Greenhouse Love

Sunflowers and roses--a late summer vision in yellow!

The shop with it's new greenhouse room--we love it!

You've heard the expression, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire."  Well, that's sort of what has been going on around here all summer long, from adding lots of new lavender beds, to expanding our "you pick" field, to installing our new labyrinth and finally, right into enlarging the shop.  Yes--that's what I said--we've (well, Peter, really but I helped, here and there, and took all of the pictures.) enlarged the shop.

A view of our original and hardworking "happy-place" greenhouse, through the poppies, this past May.  This greenhouse will continue as it always has--home to cuttings and plants year-round.

Waaaaay back in May, a customer and now our friend, Linda, visited Blooming Hill and then offered us an unused greenhouse that was just taking up space on her property.  Ever the thrifty and curious gardeners, Peter and I went over to her house to take a look.  Before we even left the property, we both had about 20 ideas as to what we could use it for.  So, a few days later, Peter and Kevin went back to Linda's and dismantled the greenhouse, packed it up in the truck and brought it back to Blooming Hill, where it sat in pieces for a few months. We had to think about where it would best fit on the property and then we had to mull that over a bit as well.

WARNING!  Devil deer know how to photo-bomb!

The herb garden in August.

Suddenly it was August! Where did this summer go to, anyway?  The time was ripe to get cracking on yet another project and, after weighing all of our options, a little extra space in the shop seemed like a pretty good idea.  Hence, nestled in the shady glade and attached to the back door of the shop our new greenhouse room is another bright and happy place while adding to the overall "garden" feel of the place.  So, instead of talking endlessly (as I have a habit of doing when I blog) on the construction and rebuilding of it I thought I'd post a few pictures of the whole process instead.  Here it goes in a nutshell, so don't blink...

In any case, we love what we've done with the place and hope you will stop by and take a look around yourself!  Tell us what you think.

A garden angel keeping watch at the greenhouse room's back door.

Labyrinth - The Way In Is the Way Out

Our newly constructed labyrinth here at Blooming Hill, painstakingly built by Peter.   I could not have asked for a more perfect 34th wedding anniversary gift.

The way in is the way out.  Sounds like something Morpheus probably said to Neo in the movie, The Matrix, or perhaps Jedi Zen Master, Yoda, might have said to his young protegee, Luke Skywalker.  Yet, it is actually a simple description of the design and purpose of a labyrinth.   A labyrinth is a single-path circle (sometimes oval or square-shaped, too) with twists and turns, some expected and others unexpected, that begins and ends pretty much in the same place. Yet, a labyrinth can have the mysterious ability to help center an individual, spark creativity and might just help, clarify a question hidden deep within the nooks and crannies of a person's mind, body and even soul.

Before hand-digging the labyrinth shape, Peter used the tractor of our neighbor and good friend, Joyce, to carve out a big enough space in the rolling topography leading down to a small pond.

The inspiration behind the journey, just beginning.

The idea really taking shape in the dappled shade on a hot July afternoon.

Through the years, I have had the opportunity to walk a labyrinth at different locations, during church events and other group meetings and have found them to be an enlightening experience. I have always thought Blooming Hill would be a perfect place to have one, especially as a companion to the lavender field.  I have been working on Peter to design and build one for a long time and, after some heated discussions, serious soul searching and compromise on both of our parts as to just exactly where to put it, finally, last month, he got down on his knees and dug a labyrinth by hand--sometimes, literally!  This whole process, we found, was just as much of a quest, if not more, as purposefully walking one that is already installed.  Labyrinths are thought to enhance right brained activity and, as we are both left-handed, Peter and I are always open to expanding our already creative sides.

The prodigal son, still home this past July and just before he began his own 9-year journey in medical school at Virginia Tech, helped his father do some heavy lifting and spreading of stones to create the "walls" that would separate the soon-to-be grassy paths.

Carefully laying down dirt and grass seed.

A closer look at the center of the labyrinth in the early stages, dug by a right-brained, left-handed  landscape architect named Peter (or P. Lorenz, if you want to be  totally"artsy" about it.)

