for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

Summer's Sunflowers

In honor of the passing of Summer 2015

SUNFLOWERS!!!

Planted from transplanted seeds

Water, water, water, water!

Buds!

POP!

And then its over!

We're expecting lots of sunflower seeds coming this fall!

Thanks for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

Autumn in Maine

We picked the last harvest

The finches are molting

Our firewood arrived

And MamaLindy stacked it away

The sunflowers have bowed their heads to Autumn

And what was once green

Shines bright with the season

Happy Autumn from Marshwood Cottage!

Thanks for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

Sunflower Photobomb

So I was attempting to take pictures of the sunflowers and zinnias from inside Snafu's bedroom window.

They didn't come out all that good because of the window's glass, but...

I did catch an introoder zipping by!

A young orange tabby who lives down the street.

Thanks for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

Wednesday Walk in the Weeds #2

Welcome to Marshwood Cottage's Weekly Weed Walk!

This interesting plant sprouted up directly behind our water fountain. When it flowered, it looked somewhat like Queen-Anne's Lace. But we posted this picture on Facebook and learned from a friend that it was Valerian (as in Valerian root, an herb to help you sleep).

This is our patch of Queen Anne's Lace. Much flatter flower on the top where Valerian is rounded.

These bright flowers are Pinks and were found growing between the garden fence and the ledge last year. They were acting like weeds, but the blossoms were so vibrant!

This year we dug them up transplanted them into one of our perennial beds right next to the water fountain. They flourished!

These crazy loopy things also act like weeds in that they tried to take over the entire front garden last year. The leaves are very stinky and when a friend identified them as Black Cohosh, she took a couple of buckets of them home. We cleared out all but this one section and as can be seen in these photos (and this video meditation from Monday) the bees absolutely love them! The stalks grow as high as the roof and the flowers smell somewhat like rotted roses. Blechk!

Thanks for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

A Meditation with Cohosh and Bumbles

Close your eyes or watch...simply listen intently to peace for the next two moments...

Thanks for stopping by

~MamaLisa

Garden Plus Fire

Thursday in the garden at Marshwood Cottage

All veggies are doing well. After this photo I put down some mulch material to help keep weeds down.

But the real story at Marshwood Cottage is our new FIRE PIT!

DP dug the pit out about eight inches deep.

Rocks gathered from around the property line the interior.

Done!

The first fire welcomed in the Summer Solstice!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lisa

Marshwood Cottage Vegetables

The Vegetable Garden has been planted for 2014!!    Whew!

This is what it looked like in early April (yes, that is snow in the foreground).

We slowly cleaned out the debris, old mulch cloth and weeds. Then DP tried out the Mantis Tiller that was given to us last year (thank you C and M!). It worked great!

I made sure to get our plants before the holiday weekend to avoid the mad rush at our local greenhouses.

Over here we planted tomatoes (3 varieties), pickling cucumbers, bell peppers and threw in some beet seeds for fun.

On this side we planted zucchini, summer squash and pumpkins!

Here is the final outcome.

This year we took advantage of the trellis that came with the property, 

cleaned out the raised bed, planted peas on one side and green beans on the other.

All the seeds germinated with gusto and it needs a little more thinning on the pea side.

All we do now is weed, water and feed and soon they will feed us! Gardening is grand!!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lisa

A Pose by Snafu

Snafu enjoying the cat enclosure.

Society of Feline Gardeners

At last we'll be able to fully participate as members of the Society of Feline Gardeners.

We had a good practice run last summer.

But this is how our garden looked this past Saturday. As of today the snow you see at the bottom has completely melted. Yes, I know it looks really messy, but I'm working hard not to work too hard on this garden.

Here's the bit of color we have going on at the moment.

 A sweet sight!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lisa

Not Exactly Gardening: Squirrel Digging

I know

there is

a peanut

 under

 here

 somewhere!

To keep the squirrels from eating all the birdseed, we offer them whole peanuts. This day's offering got buried in the latest snowfall.

Here's a bonus live action video!