july.
the month of home projects.
before leaving for europe, we made a big list of home projects for when we would return home.
now we’re settling into july & it’s full force ahead finishing projects & fluffing our nest!
our back patio is in need of new benches & we just acquired a fabulous outdoor table that’s craving a bit of spray paint. luke’s also building window shutters & flower boxes to give our home that personal touch. we purchased an above ground pool on sale during memorial weekend & at the end of the month, we hope to finally have it ready!
of course, i love goals so i am excited about what’s ahead! i can’t wait to update you as we check things off.
do you use the summer to complete home projects? what’s planned for your home this summer?
love,
natalie
if you’re new to this space, welcome to the “in the garden” series! during the spring & summer months, in celebration of gardening, i share a garden overview of what our garden currently looks like along with what we plan to plant throughout the month! welcome!
unlike most summers at the farm, we were away from the garden the entire month of june. it was a big decision for us to make, but ultimately we decided that life’s too short so we took our big trip. thankfully, we had the best farm sitters ever that took amazing care of our little homestead.
in the garden – july 2015
so much has changed in just one month! see the june garden here.
right before leaving the farm for the month, we harvested almost all of our spring crops including cabbage, beets, onions & potatoes. we now have plenty of empty space for late summer goodies!
it was extra rainy this past month (very uncharacteristic to our region) & our flowers loved it! we have the most impressive flower garden this year. i am harvesting big bouquets of flowers daily for our home, our friends & our family. it’s such an easy gift to give & it’s free!
we are harvesting big bowls of sungold cherry tomatoes (our favorite variety!) every day & eating them for breakfast, lunch & dinner.
i have finally filled in our entire front landscaping beds with perennial flowers & the echinacea are just stunning this year!
we are also harvesting big baskets of basil for pesto. we eat it fresh with every meal & freeze the extra for the wintertime.
bell peppers are coming in nicely. we will eat these beauties with tacos, burritos & fresh with dips.
this is our side flower bed with cosmos, queen ann’s lace, basil, lemon balm & zinnias.
we are finally harvesting big & juicy cherokee purple tomatoes from the garden! we are also harvesting a few eggplant at a time. last night luke made eggplant parmesan for the first time this year & it was gloriously good!
other garden news:
+ we are fighting weeds this time of year with nightly weeding dates in the garden. we heavily mulch to keep the weeds at bay, but you can still find us in the garden working away plot-by-plot.
+ we lost our entire crop of garlic (about 300 cloves!) to the rain. every single clove rotted. it was quite heartbreaking, but this rain has taught us a lot.
+ we are planting cucumber & squash this week. in this area, squash bugs are almost impossible to control. last year we planted our squash after july 4th & didn’t suffer as much as our other gardening friends. we’re going to try it out again this year & see what happens! i will report back.
what is happening in your garden? please share!
love,
natalie
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it encourages my heart so much for this space to be supported financially while also assisting in the growth of your own business, shop or blog! we have a few spots open for july & august so apply right here! yay!
this weekend, like most folks, we celebrated the 4th with with a backyard cookout!
since arriving home from our trip throughout europe, i’ve opted for fresh foods & salads over heavily prepared meals. i am craving caprese salads, bruschetta & pesto with cucumbers. blame it on italy, y’all.
for our friends’ backyard party, i gathered an array of fresh ingredients in pretty little bowls. i brought along a small bowl of soft cheese from the farmers’ market, homemade pesto, home-pickled sugar snap peas, spicy pickles & chopped cucumbers for dipping.
i was craving popcorn so we brought along a big bowl of sea salt caramel popcorn. this is my go-to recipe, friends. we’ll be making it many more times this summer, that is for certain!
i also brought along a pretty bouquet of flowers from our farm complete with a happy flag for the special occasion.
what are your go-to fresh party foods? please share!
love,
natalie