gardening and enjoying life in Salem, Massachusetts
I took the lens cover off of my camera at Marconi Station on Cape Cod in August to take the most beautiful beach shot in the history of the world to find my lens shattered in to a million tiny pieces. It’s back from the shop and I’m so happy! Here’s what happened in the few minutes right after UPS delivered it yesterday. (Sorry for the words, this post just needed some context so it wouldn’t be totally random!)
Love, Michele
I’ll start with the garden.
That’s a good lead in to the “and with me” part. To be honest I don’t know what’s happening with me. Maybe some of you can help with that. The garden is okay in a kind of mediocre way. I’m accepting of my limitations and abilities but I have to admit that I expected more from the garden this year. Maybe it was the relatively dry weather, or my organizational skills, or all of the fun vacations.
When your a gardener you have to spend time in the garden!
That said we still have kale. Is it me or is this photo a bit out of focus? Sometimes I can’t tell.
The tomatoes were actually pretty good. A little wilt but not too much and it came very late in the season. I think I want to grow more romas again next year, or maybe a variety called opalka that my friend Betsey shared with me yesterday. Their larger than roma and make a sweet, meaty sauce… I brought some home from a visit with Betsey yesterday and popped just one of them into a little pot of fresh sauce that I made for dinner from some of my tomatoes that needed to be eaten. I think there was a very big difference!
I planted quite a bit of cauliflower but it looks like the bunnies, or maybe even deer enjoyed the flowers for us.
The marketmore cucs are done and I have to say that this variety was a success. We enjoyed lots of pickles and salads and cucumbery things… 
Here’s some later planted swiss chard that just isn’t taking off…
A few candycane zinnias came up near the chicken coop door. Their cute and happy but not too prolific. 
I have one, yes one, watermelon still growing. I’m fertilizing it weekly as my neighbor suggested and hoping it makes it through the next few weeks. It’s about the size of a large honeydew melon right now.
We had a few cantaloupes almost grow into edible fruit. This one is imploded and slightly rotted. It will be food for another project that I have going so it’s not a total loss.
One pumpkin, yes one. This is the year of one, two or three of anything that I worked on over time.
Of course the horseradish is happy. I don’t like horseradish but several of our friends and family members do so it will be fun to harvest it in a few weeks.
The new little herb garden got off to a decent start. Next year we’ll hit the ground running in this area of the garden.
I’ve got pots of potatoes growing. They haven’t flowered and have lots of foliage so I’m kind of unsure about where we’re going here. Generally they flower and then die back and you can dig out the potatoes. So I’m waiting to see what happens. I dug around a little bit the other day and I really think there are some good sized tubers in there.
Parsley and basils need to be frozen in ice cube trays for the winter. 
The onions kind of worked out! Remember when I was inspired by Betsey and Ed and planted them back in the spring? No need to buy onions around here this winter!
Oh, and then there’s this little project. Guess what’s in the box? Here’s a hint: It thrives on the cantaloupe.
Okay… about me.
I’m tired and busy and tired and worn out. I want to do right by my family so I took a major blogging break. I don’t think I’ve ever gone so long in between posts. It really has me wondering about what motivates me and what’s that best use of my time. Should I keep blogging? I like to blog because I love connecting with people all over the world. I like to think that I might encourage or entertain someone somewhere. I definitely feel accountable about what I say here so it keeps me on a good path in the gardening sense and beyond.
Have any of you fellow bloggers gone through this? It’s kind of writer’s block, but almost more like a writer’s resistance. I know what I want to say. I have a long list of posts to write but I wonder about the value of it. Does it matter? Should I just garden for myself and call it a day? No one who I know personally has said a word about my absence. Maybe I shouldn’t expect that, but maybe I should use my energy for other things.
That was a pretty stream of conscious paragraph or two. Thank you, I feel better,
Pioneer Woman used to say “tap, tap… is anyone out there?” She doesn’t need to do that anymore but I guess I could…
Tap, tap… hello?
Leave me a comment or send me an e-mail. I’d entertain any constructive feedback you have to share.
Enjoy everything!
Love, Michele
Happy Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day! We had a lot of rain the other day. It was nowhere near the thirteen inch amounts that were reported in areas to the south but it was a continuously driving rain all day. In anticipation of that I took these pictures on Tuesday because I wasn’t sure that there would be any blooms left after. We ended up doing okay in the rain. Everything got a good drink but we didn’t have too much destruction.
