​

Some links in this email are affiliate links- if you click through and purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.*

Hi Reader,

Happy mid-summer! I hope you are managing to stay cool and keep any plants alive you have growing.😎

I've been a watering machine, that's for sure, but I've still lost a few things (mainly new plantings - a couple of the new berries and some milkweed plants I was trying to grow too far from the house).

Last week I showed you the state of the vegetable garden, so this week I'd thought I'd share the sunken garden next to our farmhouse - and just for fun I'm throwing in some previous photos so you can see how this deer resistant sunken garden has grown over four years:

This area had to be dug out after getting the foundation on the farmhouse - see the highest bed on the right? That's the height this area was all the way to the house!

Every.single.one. of those rocks came from the excavation - we have some majorly rocky soil!!

A friend and I built the taller beds around the edges and then I eventually laid out the beds of the new garden with smaller rocks.

In spring of 2021 I built up the soil in the beds and planted with small herbs and deer resistant flowers. I small found $2 herbs like thyme, lavender, germander, rosemary, and oregano which saved so much when having to plant a large area at once. I also used 6-packs of black-eyed susan, zinnias, alyssum, and salvia to save and fill in the first year.

The larger plants were a combo of things I had previously in pots and about 12 1-gallon dwarf boxwoods for some evergreen, year-around interest.

Here it is after 2-1/2 years after we expanded with a (future) gravel fire pit and changed out the woodchip path to all gravel. You can see how nicely everything is filling in.

I also continued to add a few things here and there (fall blooming mums, etc.) and replace anything that was lost over the winters.

And I just took this photo yesterday (sorry the sun was making it hard to get a good picture) - the garden in it's 4th year is so full, right?

The lavender especially is overflowing, though I do like how it looks very "English cottagey" that way.

However, I am noticing that the taller "Provence" lavender is maybe a bit too tall for this garden - the trouble is that it's the variety that has weathered the winters the best!

I started out with 7 different varieties and the only ones that have survived the full 4 years are the Spanish lavender near the step, the tall Provence, and the shorter, darker purple English lavender (middle right). The English lavender is the right height, but it looks VERY scraggley until almost June, while the Provence looks lush and green even when I use a hedge trimmer on it! Still deciding what to do with it...

Anyway, I've been very pleased at how this has grown and that the deer leave most of the plants alone. A few takeaways for you might be:

• Embrace the beginning garden look - I think it's fresh and clean looking and will save a ton of $$ over buying lots of bigger plants (that may or may not establish as well). It's just a different look from the blowsy, full-grown look!
• Use inexpensive herbs and annuals as place fillers if your design will take time to grow.
• Build the new garden in stages. Not sure of the path material yet? Use cheap and easy bark or wood chips until you decide. Planning for a patio or fire pit? Use plastic to kill the area for a few months (or years, lol...) and then fill with gravel or chips. Add perennials when you can, etc.
• Enjoy the process!!

​Go here to read about the process of this garden, including a list of plants and a video we created.​

​SEASONAL COOKING FOR JULY​

​

What I'm Making This Week

The seasonal cooking lists are your resources for not only what is in season, but tips for menu planning with what is being harvested, as well as to preserve and what to use up from your past preserves! Here are a few things I'll be making this month:

​Chicken Lime Lettuce Wraps​ It's the season for lettuce wraps! These can be ready in 10 minutes using cooked chicken. ​

​Easy Freezer Zucchini Meatballs​ I love adding veggies to foods like this - and the fact that it's a way to "preserve" zucchini! Make enough for dinner and then freeze the rest for easy meals.

​Delicious Beet Salad with Goat Cheese​ Use fresh roasted beets (I'm harvesting my spring beets now!) or freeze them to make this salad anytime.

​Simple Berry Parfaits with Honey Sweetened Whipped Cream​ One of my favorite ways to enjoy the summer's berries as a dessert! ​

​

From The Blog

​Quick Mexican Breakfast Bowls - High Protein, Just 6 Ingredients​ Such a flavorful way to get lots of protein and some veggies at breakfast - Brian and I have these regularly! ​ RECIPE HERE! ​

​Easy Water Bath Canning Tutorial: Step-by-Step & Tips​ I've updated this how-to with current info just in time for preserving season! ​ FULL TUTORIAL HERE ! ​

A Few More Things

I needed to order more garden gloves and just saw that the set of 6 pairs I've ordered in the past now have a 12 pair version for $1 less with the 46% off sale! The six pairs lasts me 2-3 years, so I won't have to buy gloves now for 4-6 years (unless I give some away, which is nice to be able to do)!

I'm in the middle of this book that many readers have recommended to me as a lover of historical fiction. I have to admit I put it off for a long time because I knew the content would be hard when the children are taken. I also have to admit those flashbacks are my least favorite parts - I'm much more enjoying the present day mystery and sub storylines, lol. I'm glad I'm finally reading it, though!

​

Enjoy these mid-summer days!

Remember it's easy to save recipes on An Oregon Cottage! Just click the heart when browsing to save your personal favorites! TIP: when you click on the link, it will take you to my site - click the heart like you see here to the left - it will be on the bottom right on the site. A pop up form will come up for you to create an account (or sign in if you already have). You need to create a password for this account (no info is kept besides your email) and then you can save all recipes and articles to this account and access it anytime to remember what you want and choose what to make!

​

*You can read An Oregon Cottage's full disclosure policy here.

Do you love these emails? To get an email whenever I post a new recipe or article, click here.