Its very near to the summer solstice here, and this time of year always tricks me. I am out watering every morning, and need to be as though my life depends on it (and it does), just keeping those plants green and alive. If I miss many days watering in the summer, then plants wilt irreversibly and the whole thing is a goner before August gets underway, then I just give up. But lately I’ve felt that keeping a bit of this arid mountainside a green oasis, is not only for the plants, but for a kind of green fire barrier, should another wildfire blaze through. That means from early June until the first rains in mid Autumn I must water every morning and “weed whack” as a preventative approach, for my own peace of mind if anything. Certainly, a garden which actually makes edible things is a wonderful thing too!
The work up here seems overwhelming for me at this time, having been out of it for a couple of years nearly, yet I suppose rebuilding our house is also about rebuilding my life. It is going to take a lot of effort clearly, if we choose to continue living up here in the wild “fire safe”, so my life’s work for the next few months is in the garden and surrounding defensible space. Already the grass is too high, and because of the rain in May, needs to be cut yet again! Oh but I do feel proud because some of the perennial plants in the garden are already old-timers, knowing that everything I planted was either a cutting or a young plant from the nursery, and what is now many years old has grown to be test-proven in this harsh mountain climate.
Rugged perennials have ~ finally ~ established to be the signature thrivers of this mountain garden, along with tools that have retired from use.
Friday is the solstice, so wherever you are in the world, winter or summer, I hope you enjoy the turning of the Earth’s beautiful seasons.
(If you click 1st image , you will go to slideshow with commentary! )
Jenjoyce Design 
Oh I envy you that morning ritual! You have the most beautiful office in the whole world! Love the photographs. Its amazing how different the textures are in early morning rather than late afternoon……..HUGS xoxo
My summer morning office is open to you, anytime you want to take watering hose in hand, and go in late to work! xx
I will take you up on that! …..I’ll take the whole friggin day off to do that.
Jen, Your garden looks so great! I live up in Cloverdale now and we have to water EVERY day too. Quarryhill found that their irrigated garden was an effective fire stop. It sure can’t hurt. ❤️Ginger
Ginger, one only has to observe how the irrigated vineyards essentially do not burn, that the fire willingly goes around. I am now watering, not for the lettuces, but for the green barrier! Happy Solstice to you! xx
Lovely gardens, so lush! Keep watering, they reward the effort!
Water water water! I will share more as I get the place ship-shape! xx
😊👍
Jen, what an oasis of happiness! Enjoy!
(I just came in from watering my balcony pots, before I off to work. We will have a hot day here today, and will go out for yummy ice cream in the afternoon.)
🌞🐝🌼🍦
An oasis, yet only barely, but more as it grows and I will take more photos. I absolutely LOVE your Hamburg balcony garden!!! Mmm icecream ~~ xx
…. back home now, just before the thunderstorm!
…. had an ice coffee (it´s made here with cold coffee, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream – delicious – but don´t count calories (LOL) just enjoy!
The jar you have your coffee in, at the photo, must be perfect for an iced coffee!
Is the bath tube the same you had before the fire in your garden? Which I saw in earlier posts?
Your German iced coffee sounds awesomely delicious!!!
This is just a jar of hot morning coffee with some cream in it. I am funny that way, some days black, but lately as I am trying to stave off hunger a little while I do my watering, I have some full cream in it. In fact, I’m making my coffee now to take out and water soon. A jar because it doesn’t matter if I break it out there in the garden, and not only is it because I only have one coffee mug I use here in the tiny house, (( my Oakville Grocery one is packed away and buried in the shed, and I will have a gleeful reunion with it, and all my coffee & espresso drink paraphernalia when we move in to the house… one day…)) The bathtub in the garden is not the nice one we have covered by the tiny house which is waiting to go into the new house. The bath in the garden was one of those old ‘rusty field bath tubs’ typically used for watering cattle, that Jeff found for me around the time we were first dating, because I was living in a little old cabin in the woods nearby and so wanted to soak in a bathtub, and we set that up under the deck of the cabin. Ha! That is a relic! I’ve posted about it 6 years ago here : https://jenjoycedesign.com/2013/04/21/leeks-scallions/
Your gardens are lovely!
Thanks Becky, even with burned trees in the background, thanks. Lol. It is all I can do to keep it surviving the summer.