Thursday, May 19, 2011

Humble Bungalow Garden...and a Humble Bungalow Pie

Gardener's are never truly satisfied with how their patch is looking
we always feel it is never quite finished...
when compliments flow on a walkabout with a guest
we bend over to pinch a weed or deadhead a bloom that has faded
and make apologies.

Many of us change and rearrange our beds on a seasonal basis.
There are perennials to be divided and new exciting plants that have garnered our attention that we absolutely must purchase, even though we have not one square inch of space left...
not to worry we dig up some more turf and widen the border until there's more bed than grass!

This is the new project I embarked on...
the front bed beside the gravel drive.


Slate pieces littered haphazardly throughout the bed
they allow me to kneel on a foam gardener's pad 
and weed without getting too dirty.


Euphorbia


Potted plants add height
and can be moved around
and easily changed with the seasons


the clump of darker green beside the potted plant is a giant rudbeckia 
which grows to about 7 feet and has sunny yellow blooms


Boxwood plants
which will grow slowly and form a hedge which I shall keep neatly trimmed
a little bit of formality has been invited into an otherwise rambling cottage garden.

Much of the garden will remain the same as last year
our season has been stalled by the cold and rainy weather
the past few days we have enjoyed some long desired for sunshine 
and happily the thermometer has been on the rise.


The bulk of the veggies will be planted this coming weekend...

Elephant garlic and Yukon Gold spuds were planted last weekend by Mr. HB


Look at this huge Rhubarb!
It is ripe for the picking
and there's a pie recipe that I would love to share...


I have collected recipes over the past 37 years...
some of them have had to be written over many times as they have been used so much
this is one such recipe...
from Joyce, a former bridge partner.


You can substitute Greek style plain yogurt 
for the whipped cream...
so delicious served warm from the oven!

I hope that you enjoy this pie if you decide to bake it.

As the garden changes
so does my repertoire of recipes...
this tested tried and true reliable winner is my favourite.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would love a cottage garden, I loathe neat gardens and anything too designed, mine is a hodge lodge mess, I would love to have someone help set it out cottage style.
The old written recipes are wonderful.

the gardener's cottage said...

i agreee with tabitha. i love a tidy inside but give me a sloppy cottage garden anyday of the week!

xo
janet

Anonymous said...

It's a Globe Trotter suitcase- all the Italians went crazy for it!

LPC said...

Oooh, now I have to get out there and poke in the dirt:).

materfamilias said...

Your garden looks great! I wish I could get my rudbeckia going -- the deer seem to love it, sadly.

La Vie Quotidienne said...

Oh your garden is looking so pretty. I love that Euphorbia, chartruese is always a wonderful addition to the garden. And the miniture boxwoods are just perfect. Very nice!

Annie ~ Red Roses and Crystal said...

I truly admire green thumb gardeners. Alas I'm not a natural and confess I rely heavily on Mr A who does not overthink the task and gets in boots and all. He finds throwing dirt around great for stress relief.
Hostess the humble bungalow garden is a treat, well done!
xx

Marguerite said...

So lovely Hostess. A husband who will plant a veg garden, priceless! Here in Texas we are suffering an extreme drought again for the 3rd year. So sad to see when it could be spring loveliness. We need a slow moving tropical depression and soon. The pie recipe looks yummy!

Karena said...

So beautiful I adore all of your garden images!!

The rhubarb is wonderful!

xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena

Come and enter my Great Giveaway from Serena & Lily!

You will love it!

Northmoon said...

I'm a big fan of rhubarb pie, but I prefer mine to be cold - to me the best is straight out of the refrigerator! My rhubarb patch is just over 18" high - not quite ready yet, but soon.

Thank you for the recipe but I think I'll stay with mine - you don't have to cook the rhubarb first, just toss cut pieces with the dry ingredients and put them in the pie shell.

I do think it's nice to have special dishes that are only availble at certain times of the year.

L'age moyen said...

I love your tidy boxwoods. What a beautiful (yet humble) garden - lovely colour variations and textures. I have to get some rhubarb going this year - that's it, I'm doing it. The pie recipe makes my mouth water.