Hard at work there is Chef James Laird, in his home garden, growing the makings of healthy and fresh(!) culinary treats expressly for use in his restaurant, Restaurant Serenade in Chatham, NJ.

Together with his wife Nancy, the duo grow lettuces, tomatoes, asparagus, zucchini, cucumbers, herbs, onions, broccoli, flowers and more.

I just love the dedication this involves!

And of course to marvel at the garden – Gorgeous!

The garden is protected from four-legged eaters by a perimeter fence.

If you’re ever in the area, visit Restaurant Serenade in Chatham, New Jersey.

Hmmm, what would you whip up with this garden?  Do you have any fresh homegrown dinner ideas?

“The big view” with a bit of the herb garden in the foreground.

These bamboo supports are for the tomatoes.

Strawberries in the foreground. Raised beds of broccoli & cabbage, beans, carrots in the middle ground and tomatoes on bamboo supports in background. The sunflower was a volunteer from last years fence planting.

Raised beds of veggies with peas on trellis & cukes just getting started on another trellis

Early morning fog heightens the gorgeousness.

The view for breakfast “al fresco.” A few ice cream pails hanging on posts in the garden are handy to pick more than just a handful for snacking. Netting draped over the posts keep birds out of the berries.

The master gardener, Stella Otto says, “It’s all planted in a compact space for easy care/low maintenance and includes trickle irrigation and wood chipped paths. Trellises and other supports provide vertical growing area to make picking easier.  Best of all, it’s just steps from my kitchen; adjacent to our brick patio. In the summer I enjoy a sunrise breakfast al fresco overlooking the garden and our 10 acre horse farm. This garden provides for my husband & myself as well as our soon to be college bound teenager.  After freezing, canning, and preserving what we need for the winter, we still have plenty to share with friends and neighbors without an excess amount of time and work. Although we have plenty of acreage available, I purposely chose to design the garden for a small compact space to complement our cape cod style home with enclosed yard. The design could easily be used in a small in town or suburban lot.”

And friends, this garden is something to aspire to!

Chef Ken Frank of the Michelin Star-rated La Toque restaurant is spearheading the CHEFS’ EDIBLE GARDENS project, collaborating with other area chefs to create magnificent, organic gardens. The fruits of these chefs’ labors will be enjoyed in their various Napa restaurants.

Stunning!

These gardens are on the grounds of a wine museum, the COPIA, which recently closed.  These gardens, which, I’m sorry to say, aren’t open to the public, are simply exquisite.

Lush, local and organic greens.

Artichokes.  The first time I saw these growing wild in California I was completely surprised.  They become 4-5 foot stalks – somehow I thought the artichokes would grow more like broccoli closer to the ground.

Gorgeous cauliflower.

I’m just thrilled that this garden continues to be loved and cared for, with its produce finding its way into the local restaurants.

A great idea, methinks!

The Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) bestowed the coveted title of “Landscape Designer of the Year” to James Doyle Design Associates of Greenwich, CT, for their Harmony Farm project.

And we get a tour…

Here’s a view of this traditional rustic Connecticut home dating from the early 1800’s.  Retaining walls and lawn steps ease the slope of the land.  Antique European climbing roses adorn the stone retaining walls.

An enclosed cutting garden consists of annuals and perennials, including these gorgeous dahlias.

The perennial garden features cool toned colors and is framed with sheared Carpinus betulus.  The home lies beyond.

The brick patio terrace separated into outdoor rooms by aerial hedges offers entertaining spaces off the residence.  Custom teak furniture and a stone fireplace make this a spectacular retreat.

A detail of the brick patio and custom stone fireplace.

Gorgeous!

Special thanks to the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) and James Doyle Design Associates for allowing me to share your work!

Many thanks to Neil Landino for use of his photographs.

I have 12 of these Everlasting Summer hydrangeas spread throughout the garden, and we are awash in blue.  I love the northeast coastal climate that allows these to flourish!

(Go ahead and remind me I said this in February.)

If you live in the area, please come and create a bouquet for yourself – there will be plenty left.

I have a little project in mind that involves drying these and displaying these in hurricanes.  I’ll show you when I finally get there…

Annabelle Hydrangea – simple, classic and huge!

This bloom is a solid 12-inches across.  It reminds me of a wedding bouquet.

Pia hydrangeas are the dwarf variety…  Just a little dab of pink.

Blueberries!  Still about 2 weeks to go…

Tomatoes: hurry up please!!

These were my Costco hydrangea plants I purchased 5 years ago (they were a Mother’s Day present from my mom-in-law).  I’m happy to report they are now 6-7 feet high and across.  Oh how I adore them.  If we ever move, I’m taking them with me… I’ll have to put them under “Exclusions” in the home info.

And do you remember this pruning disaster from last year??

Oh heavens that was terrible.

Well, I’ve replaced them with these rose trees (also from Costco, as a matter of fact) and we’re all sighing with relief.

That’s a gorgeous blue Rose of Sharon in front.  It was completely engulfed before.  I’m sure it’s so much happier to see the sun.

And don’t worry – my neighbors found good homes for the old trees so no plants were destroyed in the making of this post.

These are Barbara Mitchell daylilies I just planted last year.  They are rebloomers so I should enjoy these all summer long.

Delightful!

So what’s happening in your garden?  Are you tweaking anything?  What’s blooming?

I just love to hear what’s going on in your gardens across the nation.

Mostly because they remind me of my favorite flower…

The Peony – Sarah Bernhardt, to be exact.

Which blooms, thanks to…

Ants!

