Apparently, Delicata Squash is trending these days. Yes, they are quite attractive, and tasty. My two plants produced about 16 of these beauties. I like the contrast with the bunch of crab apples. Maybe there is a recipe out there that combines the two?
It’s a sad time of year when all the bean vines have shrivelled up. But, before that happened I managed to sketch the various types I had growing.
I continue to be enchanted by my garden produce. These were the last wee squash – the baby ones that withstood the October frosts. They were too cute to leave un-sketched.
These mottled pole beans were so vigorous they were reaching out for anything they could climb on, including this comical garden ornament. I had to draw it! I feel almost as happy as this frog when I chomp on some fresh picked pods.
My town has many interesting and lovely buildings, but at recent outings with the Glengarry Sketchers I ended up sketching these views that caught my eye.
In these troubling and challenging times I found it comforting, and distracting, to focus in on the subtleties of these late harvest gems from my garden. I am particularly fond of this pole bean. I grew it for many years with seeds originally from a friend and then saved from year to year, until the year I ate the last bean and forgot to save some seed!
Thanks to Ferme Tourne-sol, I am growing them again, and now know the actual name, Kahnawake Mohawk. Unfortunately spell check was turned off when I did the hand lettering.
I love tomatoes. Specifically, I love the tomatoes I grow from seed each year and nurture along till they produce beautiful fruit. I have over a dozen varieties growing this summer. Each year I like to sketch the various types — partly as a record, but also just to enjoy really looking at them. This sketch includes (from L to R) Jaune Flammé, Montreal Tasty, Banana Legs, Old German and Green Zebra.
I have lots of lovely day lilies in my garden. They deliver a lot of beauty and colour. Their blooms last only a day, but each stem usually has several buds. A particularly stunning one, which bloomed for the first time this year, is “Chili Spice.” I quickly sketched the last of her 6 blooms (produced on one stem, every few days or so) before saying goodbye for this year. My sketch doesn’t really do her justice, but it was a joy to spend time really looking at this beauty. I will see her again next year.
Another wonderful day lily is one I bought at a former grower in Val-des-Monts many, many years ago. It produces stunning colour for most of August. The name is unknown — I’ll have to come up with a suitable one.
Our massive, old, unusual Manitoba Maple – with so much character, and rot at the fork of it’s two big branches – finally collapsed to the ground last week. One side with a great thump, then the other eased itself down with only a sigh.
We had been monitoring the crack in it’s fork, so we knew the end was nigh.
The first sketch was done a day before the thump, standing close to this massive trunk (that measures over 100 inches in circumference) . The second sketch was done yesterday as I sat and mourned the loss of this distinct feature in our garden.
The arborist will leave a good chunk of trunk, then, with the tree removed (cut for firewood and chipped for mulch) we can plan what to plant in this spot.
Both sketches done with emotion, ink and wash.
The garden is offering forth a variety of goodies this week. I had to do a quick sketch of this nice assortment before we gobbled it up.
