Friday, July 11, 2014

End of the Week, Herbally Speaking!

Lyre Leaved Sage Has Bloomed Again!
The Lemon Monarda is Blooming!
Calendulas Are Blooming Too!

I Just Clip and Drop the Spent Flower Heads of the Calendulas into the Bed Below!
The 'Silver King' Artemisia is Growing!

So Is the 'Sweet Annie' Artemisia!

Monarda and Coreopsis!
The Native Monarda!
The First Native Sunflower!
A Tiny Sunflower Volunteer in the Herb Garden!
A Butterfly Buddy on the Coneflower!
Made Three Batches of Lemon Basil Jelly!
Don't Forget to Eat the Edible Flowers of Herbs!
The first 'Alaska' Nasturtium is in Bloom!
The First 'Sungold' Tomato!   Had a Second One Too! So There Wasn't a Fight!
Blooming Cilantro!

Surprised at the Early Crop of Raspberries!
Did Two Batches of Raspberry Jam This Morning!
Well, I had a productive week in the garden!  As you can see, there is a lot going on in the gardens!  I have the most lemon basil this year and it will be my most made jelly flavor this summer.  The other surprise is our early pick of raspberries!   We have 'Heritage' raspberries that are quite old and they keep producing despite their age!  Most of the time the early crop around this time is either mushy or tacky and I have tried to use them for jam without success.  This year the raspberries have been wonderful and I set up the raspberries and sugar last night and then cooked them down this morning.  I think they were the best pour of jam I have had for awhile!  Just so satisfying when it turns out correctly!

We have also progressed from four-lined plant bug damage to Japanese beetle and stink bug damage!  I was thinking as I was catching the little darlings in my hands and dropping them into the beetle juice jar that I was never brave when I was a child like I am now.  Funny how you change over the years and when you finally reach 60 nothing is a big deal anymore!  It is always something in the bug world these days!  So hopefully you have had a great week in your herb garden.  The weather has been beautiful and we have another great day tomorrow before the rains come back.  Talk to you next week.

6 comments:

PeggyR said...

Everything looks great. Stuff here is so tall because of all the rain.

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Thanks Peggy! It has been an amazing summer so far! xo

Anonymous said...

Raspberry jam is my hubby's favorite! We've enjoyed some homegrown cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes so far.

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Thanks for stopping by Susanne! The rain I think has ended our raspberry picking at the moment! Hope you enjoy your tomatoes! xo

Rosemary said...

Your pictures of the raspberry jam have my mouth watering!

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Hard to believe Rosemary, I have two boxes of raspberry jam already! It doesn't usually happen this early! Thanks for stopping by! xo