My roommate Phyllis working in her vegetable garden in the overgrown garden in our backyard. Bird’s eye view.
Weed’s eye view of the garden. She’s got strawberries, tomatoes, jalapeños, radishes (already harvested), okra (just planted), and herbs…
…including pfefferminze!
Meanwhile, weeds grow fast and make shapes along the cracks in the cement. Every year our neighbor has to come and chop back all the ivy and weeds so we can walk in our garden.
Our landlord told Phyllis that when he and his family lived in our house, they set up a vine-covered trellis which arched over a little wading pool area in the garden with a sprinkler installed at the top to create a shower for the kids to play under. It’s difficult to imagine a more edenic space for the summer! The wading pool area was the space shown above, where the table and chairs are now.
What a beautiful scene! I had no idea your backyard is so lush in the summertime. I have memories of a somewhat desolate place where you can see the highway through naked branches and chain-link fence, but that must be a memory from winter. I can’t wait to see the garden in person.
Maybe Phyllis can help you grow an extra pot of mint that could move with us to the Open Source gallery for making tea during the residency. It should be easy – just pull a small part from the first mint plant that includes some rooty material and put it in a new pot! Mint reproduces well that way.
Anke took a similar picture of me in our garden. I will post it soon.
Yes, I’m planning on dividing my peppermint and spearmint soon – the roots have been starting to break out – so they should be ready for tea and other drinks in the gallery! I’ve also been making lots of strawberry plant children – some will be given to friends but if there are extras maybe Open Source visitors can take little plants home.