Its an old wives tale that peonies need ants to bloom or be pollinated by them (which I believed until 30 seconds ago when I just read otherwise), but its really the sweet nectar they love to eat.  Think of it like an ant’s hot fudge sundae.  With a brownie.  Heated.

Last year I reworked this area of my garden.  I had 8 or 9 rose bushes in here, but they weren’t happy, so I moved them to the front and replaced them with lillies.

Here they are pre-blooms.  This will smell super-sweet in a month or so.

Now this is what I’m currently losing sleep over:

This is one of my Blue Endless Summer Hydrangeas.  This one is now more than 6 feet tall and 7 feet across.  I have 5 of these in the backyard, and I CAN’T WAIT for them to bloom.

In a month or so, this will be covered in gorgeous blue blooms.

Ahhhh summer….

It’s the Friday before Mother’s Day at 10 am.

(I’d be there at 7 am if they’d let me)

The wait is excruciating.

It’s the day the Tomato Lady parts with her plants she’s been nursing from seedlings.

And I can carry them home and raise them as my own.

The enormity of the responsibility is not lost on me.

Better Boys, Jet Star, Mortgage Lifter, Sweet 100 Cherries, Celebrity, Super Fantastic – all the big names were there.

I hemmed and hawed and confined myself to 12 plants, and applauded my restraint all the way home.

And then planting…

This is my second year trying these red trays from Gardener’s Supply. In the past, the squirrels ate the roots, so my logic was that these trays would make it more difficult for the squirrels to get to them. The red color is also supposed to stimulate growth. Last year I had my best crop yet (barring the fact that the adorables ate them before they turned red) so I’m not changing anything. You can find them here.

The green tomato ladders are also from Gardener’s Supply and I’ve been using them for 4 years. They look so much better than the old cylinder things I had before. Click here to see them.

The adorables would like to know what time today the tomatoes will be ready.

I also have new gardening gloves to tell you about: meet Mud Glove

I love how clean my hands remain after a full day of digging around in the dirt.  I think you’ll also love how they keep hands relatively cool too.  They also have cutey-patootie gloves for the adorables.

Giveaway:

You can win 5 pairs of Mud Gloves just by leaving a comment by Tuesday, May 18th and I’ll choose the winner using Random.org on Wednesday, the 19th.

You can visit the Mud Glove store finder to locate these gloves near you.

A happy day to you!

This month, the Greensboro Children’s Museum will become the first museum in the country to have an Edible Schoolyard (ESY) and the first one geared specifically for elementary school students.

Affiliated with Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Foundation and the original Edible Schoolyard Program in Berkeley, Calif., the Greensboro program will serve as a national model for other museums and institutions promoting health and wellness in our adorables and young families.

Featuring gardens, a greenhouse, teaching kitchens, composts and even a chicken coop, the half-acre ESY at the Greensboro Children’s Museum (GCM) will serve adorables under 10 throughout the local community.

Local adorables will learn where food comes from by planting, growing, harvesting and preparing food simply and nutritiously. Ongoing programs, camps and field trips will offer children the opportunity to participate in a “seed to table” experience, nurturing their minds and their bodies.

The ESY will expose the adorables to healthy eating and balanced nutrition, and teach them about where food comes from – the earth, not the drive-through.

The elder adorables will get to help create recipes and make delicious meals such as eggplant parmesan, pesto pasta and oven-baked pizza, using fresh herbs and vegetables they helped grow.

That’s it – I’m packing my bags and moving to Greensboro.  This tent will be my home.  For more info, you can visit the Greensboro Children’s Museum.

My love and deep respect for manure.

I swear by it.

A rich black hot mess of nutrients.

Your plants will sink down into this stuff, spread their roots and shoot up, out, everywhere.

I should mention that this bagged manure is dried so it does not have the strong odor that the fresh stuff has.  I just put a huge garbage bag down in the van when I cart it home from the garden store.

I recruited a member of my staff for some help…

Fortunately, he works cheap.

Graham crackers work the same on him as cash.

I then moved in behind him with my favorite garden tool – the do-it-yourself rototiller:

Now strong arm it girls – it’s good for your abs!

The result is loosened, mixed wonder-soil.

Look at all that good wormy dirt just waiting to be planted.

This bed will “rest” for 2 weeks until we’re past my area’s frost date – May 8th.

Then Tomatoes. Sunflowers.  Lettuce.  Sugar Snap Peas. Basil. Marigolds.

I can barely stand the wait.

And before we know it, the little patch will look like this:

And most importantly, we’ll be munching on these:

Ahh summer!  I am looking so forward to you.

What do you have going on in your garden?  Trying anything new this year?  Planting yet?

to this!

Holy Moly!  That is one heck of an outdoor tranformation!

Let’s dig in…

Look at all this deck.  This wood was treated with Thompson’s Water Seal, and thus will be maintenance free for years to come.

Favorite!  A gorgeous potting area – oh I could use this!

Inside the screened-in porch, a very comfortable spot to relax and enjoy the bug-free outdoors.  The Midwest has its fair share of mosquitoes… but also fireflies!

These “lights” set into the counter are made from wine punts.  Jeff’s wife Sherri has a business making furniture and glassware out of recycled wine bottles – check her work out at: www.bluemoonbottles.com.

I love all the interesting features of this outdoor deck: the different levels, materials, and especially the different areas that create separate “rooms” in the great outdoors.

Could it be more amazing?  This kitchen with it’s bright yellow pizza oven and built-in grill is just incredible.  Invitation please?

Many thanks to Jeff Wilson of HGTV & DIY Network for sharing his amazing outdoor space!