A day in the garden in June

It’s June and summer is definitely here! I hope you’re having beautiful summer days too! Within some days the sun is at its highest and it’s the peak of the year. Endless long and sunny days with cloudless skies are ahead of us. Summer holds so much beauty and freedom. It’s mainly a season to enjoy, to warm up and rest. Living in a slower pace and a time for rediscovering the sheer pleasure of simply being alive.

In this blogpost I would like to share you some moments in my garden and I hope you will enjoy it!

Let me first take you to the veggie garden where it looks vividly green although most vegetables are quite small and they’ve germinated poorly or not at all. I don’t know exactly what’s the reason. Maybe the cold spring season in combination with the fact we haven’t got any rain since the beginning of May. Or maybe it’s the result of the heat and drought of last year. At the moment we’re having a heatwave in Belgium. Luckily we can water the garden otherwise it wouldn’t look as green as you see here on the pictures.

Maybe you’ve noticed it too in your garden but there are barely butterflies. I’ve only seen a few. From what I’ve heard is this too the result of the climate change and the heat of last year which causes the death of many butterflies. It’s really painful to notice this isn’t it?

I really hope that we, as gardeners, can provide a safe and natural haven for wildlife. That our gardens are a refuge and place where wildflowers grow so we can show it can be done differently too.

It just has been a strange garden season until now. I think it’s one ofthe consequences of the climate change. It really has an effect on our gardens. It sometimes makes me hopeless how this will evolve. I would love to be more self sufficient but it gets harder by every year to grow our own vegetables.

But I’ve decided to be grateful for what does grow instead of focusing on what doesn’t. When I look carefully, there’s much to be thankful for. So many things effects the growth and garden and some things we just can’t control. Gardening is a learning process is letting go and taking things as they come.

I had to sow the peas triple times and at long last they are growing. The yellow zucchinis are doing fine, as is the lettuce and fennel. Finally the first beans have sprouted.

Before noon I collect herbs to make my own herbal teas. The dew has evaporated and the flowers and leaves still hold the most essential oil which is essential for the taste and efficiency. Once I’ve harvested the petals and leaves, I spread them out on trays and leave them to dry in a ventilated and dark space. When they are crispy and dry, I store them in craft paper bags until I blend my teas.

A basket full of elderflower, Lady’s mantle, black currant leaves and lemon balm. During summer I can just go into the garden to pick some fresh leaves and flowers to make my tea, it’s a daily joy. Mint is definitely one of favourites! I love it’s fresh taste and a simple mint leaf in a glass of water is great too!

The fruit in the garden is slowly ripening and colouring. Raspberries, red and white currants and gooseberries. So much sweetness to be harvested and preserved within some weeks. But of course picking one here and there while being in the garden is one the delights of summer!

A handful strawberries to add to my homemade granola and yoghurt for lunch. This year there aren’t much strawberries, perhaps due to the drought of last year. So unfortunately I can’t make strawberry jam this year. Strawberries, for me, really represent summer with their vibrant color and sweetness! There’s nothing better than eating a ripened strawberry fresh from the garden, still warm from the sun!

Radiant sunlight through the plum tree and a winding path through the flower borders make me feel to be lost in a fairytale garden. Nurturing the garden with tenderness not only makes it look beautiful. It’s much more than that. It creates a place where there’s comfort, where peace slumbers. And that’s the greatest reward of gardening for me.

"The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace.

With each step, the wind blows.

With each step, a flower blooms.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Foxgloves, peonies, lupine, lady’s mantle and the allium christophii are one of my favourite flowers. Their shapes and colours look beautiful and harmonious together don’t you think so too?!

This is my favourite place at the moment in our garden. Under a bow overgrown with akebia, roses, honeysuckle. It just smells delicious here! I often sit here to read and to enjoy the garden and watch the insects and birds. Summer, after all, is the season to enjoy and slow down, isn’t it?

Vividly green growth.. the grapes, plums, apples and figs are slowly growing and ripening. At the end of summer we can hopefully harvest this fruit. Although every year we have not much plums to eat as they have suffered from the plum moth. We use pheromones to catch them but until now it didn’t really work. It seems it takes quite some years before this pest is under control.

It’s the first year we have big green figs like this so there’s hope we can enjoy them on a warm summer’s day! I’m already looking forward to it!

Valerian, roses and jasmin are just some of the most fragrant flowers in our garden. Do you also have scented flowers in your garden? They produce the most natural, exquisite perfume! Especially in the evening and morning I can smell their scent in the fresh air. Just heavenly! Isn’t it wonderful that flowers not only look pretty but also smell delicious!

A field of clover in our garden, to be enjoyed by the bees … and me! I love to walk barefoot on the grass and feel the dew and freshness of it.

We didn’t mow in May and even in June we let this part of the garden grow so the bees and insect can find enough pollen and nectar. And I think it just looks more beautiful than a short mowed lawn.It brings so much diversity to the garden and definitely makes it a degree or so cooler.

The sunset… I love sunsets in every season but there’s something magical about the summer sunset. The warm, burning colors makes everything glow in golden light. The coming weeks we can definitely enjoy the longest evenings and watch more of these amazing sunsets!

I wish you a beautiful summer season where there might be room for delight, wonder, rest and play!