Week 11 Produce and flowers galore

Our Tangerine Gem dahlia attracts many bees. I think they make a nice landing strip.

Asian pears. We have discovered the ones with "dimples" have a hard spot inside the dimple area. Research will occur this winter.

Our small Bartlett pears have produced a few pears this year.

Cafe au Lait dahlias are one of our favorites. 

The little white edges on this dahlia add brightness.

Bees are sure out this morning.

More bee activity on this bicolor dahlia.

This dahlia is a different variety. It has many more petals and seems to catch rainwater in its little cupped petals.

A delicately orange dahlia.

A very large Peace rose. It climbs as high up as the roof of the chicken house. It also has wicked thorns! Dad planted this one many years ago.

Another Cafe au Lait with a friend behind it.

A spiky white dahlia. These go well in many different types of bouquets. Mom always said, "plant white flowers in your garden".

Lisa setting up in the flower house. Some cut flowers last longer if their stems are in boiling water for a specific amount of time. When she started doing boiling water for this she used a 34 year old camp stove. She did find a single burner that would work more consistently for her. She is always researching cut flower ideas.

Lisa's college roommate, Pat, helps her pick on Monday evenings and sometimes Monday mornings. Thanks Pat!

She is a character! Hey Pat :)

Lisa sewed this flower seed packet garland and then dried the blue statice and made the beautiful wreath.

"Senorita" zinnias pair nicely with green Bells of Ireland.

A few of our different zinnias for Lisa's bouquets.

Pale yellow zinnias along with a sprinkling of "Peppermint" zinnias.

Red zinnias. It's tough to find a zinnia that is totally red. The underside of these petals are light colored.

The back of the family garage. The white portion of this wall used to have a lean to covered area for our little tractor to be parked out of the weather. Then it held firewood and then the lean to fell down. Hence the white wall. It was always inside a white room. We took the fallen parts away this spring on our family farm clean up day. Anna and Lisa brought in the rocks from other areas of the farm and then planted the flowers. The sign was from "back in the day" when we ran the fruit stand out on Portland Road. 

A late planting of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. There was just enough room to squeeze in one more row here. The pathway to the right is for the golf cart to help transport harvested crops. Such a big help.

Our second planting of zucchini and yellow crookneck summer squash. Just blooming so they will be ready in a couple weeks. Each line of drip irrigation can be turned off and on individually.

The kids knew right where this beautiful garden spider was living in the raspberries. They led me right to it!

The white zigzag is common for these spiders. A way for them to knit their webs together and make them stronger.

The acorn squash are turning darker green. They do have powdery mildew (the white splotches on the leaves) but they are mature enough they will survive.

Butternut squash hiding under their protective foliage.

A tall slender okra plant.

So many zinnias. They are so cheerful. I am partial to these colors.

The cantaloupe are being counted and sized for the boxes.

Levi, in the background, gets a kick out of this process. The apples help show the size of the cantaloupe. 

Our memo board today.

Today's list of goodies.

"Teddy Bear" sunflowers are short and typically some of the first sunflowers to bloom. The greenery in this bouquet is a tall lemon scented geranium called "Mabel Grey". This was one of Mom's favorite scented geraniums. Very lemony.

Pink zinnias await their selection for a bouquet.

There are also salmon colored zinnias on the left along with bright pink zinnias on the right.

Another beautiful bouquet.

The dark red leaves are from a coleus plant. This bouquet is so showy!

A tall gladiola goes along with the dahlias, zinnias and Mabel Grey scented geraniums in this bouquet.

A common problem.... which bouquet to take home?

And then there are more on the other table! So many choices...

And Lisa is still making more.

The flower house looks full of bouquets. It must be almost 4:00 pm and ready for pick up.

So many little things to put in a separate flat is necessary. A small box of raspberries, one of sour Mexican Gherkins, one of multicolored cherry tomatoes and then lemon cucumbers along with apples. And the big regular boxes are full, too.

Different kinds of pears on the "extra" table.

A few honeydew melons and watermelons waiting to go home with someone.

A few individual cantaloupe and a few large cantaloupe, too.

Brightly colored radishes await bundling.

Alex uses twist ties to put these together.

Such pretty colors. 

Post card worthy photo?

Today's contents. So many delicious and pretty things!

This dahlia has an apt name: Bedhead.

Lemon Gem marigolds, traditional nasturtiums, and a very tall volunteer sunflower adorn this raised bed near our family's old farm house.

Mom loved garden art.

See you next time on the blog.

Lorrie