Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Donna's Garden, continued......


Hello, Dear Friends, when I left you last, 
we were about to tour my Sis-in-law,
Donna's greenhouse and more of her gardens
on our recent family visit from WA State. 


Donna's talented husband, Ron built  
this charming greenhouse out of vintage 
windows and salvaged materials
in their lakeside garden in 
New Hampshire. . 

Let's take a closer look......


This sweet little greenhouse
was once a roadside stand 
where Donna sold bouquets
of garden flowers in vintage jars, 
hand crafted treasures, and produce. 



But life gets busy and Donna's 
business grew in other ways, 
so the building was re-purposed
in this charming and useful way. 

Strawberries grow in the bed outside. 

Donna's garden now produces enough
produce for her thriving business
selling home-made pickles, relish, 
jams and jellies, along with jerky that 
Ron smokes himself. 


They sell through local shops
and every year
 she sells out at a large Christmas
craft fair, where she and Ron also
sell hand-crafted and vintage treasures. 

Donna helped her Mother run a popular 
local restaurant, and then ran it on her own
for many years. 

Now she manages the restaurant across the street! 
Ron also works full time. 

I don't know where they get their energy! 



The greenhouse is heated in early spring
where all of their flowers and vegetables get their start.

I just love the vintage windows <3

A collection of owls stands watch above. 


This pair opens wide to let in the cooling breeze. 

It was in the mid-90's with 60% humidity. 

It didn't seem that hot under the beautiful, swaying pines. 


A resident frog protects perennial seedlings
for fall plantings. 


A beautiful place to play! 


Of course, the purpose of the greenhouse is to provide
seedlings for beautiful gardens. 

This lovely border outlines the woodlands
at the far end of the lawn. 

 The tall plant in the center is Joe-Pye-Weed


She has a lovely assortment of late summer
perennials blooming. 

Here we see Black-Eyed Susan
and assorted Daisies. 


I love this combination....

I am guessing Shasta Daisy, 
Liatris, and Salvia? 


She told me that Black-Eyed-Susan 
pops up everywhere. 

Wouldn't that be wonderful?

She sent me home with a packet of Rose Campion seeds from her garden :) 


All the stone was gathered on the property. 

Keep in mind that this garden was under
over 6 ft. of snow all winter! 

New England had a record snowfall
last winter. I hope this year is kinder.....


You can see the garden next to the greenhouse, here. 
Large bins stand ready for weeding sessions. 


Just to the right, in the very center-back of the lawn,
a large grapevine on an arbor provides 
Concord grapes for jelly. 

They also grow raspberries, 
and gather wild blueberries 
for jam. 


Something for their grandson :)


Here he is 'in the jungle' by the front porch! 

This is a child's paradise! 


The path to the lake and gourds growing up a trellis. 


The vegetable garden sweeps around the edge of the clearing
with terracing down the slope. 

Here they grow pickling veggies - small squashes, 
cucumbers, carrots, green beans, all kinds of peppers - 
along with salad greens, tomatoes. pumpkins
and potatoes, to name a few!  


Baskets ready for gatherings by a hand crafted gate. 


Another gate with a sweet regret. 


Green tomatoes on the vine.


Potatoes growing in tubs. 


Donna and Ron use organic gardening 
methods and fertilize using composted
manure from neighboring farms in early
spring and their own compost in autumn. 


Black-Eyed-Susan blooming 
among the veggies!


You can see the lake down the woodland trail. 


A tiny Tom Thumb pumpkin. 


An old rake doubles as a fence post. 


Donna makes her own garden signs from concrete. 

She has gifted me with a few :) 


A family of cast-iron ducks.


Sister Terry perusing the garden
as it winds down-hill.

Shiny tin cake pans scare off the birds.



I hope you enjoyed this tour of Donna's garden!

Come along next time when we celebrate
 my niece's recent wedding,
and then we'll take a walk through
 the woodlands down to the lake.

I hope you can come along!

xoxo

Today I am linking with:
My Salvaged Treasures - Vintage Inspiration Party
and
Ivy and Elephants - What's It Wednesday

Ivy and Elephants

Won't you join the fun? 

36 comments:

  1. I love everything about this garden space. Divine!

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  2. So gorgeous and lush! You can tell it is taken care of with a lot of love <3

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  3. Hi , Karen,
    Thank you for more wonderful pictures from this beautiful place to live!
    Wishingyou a wonderful rest of the week,
    sending love and hugs and blessings, Claudia

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  4. What a wonderful garden house. And such dedication it takes to do all the constant work to keep a garden looking like that. It is beautiful. I bet they're wishing that summer wouldn't end, considering the horrid winter they endured last year.

