My Own Private Idaho

I feel like I'm cheating because I don't have any of my own pictures to post. I left my cord at work on Saturday and can't download anything.

But Sunday was such a beautiful day in the garden I can at least write about it. The sun was shining, sleeping dogs were lying about, the cat always seemed posed for photos, one minute by the hostas, another moment lying on the porch, ready for her close up.

And finally I got to work in the potager. We were several weeks behind with the vegetable garden. But a quick trip to Whole Foods fixed that. I got 3 organically grown tomato plants: green zebra, big beef and our favorite cherry tomato, sungold. I also found a rosa bianca eggplant, a heavily blooming cucumber and more herbs. I planted black beauty zucchini seeds and we have loofahs (hopefully) growing on the chain link fence. Now all we need are a few pepper plants, sweet and hot and we're good to go.

Every year, before I work in the vegetable garden I haul out my copy of The Art Of French Vegetable Gardening. It is my inspiration. Though I'm missing stone walls and dwarf boxwood for edging, there are no iron basins to store and warm the gardens water and my fruit trees aren't sculpted I love to read about and see gardens that have these and more.

And then I go to my 4 raised beds and dig and plant and water and am just as satisfied as if I truly have a potager I'll plant a moonflower vine and purple hyacinth beans alongside the loofahs and voila! Our own secret Eden. Bees, butterflies, cats and visitors welcome.