Last fall we scattered knockout roses across the front and side yards and while their very common, they have added a nice bit of color. I’ve been reading about rosa rosetta virus and worrying so I pruned all red canes and branches back to the ground a few weeks ago. I’m pretty sure that mine have it and there’s not a lot you can do to stop it other than try to cut it out before the mites make their way to the roots. We’ll see what happens.
I like the way the reddish pink flowers look against the worn fence.
The scarlet runner bean is taking off. I enjoy this plant because it’s pretty while it grows and it produces beautiful purple beans at the end of the season. It’s just a great, easy vine for filling in tall, long spaces.
It’s starting to creep up the bird feeder pole. I should have provided strings or a trellis.
We have lots of lilies. These were all planted in the years before I would have saved the packaging and made note of varieties. I like this pretty pale pink..
Deep orange…I don’t think it’s a ditch lily? Betsey, what do you say?
And a beautiful deep red…
I planted a few varieties of zinnia this year. The only ones blooming as of today are “peppermint stick mix.” I’m a little disappointed in them. I expected big beautiful bunches but so far the few seeds that germinated have produced single, scattered flowers.
That does resemble a peppermint stick. It was pretty on the package but I’m not so sure now.
Volunteer sunflowers are scattered around.
And I’ve been enjoying these deep shaded coleus this year.
This is my favorite deck planter. It’s about three feet high.
The rose of sharon that my sister sent me in a manila envelope a few years ago is in bloom. I love these plants.
Here’s the big picture… lots of blooms from last month are still raging out there!
Does your garden “rage” too?
I think I need to get back outside, lol.
Be sure to visit May Dreams Gardens by clicking here to see the other GBBD posts. They are going to be amazing!!!
Love to you all,
Michele
I truly can’t believe that it’s been almost a month since I posted a garden update. Where does the time go? We’ve been doing everything… camping, hiking, visiting, working, gardening… you name it! It’s a crazy busy summer! While we’ve been so busy lots has happened in the garden.
We have tomatoes!! These are super sweet 100s… I haven’t grown this variety before so I’m looking forward to tasting them.
There are tomato plants tucked in all over the place. One of the great things about growing from seed is the sheer abundance of plants when it’s time to plant. I’d better get that canning thing down because I’m going to need to do something with these tomatoes.
Yes, their a little bit too close together but I think they’ll be okay. I keep watching for blight so I can remove the yellow branches right away, and believe it or not, hardly anything is touching the ground.
We’ve picked several zucchini and more are on the way. I like to get them when their on the small side so their not too seedy. There is evidence of squash borer. I haven’t figured out how to organically prevent it from hitting my plants, but I have figured out how to deal with it to limit the damage….
I bury the base of the plant where the borers work their evil and the plant reroots almost immediately and keeps right on growing and producing. If you cut open the stalk you will clearly see the wormy little borers eating away. Not everyone handles that well. I think it’s kind of interesting.
There’s basil everywhere too. The flowers on this plant should have been cut back at the beginning of the bud stage. The photo that I took after I cut it was blurry, but you get the idea. You’ll have beautiful basil for a long time this summer if you cut it back!
The red onions look just about ready. I planted them close to the surface as I think I was supposed to and now their very high in the soil? Should I have covered them with soil as they grew or is this okay? It seems like they would have gotten bigger if they had stayed submerged a little bit longer.
The asparagus is gone for the year. It needs to be weeded and fertilized to shore it up for next spring.
The cucumbers are incredible this year! I guess the rain helped, along with researching the variety. I’ve harvested many and there’s lots more coming!
Okay, so, this is kind of a problem. I clearly wasn’t thinking when I put watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkin in the same row.
The good news is that we have some fruit.
The bad news is that there appears to be some cross pollination happening. This is a very watermelon like cantaloupe.
Just across from the melon patch is a huge horseradish patch. I still have some in the freezer from last year.
The blueberries, covered with bird netting, are happily producing.
However, these brown dying branches on one of the two plants is a concern. Anyone know what’s happening here?
We have potatoes in the cat pot again… I mixed tons of compost in so I’m hoping for great tuber development.
My favorite border is hanging on. Maybe some good deadheading will bring back another bloom?
We made a little goldfish pond on the deck this year. It’s just a plastic barrel filled with water, pond plants and fish. It’s so easy and a nice addition to our sitting area where we enjoy our view.
Life is so good here…
Enjoy your blessings today!
Love, Michele
A few years ago I blogged about my mother-in-law’s beautiful garden. We don’t get to Delaware every year and it’s always a treat to get out of the car after our long journey and step into the garden. It’s interesting and whimsical and fun!
