herbs 'n honey

In the Garden

In the garden with Ralphie as a pup.

Deb in the garden with Ralphie as a pup...1996

We are blessed with a wonderful hemlock woods that shades the wintergreen, partridge berry, gold thread and jack-in-the-pulpits. The ponds support pitcher plants and cattails, not to mention the frogs, snakes, toads and dragonflies that share that space. In 2000, we counted over 200 types of plants, shrubs and trees growing on our small 3.5 acres in north central Connecticut.

The gardens have grown and changed since we started. Each year more space has been allotted for vegetables among the herbs and for those volunteer plants that come in. Since the 2005 summer season, while I was in the Keys, teasel, nettles, ragweed and couchgrass grew in abundance and the deer found the echinacea. After three seasons away, it has been fun to redefine the garden space...always a work in progress anyway, as any gardener knows.

Weeding is not my favorite pastime, so a heavily straw-mulched garden is the preferred method. It did take a good bit of forking to get the space ready the first year back. But now, layers of newsprint, mulch, and the passing of the seasons make new garden space ready for planting.

Remaking the Garden a few yards at a time	Scarecrone guarding early peas
Early veggies are in - broccoli under remay	A rainbow in our backyard!!!
Garden is larger this year - and still more mulch	Danny the Dummy - Deer Deterrent Extraordinaire
A view from the side pond	A summertime visitor
Gail's Pink Poppies	This is us...

The garden is now mostly planted with vegetables...with herbs filling in the spaces. It is such a blessing to plant seeds in the spring, watch the plants grow, and harvest food for the table and storage for wintertime. And to have the healing plants nearby for teas and tinctures.