Friday, May 15, 2009

Shoot Out Friday

Okay this is not my typical post. I am going to very, very loosely tie this back to food. Chef E at Chef E had a Friday Shoot Out. Many may know her from her food blog but his is yet another endeavor of that amazing women. I thought it would be fun to try. This weeks theme was Gardens and Transportation.


I thought I would tell you a bit about my house and yard. Our house was built somewhere around 1915 (records vary on it). Our house had at some point fallen into a bit of neglect, as many homes in the city had. Lucky for us our house was bought and renovated entirely by the gal before us. God love that women. That said, the one area that was neglected when we purchased it was the yard. So I got to work… and it got out of hand. We have a huge yard (by city standards, about 1/3 and acre) and I just kept going. This year I decided, however as opposed to planning annual in the bare spots in the yard, I was filling it with veggies, and herbs. So in the flower beds went tomatoes, and around the bamboo steaks for the tomatoes went green beans, and in the beds went lettuce, and swiss chard, and eggplant, and butternut squash and cantaloupe, and so on.


So this year I am making my yard work a bit harder for me. And if all my veggies come in… you might just see me off loading some at the Westover Hills farmers market. Sadly I doubt Tristan's tricycle coudl get them all to market.








This are of the yard is new. In the next several years as the tree mature, this should close off this area of the yard from neighbors, foot traffic and the other areas of the yard, creating a private room. The trees got whomped by our one and only snow. We have got around to staking a couple but more to go. Right now they look all wonky.






Same area of the yard looking towards the house.



Different flowers in these beds.










These peonies were dug up from my grandfathers yard in NJ, he passed a start to my mom, she passed it to me and I will pass it on the my babies. It amazes me sometimes, the threads we keep.






My favorite place on my front porch to sit and talk to my great neighbor. Lucky for me it is right near the Jasmine, that smells so good!






Now go and visit some other ‘Friday Shoot Out’ Possee:

Reggie @ Midlife and Menopause
Patty @ Crisfield News
Chef E

10 comments:

Heather S-G said...

How beautiful!! My favorite one is the one w/ the tricycle & garden together...too cool!

Reeni said...

Your yard is gorgeous! I see it as a setting for an afternoon tea party with the 'ladies'! So pretty!

Coleens Recipes said...

What a STUNNING yard!! Someone certainly has a green thumb. It is still way to cold here for anything to bloom yet. The flowers are amazing.

Donna-FFW said...

Love your photos! Ill check out the others.

zerrin said...

Vanessa, I'm watching all these photos of your yard with a big admiration. You did a great job! I can't take my eyes from your front porch, it's so lovely! It would be so nice to be your neighbor and have a cup of coffee there watching the flowers and feeling the enchanting smell of jasmine.

Kristen said...

What a beautiful little haven you've created there!

Chris said...

I was going to comment on how nice your peonies were but then I thought that you might think I have "peonies envy"!

ha
ha
ha
ha
ha
ha

:)

Chef E said...

Oh what a great job you did here, you made me jealous of your gardens! :) I would have liked to of had a trike like that when I was a wee one :( Thanks for joining...next week is 'Paint the town Red' which is your own interpretation...

Girl if you only knew what I am going through to get that post done for your post, lol, you will read all about it tomorrow!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Wow, you have done a lot of work! I like the hostas!

Barbara Bakes said...

Thanks for sharing your garden! I especially loved the peonies. How great that they've been passed from generation to generation! Mine have yet to bloom.