Growing food took priority at the cottage until 2022 when the youngest of our children graduated from high school. Our children's education, and activities, were our focus, and spending time growing ornamental plants was not something we could manage.
In 2023, we radically changed our garden to focus heavily on florals, ranging from perennials to annuals. We installed new landscaping beds, arches for roses to grow on, and added additional raised beds for the sole purpose of growing flowers. We did all of the work ourselves, beginning with the design.
We try to start as many plants as we can, from seed, to make the gardening process less expensive. We do buy plant starts for plants that we would not be able to successfully germinate in our unheated greenhouse.
Click on the arrows below to view plant lists of what we are currently growing, or have grown, during previous seasons.
We have been growing food since the early 2000s. We have approx. 15 blueberry bushes and a long double row of raspberry vines. We have more strawberries than we can eat, so we happily share with wildlife. Each year we grow vegetables, including tomatoes, a variety of squash, corn, lettuce, radish, herbs, and more. Until recently, the amount of food we were able to grow each year was dependent on the time that we had to put into gardening.
We used to grow organic apples, but took the trees out after we began to struggle with apple maggots. We didn't want to impact the rest of our organic garden with chemical controls.
We are beginning to move some of our food production into our ornamental beds. For example, we grow rhubarb in our landscape and many people have asked us what the plant is. They are surprised that the large, leafy plant, that blends in beautifully with the ornamental plants, is food.
Click on the arrows below to view plant lists of what we are currently growing, or have grown, during previous seasons.
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Click on the arrows below to view plant lists of what we are currently growing, or have grown, during previous seasons.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Click on the arrows below to view plant lists of what we are currently growing, or have grown, during previous seasons.