Beautiful Garlic

I've been growing garlic in my garden for about three years. This year was a particularly lovely harvest.

Years ago, when I started my little backyard vegetable garden, it never occurred to me that I could grow my own garlic. And then, a few years ago, I tried. As with many garden endeavours, experience teaches lessons. When I first planted garlic cloves, I didn't know that you harvested the garlic bulbs in late summer. I watched their stalks and leaves die and thought: "Well, that didn't work!" The next spring I was telling my best friend how I hadn't had success with garlic and she said that I was supposed to harvest the garlic bulbs in late summer just as the leaves started to wilt. I got off the phone with her and went out to my garden. In the raised bed where I'd planted the garlic the previous summer, there were tiny green shoots. The garlic was still there and it was alive! Had it listened to our phone conversation? I let it grow that whole second season and then harvested it in August.

Since then, I've followed my friend's advice and have planted my cloves in the fall and harvested the bulbs in late August or early September. I cut the curly garlic scapes in the early summer and make a wonderful pesto recipe I found online a few years ago. Then I wait for the leaves to partially wilt a few weeks later and dig up the bulbs. We love to cook with garlic in our household so it's a real treat to have our very own.

This year, I grew Marbled Purple Stripe garlic and it is beautiful! So beautiful that it inspired a new painting! I can report that garlic bulbs are very cooperative models. They sit very patiently and don't wilt and wither like so many of my other painting subjects. They give you the time you need to admire and paint them.

Here's a photo of my painting in progress.

And here's the finished painting.

Within minutes of posting a photo of the finished painting on Instagram last week, I received an email from a friend who has been purchasing my art for years. She had a touching request. She wanted to buy a few prints of the garlic painting for a family she knows. Garlic has a very special meaning for them. Their father, who passed away recently, used to tell his sons that a garlic bulb is like a family: while the cloves exist as individuals, they are grown together and belong to the whole. Isn't that lovely? I will always think of that now.

I'm happy to let you know that my garlic painting is available as both a print and note cards in my shop. Here's what they look like.

When I chose to paint the garlic, I was mostly thinking of how pretty it was. I thought that the painting might interest someone who loved cooking, gardening or eating! It didn't occur to me that garlic would be of symbolic value to someone. People frequently tell me of the special associations, often from childhood, that flowers hold for them. Now I know that exists for garlic too. 💕

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* 🌱 Gardener's note: I purchased my garlic bulbs by mail from Veseys Seeds in PEI.

* 🍲 Cook's note:  I mentioned a great garlic scape pesto recipe. Garlic scapes have a pungent flavour. I like to freeze this pesto flat in ziplock bags. Then I break off a chunk when I'm cooking a soup, sauce or stew during the winter. I also like to defrost a bit and spread it on pizza crust before adding the other toppings. Delicious!

“There are five elements: earth, air, fire, water and garlic.” 
Louis Diat - chef and culinary writer (1885-1958)

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Meeko and the Morning Glories

Meeko and the morning glories. Ha! I think that would be a good name for a band!

These morning glories reseeded themselves from last year. As they've grown, I've guided them towards the little fence that backs the flower bed. They've twirled and curled around the wire and look so pretty.

I didn't grow morning glories for a couple of years when Meeko was a pup. In those days, he couldn't pass a plant without trying to take a bite and morning glories can make dogs sick. Now he ignores most plants except for grass so I'm able to grow morning glories in my garden again.

The blue-purple of these flowers is one of my favourite colours. I love any warm blue tone. The morning glories have created the perfect backdrop to the light blue salvia. I love when the garden leads the way.

There is something very special about morning glory blooms. I think they look like little lanterns, almost as if the light was coming from within them. So very beautiful!

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An Apple Story

This past spring you may have seen my Instagram post about a crabapple tree in our backyard. I was very excited to see blossoms on this tree as it hadn't bloomed in over ten years. 

This is what I wrote at the time:

This is the crabapple tree that the blossoms I'm painting are from. This tree makes me so happy. This is the first time it's bloomed in about 10 years! It started as a small weeping crabapple. It didn't make it through one tough winter. I cut it back. This tree grew from its base and is now about 12 feet tall. I even wondered what kind of tree it was since it only ever had leaves. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the blossoms on it last week. What a beautiful lesson in not giving up on something and having patience. #mygarden #garden #tree #crabapple #patience #nothingisordinary

Well, imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when I walked beside that tree and saw not crabapples but apples on it! I was very, very excited and called everyone in my family to come out and see it. Then, of course, I had to paint one of the apples. 