Labyrinths are not some new age phenomenon that somehow sprang up out of pop culture.  Rather, they are ancient, stemming as far back as ancient Rome and Greece and even earlier. They were also a central part of the Catholic Faith during the middle ages and often walked as a representation of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, or for repentance, bringing the participant closer to God and these practices are still inspiration to walk a labyrinth in modern times.  For many, walking a labyrinth can be a mystical experience while others may just simply not understand them.  In any case, a labyrinth, whether the experience is deeply meaningful or just fun, can make a participant stop and think.

Somebody just can't wait until it's finished to expand his spiritual side.

Apparently, for some people, digging out chunks of heavy clay soil is lot's of fun!

Heavy rainfall, one evening sent pea gravel and dirt to just about everywhere they should not have gone since the emerging grass could not hold them in place. So, once again, some hand-digging action needed to executed in order to retain the design of the labyrinth.

Our Blooming Hill Labyrinth is 28 feet in diameter with a classical design outlined in pea gravel to help you stay on the soft-grassy path. The goal is to reach the center and then turn around and walk back out by using the single circuitous path, thus bringing the participating walker some clarity by the end of the journey.

He walks it everyday to meditate on the squirrels and free his mind from those devil deer...Really!

A view of the labyrinth from the top of the hill.

Stop by and try out our new labyrinth.  It is not quite finished as we wait for cooler weather in order to build a stone retaining wall and add a bench to enable a walker to relax, let go and receive an answer.  However, many visitors to Blooming Hill have already tried it and liked it and, much to our own liking, have come back to use it again. We are always happy to share something of our own journey here at the farmlet and look forward to sharing it with many more who may be interested as they come in and out of our Blooming Hill life.

America's Kitchen Garden

The expansive front lawn of the White House.  Not a single blade of crab grass or clover blossom in sight!

Our group  at the Northeast entrance gate.  There is a lovely pedestrian mall and park here surrounded by government buildings and offices just outside of the gate where visitors can linger. 

Every once in a while, I take off my garden gloves, step out of the greenhouse and leave the lavender plants behind, for just a little while, in order to go and visit someone else's garden.  I'll admit that I don't get that chance very often but when I do, I make sure it is a really special garden to visit!   This past Friday, Peter and I had the opportunity, along with several of our "herbster" friends and gardening colleagues, all members of the National Herb Society's Potomac Unit, to have a private tour of the White House Gardens.  And, like any garden tour worth it's salt, it included a tour of the inside of the White House as well.

The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden.

The fountain on the White House South Lawn, sometimes described as the "back lawn" since the front of the White House faces Pennsylvania Avenue on the north side.  In this picture, the fountain appears to be an American garden version of red, white and blue.

The Jacquelyn Kennedy Garden and the White House lawn and plantings, up close and in person, are even more impressive and beautiful, especially on a clear and cool July morning--a scarce weather commodity in hot and humid Washington, D.C. during the summertime.

It was totally awesome that the Obama's, who couldn't be there to welcome us, sent Bo and Sonny to say "Hello."  Really!  All in a days work for them, you know.

Twenty-five of us represented the HSA Potomac Unit members along with White House Chief Horticulturist, Jim Adams who is also a Potomac Unit member and past president of the Unit as well.

The highlight of the tour was seeing the White House Kitchen Garden, located on the South Lawn, and implemented by Mrs. Obama in 2009, along with the White House Chefs and a local 5th grade class, in her efforts to encourage Americans to increase healthy food choices. There have been many vegetable gardens of varying degrees, sorts and locations, through the years, at the White House starting with John and Abigail Adams back in 1800, to Eleanor Roosevelt's Victory Garden and even the Clinton's rooftop garden, before this particular one was installed.

White House Chief Horticulturist, Jim Adams, talking with our group in the Kitchen Garden as we perused the beds and asked a lot of questions.

This current Administration's garden is packed with salad greens, herbs, vegetables, perennials, (including my favorite, lavender) and annuals that are not only nutritious but also designed to attract pollinators, as there is an eight-drawer beehive situated close by.  It was installed just a few years ago and is maintained by a White House carpenter who also happens to be a beekeeper in his spare time.

The White House Beehive about 50 feet away from the Kitchen Garden and nestled in a setting of trees and bushes that provide some shade for the bees, intermittently, throughout the day. 

Everything looks healthy and happy.

