The chocolate mint, in the containers on my deck, is absolutely overflowing.  It was time for a haircut but I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do with all of it.  I put some in a jar on the kitchen counter, just because it smells good and looks pretty.

Then, I got the bright idea to make mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I love making homemade ice cream.  (I’ll share the recipe in another post.) It was VERY yummy.  My daughter didn’t like it, but the rest of us did.

My oregano was also getting out of control, so I cut and washed a bunch of that too.  It is currently hanging from my pot rack in the kitchen, drying.  I’m thinking I’ll probably have to do some oven drying with it too, since it’s pretty wet and humid in the Pacific Northwest.

Of course, Summer wouldn’t be complete without bouquets of my Annabelle hydrangeas!  I love my galvanized container that I got from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show.  It’s the perfect spot to display my Annabelles.

Annabelles are known to be gigantic, but sometimes there will be a few tiny flowers toward the bottom.  I cut those and put them in my latest Goodwill find.  I got this little wire container for $2.99 and then put a few glass jars in it to make it complete.  It’s perfect for my kitchen table!

So, that’s the story from the garden this week!  I’m enjoying all of the treasures I’ve been growing.  I love summer!

Happy gardening!

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The displays were stunning!  I can’t even imagine the amount of work it takes to haul in rocks, dirt, and all of those plants.

My biggest take-away was that I NEED CHICKENS and I need an adorable chicken coop like this one.

Seriously, I left with plans to talk with our Home Owner’s Association and petition to get chickens.  My hubby claims that he is 100% sure there will be “someone” sitting at that meeting in the very front row making sure chickens are not allowed.  (Can you guess who that “someone” might be and how he is so sure?)

Another take-away is that I can totally make this:

I fell in love with is greenhouse.  It was amazing and not horribly expensive.  When my kids are grown and I have a bit more time, I think this needs to happen in my yard.

There were several speakers to choose from.  We decided to go to a class on landscaping with herbs.  Notice that I didn’t say “gardening” and instead said “landscaping”.  This speaker showed how to use tons of different herbs in your landscape rather that just putting herbs in a kitchen garden.  I learned a lot and wrote down several herbs that I’m going to grow this summer like Bee Balm, All Spice, and Calendula.

Diane has always wanted bees in her yard and when we found this display, I knew she was sold.  She bought Mason Bees for her yard and is storing them in her fridge right now.  In a few weeks, she’ll hand her bee hive outside and have her own little pollinators.  Her kids weren’t thrilled about the idea of bees but Mason Bees rarely sting and don’t even look like bees.  They look more like small flies.  She will have beautiful flowers and fruit this year thanks to these guys.  As much as I would love to add bees to my garden, I just couldn’t pull the trigger.  Maybe they’ll fly up to my house and pollinate once in a while.

There were tons of garden books.  Many were on clearance since it was the last day of the show and I bought a couple.  I even bought a book on backyard chickens for $4.98.  I didn’t buy the book below because it wasn’t on sale, but it’s on my wish list.

So, here’s what I learned from my day at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show:

*I need chickens.  I need them now.

*There are so many DIY garden crafts that I should be working on.

*Someday I will have a greenhouse.

*I’m going to try using herbs as landscape plants this summer and see how I like it.

*I need to buy herbs in bulk, rather than just 2 or 3 to put in a kitchen garden.  I need a whole border of parsley.

*I’m buying a 2-day pass for the garden show next year because I could spend an entire day in classes and listening to speakers.

Happy gardening!

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