I smile even looking at my painting. Our first little apple. So proud. This is one of the things I love about gardening. There are constant surprises and rewards, as well as reminders that we are not in complete control. My guess is that my original weeping crabapple tree was grafted onto an apple tree base. When the crabapple top died, the apple portion sent up a sucker from the roots and that is now my beautiful 12-foot tall apple tree.

I am happy to say that I have 5 x 7 prints available of both my apple blossom and apple paintings. I just listed them in my shop today!

Click the photo to see my 'Apple Blossom' print in my shop.

Click the photo to see my 'Apple' watercolor print in my shop.

From now on, I will only be listing my new work in my own shop on Shopify and not on Etsy. I hope you will visit it every now and then. I will be adding more things in the weeks ahead. It's going to be a great autumn!

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July Garden

We've had lots of rainy, stormy weather lately but this morning was glorious and can be summed up in two words: sunshine and bees.

It is so nice to see all of the activity and life in the garden at this point in the season. I feel weirdly proud that the bees like my garden and spend so much time in it. The bees aren't the only ones who are busy. I've been trying to garden every morning when the weather has cooperated. A couple of weeks ago, I figured out that if I spend two to three hours working in the garden each morning that, at the end of two weeks, I will have managed to work in each of my flower beds. So that's been my morning routine. I get up, make myself coffee and head outside. I paint inside in the afternoons when it's too hot to be outdoors.

All gardeners know that a weeded garden is only a theory. I am not foolishly expecting to have a perfect garden nor do I want one. I just want to feel less embarrassed about its state if we have visitors and to be able to to sit in a chair occasionally and admire it instead of feeling like I need to jump up and fix something right away.

This morning I pruned and weeded the back perennial bed. It's looking pretty full and lush. However, the end of the bed that extends beyond the right side of the photo is going to need work. It has become shadier and shadier in the past few years to the point that I've lost some of the plants. My oriental poppies are gone among others. It's hard to lose things but gardens tell us what they need and the right end of this particular bed is crying out for shade-loving plants. I may divide some astilbe and hostas from other parts of the garden and move them here this autumn.

Speaking of hostas, they are blooming in the front yard and were looking absolutely gorgeous this morning. These are 'Francee'.

Other favourites from my garden tour this morning include my Summer Snowflake viburnum (Viburnum plicatum) and a stunningly beautiful poppy.

The vegetable garden is also bursting with colour at the moment including this blue borage plant that reseeded from last year. The warm colours in the background come from ripening tomatoes, squash blossoms and nasturtiums. It's exciting to see so much happening at once but not everything is thriving. This morning I discovered that my hot pepper plant has wilted and my eggplant is struggling a little. In a garden, nothing is static which provides both its pleasure and ongoing challenges.

"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature."  Alfred Austin

Shop Discount and Garden Help

Just a short post to let you know that it is the final hours of my 20% discount in my Big Cartel shop. Use the coupon 1000REASONS at checkout. The coupon expires at midnight EST tonight (May 31st).

I have definitely been holding a 'trowel' more than a 'paintbrush' these past few days. My garden is big and I'm the head gardener.

My original 'Trowel and Paintbrush' painting

Thank goodness, I have help...ummmm well, company at least.

Meeko took off with a whole pot of mint while I was planting herbs this morning.

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After the Holidays

We have had freezing rain here most of the day. It has been a hazardous day for drivers and pedestrians. I'm so glad we drove back from Ontario on Friday and have been able to relax at home this weekend. We were in Ontario for a whole week to visit my family. We were supposed to drive Emma back to her university residence tonight but will wait until the morning when roads are likely to be easier to navigate. There are areas in Quebec without power. Our lights flickered this afternoon but, so far, we are lucky.

Hazards aside, the ice-encased garden is really quite beautiful. I posted a few photos I took during daylight on Instagram earlier. Tonight with our Christmas lights on and the street lights in the background, the garden is positively luminous.

Emma will be back at university tomorrow. Chloé goes back to school on Tuesday. I am so looking forward to getting back to my routine and painting again but it was very nice to have a break and do other things.

