....A SEASON COMES TO END...

Here in the Northeast the gardens have fallen to the frosty mornings but yesterday when I went out to see if I could "scrounge" some fresh basil (am I crazy or what)!! for my tomato sauce I noticed that a rosemary plant had not been harvested ....so out came the shears and  now I have some fresh rosemary to fill in little Christmas stockings I am making....some days are just filled with surprises.  (no basil though) !!!

Fall Veggies

Here is our bounty from our neighbors garden and ours. The tomatoes and sweet peppers are ours, the rest is from our neighbor. I think this will be it for the garden. Cooler (dare I say COLD) days are coming.

The Dye Garden

Here in Berks County, Pa the autumn days have been beautiful and the last few nights have been stunning with glorious moonlight. We are undergoing a major landscaping project between the house and barn so I am thankful for each sunny day. As I clean up around the gardens my thoughts have been wandering to what plants would be good for dyeing wool. About 7 years ago I spent a weekend dabbling in the dye pot with a variety of plants from the gardens but I've sinced turned to the "little brown packages". Do any of you have a dye garden? I'm curious as to what you enjoy collecting for the dye pot. Earlier this month, at a local historical village I saw a hank of yarn that was dyed to a beautiful shade using orange cosmos. Maybe someday I'll get around to harvesting my orange flowers! Here's a pic of my orange cosmos. You will notice that Miss Paisley wanted to be part of the picture! Since she's been giving such beautiful eggs lately, I thought I would indulge her vanity.

Terri

from high on a hill in Berks County, Pa

LAZY HARVEST...

I have to admit my harvesting was not nearly as productive as it should have been.  No fault to the herbs...they grew beautifully with the TLC I gave them ....but time got away from me (Tony's broken ankle, open houses...etc.) and I really let the gardens go.  I still have some sage and ginger mint I can salvage...but the weather turned so HOT again and it just takes all my energy away!
Andrea your home and pumpkins make the best header for our blog!
Happy Harvesting to everyone.....XO, Judy

Falltime Harvest

Hi Everyone! 
This is such a wonderful time of year for us Gardeners :)  I get just as excited to harvest the herbs & flowers as I get when I plant them.  This year I've decided to dry as much as possible.

Here's a basket of fresh Sage, Anise Hyssop & Basil that I'll be hanging in the barn~ There's also lots of Silver King Artemesia & Hydrangeas that will be dried as well. 

Here's how my Rudbecia turned out this year.................HUGE!

 And here is the Rudbeckia mixed with Mints, Sweet Annie, Zinnias and other flowers.
 Another thing that did so well this year was my Pumpkins.   I was harvesting them in August!!

 And they wereSuper HUGE this year!!! 
Happy Fall everyone, I enjoy looking at all your garden pics :)

Andrea~

Just Wanted to Say Hi!

Just wanted to say hi and thank Judy for asking to me to participate in The Herbal Bouquet.  This is our front garden in western Pennsylvania.  I know it's a little crazy!  I'm a Penn State master gardener and I volunteer answering the public's gardening questions for our Gardenline.  I also guest blog for The Herb Companion magazine.   The Herbal Husband and I have a large garden and no kids or pets.  My passion is all things herbal, but I do answer a wide variety of questions for the extension.  So you will see and hear from me when I can and when I can come up with an answer for questions that's what I love to do.  Talk to you soon.

Butterflies

I read today on Lemon Verbena Lady's blog about the butterflies that are visiting her gardens. Back in early Summer I purchased a hanging pot of purple petunias and hung them on the North side of our home. They were suppose to have full sun, but like Les says, I never read the directions. They are doing just great. I dead head them a couple times a week and water them every other day if we don't get rain. But, lately (last week or so) they are covered in butterflies. Now, I don't know my butterflies, but that doesn't matter I just enjoy watching them from the screened porch and so do the cats. Enjoy your day ladies.