In the 1950's and 60's I subscribed to "Mother Earth News" and learned to make my vegetable garden under a deep permanent mulch. This morning with everything freshly washed I felt a kinship with the younger self of those times as I played in the garden, my hair in a braid again and my gardening gloves on. I have a nice layer of Coastal Bermuda hay on the ground around the vegetables and added the trimmings from a culinary sage which was growing over a walkway, and then cut up last years' parsley plants to add to the mulch. I add bits of plant matter on top continuously and it makes an herby sweet smelling cushion under foot. It is time to cut back the basil and add it's fragrance to this. Fruit and vegetable trimmings from the kitchen are buried here and there under a bit of top soil and then the mulch rolled back in place over them. Composted manure will help too at the end of this growing season. Next spring I will set in purchased blue bonnets in between the vegetable plants to add nitrogen to the soil which is needing that. There are a few of the blue flowers this year, but they cannot self seed in the deep mulch.
This is peach season for Fredericksburg, and I celebrate with large pies, not as big as in the past when I used a 19 inch long turkey pan for my peach pies, but still large enough to share with friends. When I was in my 20's I thought it a great sin to buy piecrust and always made my own. Now I let Pillsbury do them and I add cinnamon and nutmeg and sugar and bits of real butter on top of the crust and for a crowning touch a nice sprinkling of pecans. No one complains. This weekend I will make my third one for this summer. I hope each of my friends is enjoying this beautiful season as much as I am. e
In the ornamental part of the garden "Indigo Spires" has reached a height of 4 feet and a spread of about 7.