The Kitchen Garden itself consists of raised beds, separated by mulched pathways and is contained within 1100 square feet.  Given that this is on the lawn of America's premier home, it is not pretentious in any way and reflects the wants and needs of a busy family, focused on healthy eating habits and, who also just happen to entertain--a lot! Of course, the vast majority of us do not have National Park Service employees weeding our own gardens. Nor do we have a chief horticulturist on staff to oversee the entire operation.  Yet, this well-tended garden is designed to be useful and understandable for anyone, gardener or not, and most importantly, welcoming. Just what would be expected, for it to be an "everyman's" and "everywoman's" garden.

It was a great way to spend a morning in such a special place and I didn't have to pull one weed, transplant something or water a single plant.  I think I'll go and visit another garden soon!  Until then, see you back in the lavender field at Blooming Hill.

Bees + Honey = Honeybees = Life is Good!

Well, he's not exactly "Pooh Bear" with his honey pot, asking the bees out in the hundred acre wood if they could kindly spare some honey.  Nor is he "Yogi Bear" on some clandestine mission assigned by "Cindy Bear" to steal honey from the unsuspecting bees and somehow outsmart that clueless "Park Ranger Smith." But, he is out there collecting our very first batch of honey from our very generous bees, here at Blooming Hill.

Our bees have been cohabiting with us since March of last year and, despite all of the very real and serious concerns of colony collapse disorder and this past cold, very cold winter, they made it through their first year just fine and gave us 27 pounds of golden, sweet honey!  Not bad for novice bee keepers just wanting an apiary stocked with bees who, we hoped, might help boost the lavender harvest.

"Cindy Bear, who???

All last summer, we fretted about them since we never really saw them flitting through the lavender as we expected they would just naturally do.  In fact, if we saw a half dozen of them flying about our 600 or so lavender bushes, throughout the entire season, that would probably be overstating the obvious!  Oh sure, we saw bumble bees and mason bees and butterflies and all sorts of insect creatures, including those darn devil deer, whom I classify in the "totally invasive, bothersome and unwelcome creatures" category.  But, did we ever see a honeybee in the lavender?  No.  Peter kept checking them every few days, thinking they may have died or swarmed, looking for a clue or something that may have kept them from the lavender.

They have a new umbrella awning out there under the persimmon tree

However, hear and there, we would find them swirling around the fountain, congregating in the hydrangea bushes and conducting morning "coffee klatches" in the persimmon trees, not to mention all of their nightly parties in their own "Copa Cabana." Yet, in their continual efforts to reassure us, we could hear their quiet humming, almost a mantra really, in the background of the everyday sounds of the garden.

Then, there was that cold, hard winter with not one but two polar vortexes to boot. But, those marvelous and mysterious and industrious bees persevered and clung together, somewhat cozily, in their home-hive and gifted us this July with honey they produced from the drawn nectar they collected while traveling anywhere up to 5, sometimes even 10 miles from their colony, during the gathering season.

In order to guarantee that the honey Peter harvested from the bees had a lavender influence,  I collected some of my favorite Lavandula  angustifolia culinary varieties like "Hidcote," "Melissa," "Folgate" and "Royal Velvet" to infuse into the honey for 4-5 days. Then, we strained it again and bottled it up.

Pretty, isn't it? Now we just have to come up with a label!

The end product is a delicious honey that retains the scent of our lavender field; delicately floral, well balanced, smooth and worth both the worry and the wait.
Next spring, we will add one more apiary to give our expanding brood a little more room.  Until then, we left them with some of their own honey to store and enough time, this summer and fall, to gather and produce more honey for themselves to endure the coming winter season--come what may--as they bravely face the changing climate and challenges here in Northern Virginia, as in any other part of the world, these days.

(Image taken from Pinterest.)

This spring and summer, we have seen our honeybees frequent the lavender more and more as our neighbors, I'm sure, also continue to see them.  However, I guess they are now realizing that this is their home and while they can travel wherever they please, there is no place like home! Thank you, dear honeybees for the work you do, and for your delicious gift of golden honey and thank You, Dear Lord, for the honeybee!

Note:  Just in case you are interested, our Blooming Hill raw, filtered lavender-infused honey will be available in our shop in the next few weeks.  Obviously, with 27 pounds, there is a limited quantity.