I hope you all had a good holiday and I wish you the very best in 2015!

Giving Thanks

This is the Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada. My vegetable garden has provided in a very sparse way over the summer but it must have felt a harvest celebration coming as it has ended the season quite splendidly.  My big tomato plants did not thrive this year but the vines against the house produced a big bowlful of sweet, tiny cherry tomatoes.

I brought the tomatoes in on Friday because of heavy frosts predicted over the weekend. For the plants on the ground, I have covered them with sheets the past few nights with the hope of prolonging the season a little longer. The temperatures are supposed to be quite mild this week so I'd like to enjoy the garden as long as I can.

Yesterday, we ate our Thanksgiving dinner and I was able to pick sage, parsley and this sweet bouquet of baby swiss chard to use. I also picked some turnips and was absolutely delighted to pull out a gigantic turnip heart! Isn't it magnificent? I couldn't stop smiling and then had to run into the house to show everyone.

We made a traditional dinner of turkey with dressing and gravy along with roasted carrots and turnips, shredded brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes. For Emma's vegetarian main course and a side dish for the rest of us, I made a 'Roasted beet salad with wild rice, goat cheese and chickpeas'. It was so good! You can find the recipe I used here. Did I mention that Emma was home from university for the weekend?!? We were also very happy that she invited one of her friends from residence, a student who lives near Boston, to share Thanksgiving dinner with us.

Emma made one special request when she confirmed she was coming home for the weekend. She asked me to make a pumpkin pie. I was happy to say yes as I love to make pie although I don't make it that often anymore. Was it a success? Um, well. It's possible you heard me yell 'Oh no!' as I pulled it out of the oven. The filling had swollen like a balloon and then returned to its normal level but not before cracking in a million places.

Was I disappointed? Yes. Very. I tried to think about Leonard Cohen's 'Anthem' lyrics as they help me sometimes.

Forget your perfect offering 
There is a crack, a crack in everything 
That's how the light gets in.

But here's the thing. Leonard wasn't singing about pumpkin pie. I considered remaking it but that wasn't an option as the turkey was already in the oven. Finally, I heard a murmur from the garden. What was that? Did someone say they could help me?  I do believe I heard the nasturtiums whisper something about coming to my aid. And they did.

So this Thanksgiving, I am giving thanks for my family, my garden and its harvest, with a particularly warm nod to my nasturtiums who saved the day (or at least the pie). Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating this weekend!

Nasturtium original watercolour on Twinrocker paper

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I did some research on pumpkin pie cracking and apparently it can be due to overbaking and/or cooling it too quickly. I might have done both. One suggestion is to slightly undercook it by five minutes and then to leave it in the oven, turned off, with the door propped open with a wooden spoon and let it cool gradually. I will definitely give that a try next time.  

Happy October!

Despite the chill in the air this morning, there is still lots of prettiness in the garden! Best wishes for a wonderful month! ❤

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I initially posted this with just the top photo but it seemed too bare. (I'm not a minimalist.) I've added a few more photos from my garden tour this morning. Now, that feels better. :)

Raindrops in the Garden

We had a huge heat wave the past week. So unusual for September. We are on our way to more reasonable temperatures thanks to a big storm yesterday. Today, there was a beautiful light rain in the morning. I decided to go on a walk with Meeko without an umbrella in order to literally soak it in. So lovely and refreshing.

Afterwards,  I toured the back garden and was able to capture some of the raindrop magic with my camera.

Chloé went back to school this past Tuesday. Emma is settling into life in residence and beginning her first year at university. We miss her day-to-day presence but love seeing how happy she is. As for me, I am finally back in the studio. I posted a couple of photos of my current painting in progress on Instagram and Facebook. 

I am thankful that cooler days ahead will allow me to take Meeko for longer walks. (He hates the heat!) I'm also glad that my head is full of a million things that I would like to paint. This time of year always feels like the beginning of the year to me. Even though my own school days are long behind me, my inner calendar still seems to follow the scholastic year. I feel that for all of us here, whether resuming familiar routines or tackling new challenges, this new year is full of promise. 

1) Nasturtium leaves 2) Highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) 3) Sunflower 4) Spindle wood (Euonymus europaeus) 5) Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) 6) Nasturtium leaves 7) Japanese anemone 8) Bee on Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue'