The Magical Fruit!

 {beans via my backyard}

 Happy Memorial Day, everybody!

Hope yours is filled with sunshine and good times, as mine is surely to be.


Urban garden update: progress of my early girl tomatoes and green beans is astounding. Check these babies out! Seriously, beans already?! This little plant isn't even 12" tall yet -- heck, one of those beans is nearly the length of the plant itself! Time to to some staking up already! Woop woop!

{early girl tomatoes via my back yard}

Good Morning Ohio: Wayward Seed Farm

{images via wayward seed farm}

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Good morning to Central Ohio's own

Wayward Seed Farm!

The Wayward Seed Farm is a bio-intensive, organic method farm specializing in heirloom vegetables.

Found in Marysville, Ohio, Wayward Seed Farm not only provides many central Ohio farmer's markets and restaurants with fresh, organic, and unique varieties of heirloom and heritage vegetables, they have pioneered the successful creation of a CSA (or Community Supported Agriculture) program which serves as a direct link between local consumers like you and me. To date, the Wayward Seed Farm CSA program is one of Central Ohio's largest, further demonstrating their commitment to our community through honest farming, education, and support. Though this year's CSA spots are all filled, the fruit and veggie shares are very competitive. I encourage everyone to consider participating next season! For much more information, including farmer's market lists, what they grow, CSA information, and more, please visit www.waywardseed.com.

My Garden Grows...with Impatiens

Who doesn't love a little pun now and again? On Sunday, I went bonkers and planted my garden. I had so many plants in my cart at the local garden center that one man told his wife, "Whatever she gets, we should get." I guess I looked the part because, in all honesty, I don't have a clue what I'm doing. When I said that to Bubs? His response: "If you get in in the ground, you're doing it right." What a novel idea :)

Here's everything I planted:

· red + orange impatiens in the front box planters
· hot pink, pale 2-color pink, and pale violet impatiens in the back box planters
· pineapple mint, parsley, cilantro, sweet basil, + lavender in a big old metal planter
· green beans, leeks, Mr. Stripey heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, Scotch Bonnet peppers, red chili peppers, green bell peppers, spinach, lettuce, and a partridge in a pear tree. Ok. That last bit was a joke :)

Oh, and we found two toads (frogs? I don't know the difference.) in our yard -- 1 near the deck stairs + 1 hopping near the fence. When it jumped, I jumped. Bubs wouldn't let me try to touch it, the fraidy cat.

 I wonder why they've taken up our yard as their home? Let's hope they eat mosquitoes :)

What fun things have you planted in your garden this year?

Wanted on Wednesday: A Potager Garden

{top L-R: Herb Companion, How Stuff Works. bottom images: Southern Living}

With the practicality of an English kitchen garden and the style of a French jardin ornamental, I dream of having a beautiful back garden full of both edibles and cutting flowers, perhaps with pebbled pathways betwixt tidy, raised beds.

{via Peter Piper Picked}

While I'm at it,  I wouldn't mind having a dreamy, dirty potting space like this one from the movie It's Complicated. This is the stuff of which my dreams are made.

Eye Candy: Newby Hall + A Real Vintage Wedding

While dreaming out loud with my English cousin-to-be of lush manor gardens and quaint farm cottages, I learned of Newby Hall in North Yorkshire. Oh to be as lucky as she who can visit whenever needing a bit of a Pride & Prejudice inspiration! On my next jaunt over the pond, a visit is at the top of my list.

And look at what else I've come across, but these lovely wedding photos of Betty Doxford, of the Newby Wiske Hall to Lieut Gibson, a "gt-gt-nephew of the poet Wordsworth" circa 1928. I love her bridal cloche hat and her stunning cascade bouquet. {P.S. ladies...Newby Hall is available for weddings! Now THAT would be one amazing destination wedding!}

{All images courtesy Flickr}

Where My Hose At?

Sometimes I don't have to go far to forget I live in the city. Check out all of the little trees growing along the fence. We get so many growing in the yard that we have to pull them like weeds. Last year, Mr. M. tried to transplant them at mom's, but alas, their roots are too shallow and zero of 30-ish survived the move.

My own secret garden.

Lilac Love

A bit of pretty snipped from my mom's garden on Sunday.

Dreamy Dream House

{All Images Courtesy Country Living}

I couldn't resist posting these images from this Country Living feature. Not only do I completely admire the Brahler family for doing their historical home complete and utter justice (and wow, do I mean WOW - this house is stunning), I love how they were able to capture the feeling of stately European country manor casual. The kicker? They live in the city of Jacksonville, Illinois' historical disstrict (go Midwest)!

There is something so intrisically charming about the whitewash, the rich green yard, the perfectly-chosen faded palette and the eclectic reuse of vintage pieces that make this house a home. You can almost smell fresh cotton and hear the giggles of children playing hide-and-seek. This is the kind of home you can be creative in...play Bach, paint something grand or perhaps you could finally finish that novel you've been meaning to start.

I am not even going to start thinking about the kind of wedding you could have in a house like this...ah, the possibilities!

I Heart Forsythia

{Courtesy: Fantastic Plants}

I am one of those people where certain sights, sounds and smells inexplicably jerk me back to past experiences and memories in an instant. Forever hopelessly romantic and nostalgic, this is especially true when recalling cherished childhood memories -- crisp spring days, a cardinal's song, the smell of cold grass and the huge forsythia that grew at the corner of the yard next to the small lamp post. To this day it is impossible for me to see a forsythia and not think of my grandma. I think she'd enjoy that about me. She loved her gardens. I wish I was half as good a gardener as she, but the Green Thumb gene skipped me entirely and my sister was born with all of the finesse and patience it takes to be a stellar gardner.

But there is something just so about a forsythia. Just one of those forces of nature you can let go of completely and beautiful things happen without much interference. Just the idea of the stalky, erratic branches shooting out in every direction, covered in tiny bursts of sunlight makes me smile. I do. I love forsythia in springtime.