We caught the last little bit of larkspur and that very long coned rudbeckia..
The larkspur adds pops of color everywhere.
I haven’t seen this in Massachusetts.
The shagbark hickory tree has grown and become the focal point in the last few years…
with good reason.
Elephant’s ear winters over in Delaware, imagine that?
Echinacea
I love this little clay birdhouse/feeder and I’m wondering what that tall plant to the left might be?
Looking out toward the back yard…
Michael’s mom is an avid garage sale and thrift shop hunter so the ornaments are always changing.
The hear no evil statue is a new addition. I thought it was funny that Michael just gave me a similar statue a few weeks ago.
This guy continues to keep watch from the deck.
He has help now.
And Chester takes care of on the ground surveillance.
I think they’ve got it covered.
It was a fun visit in a beautiful place. I hope we return soon!
Enjoy everything!
Michele
Hello, hello, hello! We just got back last night from an eight day, multi-state. twenty hour or so car trip to see our families. I fully intended to blog along the way but my internet access came and went (mostly went) and our stops at each place were relatively short so I took photos with the hope that I’ll share a few of them here in the next few weeks. Anyway, it’s GBBD which is a great way to jump back in to the blogosphere and say hi! Here’s what we came home to last night:
Echinacea
Ditch lily
Lavender, with bees
Black-eyed susan/rudbeckia, just beginning to bloom
Bee balm
I’m not sure about this, it’s almost invasive in a beautiful way
Yarrow
A big dill flower, I couldn’t resist…
Pansies and verbena in the chicken coop window box
The beginning of the liatris
Balloon flower 
rose campion
Obedient plant… does a wonderful job of luring cucumber beetles away from the cucs..
Maybe another variety of obedient plant? Talk to me….
and the bellflower…
I seem to have lots of tall blooms that would be pretty in a vase…
Be sure to check out May Dreams Gardens for all of the other GBBD posts!!
I hope your all well and I can’t wait to catch up on all of my favorite blogs!
Love,
Michele
Good Morning and Happy July!
We left for a camping trip last Thursday (our last day of school was Wednesday) and came back to the work, garden, home and the new summer routine first thing Monday morning. I’m trying to get everyone settled in and caught up so I’ve been quite absent from The Salem Garden. Sometimes I wish I just had a few hours a day to garden and blog, but, that’s not the deal. Things are looking pretty good out in the garden anyway!
This statue is a recent gift from Michael. I saw it in a shop downtown and liked it so he traded some chairs that were taking up lots of garage space for it. That’s scarlet runner bean ready to climb up the pole and decorate. I’m not sure that I agree with the “have no fun” ending to this saying, especially in terms of the speaking part, but I think it’s cute.
Zucchini are cooking… well, not cooking but growing. Last week I saw the beginning of the squash borer infestation and I buried the stem at the base of the plant immediately. I’m keeping an eye out for more but so far so good.
Oregon sweet peas
And the alaska variety… salmon and peas are on the menu for the Fourth of July!
The horseradish is back. This got a slow start this spring. I think I harvested deeply last year so it took a little while to reach the surface again.
Tomatoes are coming along. They need to be staked and weeded asap.
Some marketmore organic cucumber taking off. This variety got good reviews and so far I can see why. A trellis might be helpful here.
I bought cauliflower seedlings at the Witchcraft Heights Elementary School plant sale. Remember my cauliflower fiasco last year? Click here to read about it if your feeling brave. These plants were so cute and for a good cause so here we go again…
Sweet little marigolds… they’ll be everywhere soon!
I slid some peppers in here and there where I found bits of space. We’ll see how that approach works.
Silver and Gold are still working their way in to the flock. I think their dreaming about better days but they’ll be okay soon.
Kale… anyone have a great kale chips recipe?
The red onions look happy with the exception of the obvious weeds and rocks which I need to remove, and I will, as soon as I get a few minutes, sometime… soon.
Here’s their flower. When are they ready? Betsey, talk to me!
Lavender!
The window box on the coop is planted, not perfectly, but it’s okay.
The cold weather has been awesome for lettuce.
Mesclun has bolted and will be coming out to make way for some swiss chard that I have started.
And finally, here’s my favorite rose bush, the one that I rescued from the Harrington estate…
nestling a carefully kicked football in it’s branches.
That’s how things are in a yard full of kids, chickens and chaos…
Time to get to work!
How’s your garden growing?
Lots of love,
Michele
Happy First Day of Summer!
Hope you were out in a garden today (and had as much fun as I did)!
Love, Michele
The Salem Garden 