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  5. Hi Karen!
    The cast iron ducks, the Tom Thumb pumpkin, and the One Back lament caught my eye tonight. Well, technically, it's after midnight here... Enjoying an unusually comfortable cool August night. The bedroom window is open, and the cicadas are singing up a storm. Love it. Do the cicadas sing there in Washington?
    :) m & jb

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    Replies
    1. Hi Maureen - I see you are a night owl - like me! Oh, I wish we could hear cicadas, but we have no such thing here. We don't even have crickets! In the spring we have peep-frogs, though. At night it is so quiet......sometimes we can hear coyotes, owls or bugling elk. Our insects are quiet, though. Thanks for the late-night visit! xo K

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  6. I love this tour and think your Sis-in-law is living and gardening in Paradise. A Paradise she and her family have created with love and lots of hard work. A Paradise you shared with love.

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  7. Lovely. I can't imagine it all under six foot of snow! :-)

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  8. What a lovely tour! The greenhouse is just adorable, with the cool windows and cute owls! I love all the gardens and flowers.Your SIL has a beautiful place! Thaks for sharing, have a happy day!

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  9. Lovely Share! I am from Vt which is so close to where your SIL lives! Her gardens remind me of a beautiful floral shop/tea shop which is so lovely! We often take groups of ladies form our church there and it's just fabulous to have the garden tour after! And I totally get the 6 feet of snow as we have the same!! TFS blessings, g

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  10. Wow, that is a spectacular garden!!! The little greenhouse is so darling, it's my dream to have one someday! I agree, that is a child's paradise...I'd have been playing Secret Garden in there all day long:)

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  11. That is such a lovely greenhouse and garden with such pretty flowers Karen. TFS!
    Julie xo

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  12. Thanks for sharing the tour and beautiful greenhouse at VIP. I love every creative detail right down to the rake fence post and sweet cast iron ducks.

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  13. I very much enjoyed the stroll through the garden! It is a beautiful place and I love that it is so productive. Looking forward to your visit to my neighborhood!

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  14. I really enjoyed this second tour of Donna's gardens, Karen. What a beautiful place. It's hard to believe there was 6 feet of snow there last winter (we had the same here!) and now it's all green and growing. Have a great day!

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  15. Love the little greenhouse! The gardens are gorgeous....

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  16. The gardens and greenhouse are wonderful! I wonder too where they get their energy. Wow!

    Love, work and time go into it all.

    Thanks for sharing ~ FlowerLady

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  17. Please, please no more. I'm so green with envy that I'm about to morph into a cabbage. But blessings anyway

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  18. Wow I can't imagine all that they do, I sure wouldn't have the energy for all that, wonderful that it is all organic. Love the green house and fun little surprises around the yard!

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  20. The little girl statue and the tiny tom thumb pumpkin stole my heart. :~)

    Have a beautiful day, Karen.

    ~Sheri

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  21. Oh I WANT that greenhouse and garden!!!! sigh.....Don't live in the right state, and don't have the energy to do all that anymore. But, oh how I love it!!!

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  22. wow -- what a wonderful place! I can see all the love she and her husband have put into their beautiful garden.

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  23. lovely place to living and photograph.. What a super green house for seeding space and love the windows.

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  24. Donna is an amazing woman! To tend to all that takes so much time! /wish she lived next door. I would put in a gate to give her easy access to care for my gardens!

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  25. It is a really beautiful garden isn't it! I love all the little signs and details and of course the plants are delightful too. The greenhouse is fabulous isn't it, I like all the different windows, makes it very quirky indeed! xx

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  26. Oh my goodness, to enjoy that beauty everyday must be like a slice of heaven! Donna and her hubby are certainly talented, creative people. I so enjoyed exploring more of their adorable greenhouse and their garden.

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  27. Isn't that little greenhouse just the cutest thing!!

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  28. Donna's garden is indeed enchanting and I'm really looking forward to the walk through the woodlands! :)
    Have a lovely weekend! xx

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  29. Wow - what an amazing property! And the work they put into it is incredible and it shows in the beauty of their gardens all around. Donna sounds like a superwoman! She should write a book on all of her gardening knowledge. So impressive...and SO beautiful.
    Thanks for sharing my sweet Karen. xoxo

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  30. This is so lovely that I would call it an "enchanted garden". I loved the tour you gave us and the little greenhouse with vintage windows is the best. It looks like you are having a wonderful time. And to be able to spend time in such a lovely setting I'm sure is so much fun. I do hope you have a wonderful weekend. My best to you, Pat xx

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  31. What a fantastic garden - I agree with Lilly's Mom it really is enchanted, and enchanting. The little greenhouse is amazing. I'm so glad to read about your New England trip - I haven't been able to do much blogging for the past few weeks, so am playing catch-up. Enjoy yourselves! X

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  32. Dearest Karen,
    All I can say is that Donna and Ron are a hard working couple and it is a joy to see all they have accomplished! This is more or less the way we grew up, always something growing and always something to create. Lovely piece of personal paradise!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  33. Wow I just love it all. And the cast iron ducks omgosh super cute. I love it all. Beautiful!
    So great to know the name of joy pye weed now. We have 2 batches here and I always leave it because the butterflies flock it like crazy.

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  34. We loved it! The house is just adorable. We just had to feature you!
    Thanks for sharing with us.
    Hugs,
    Patti

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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