forest gardening

THE MAZE OF THE PINK TREES

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

The last two months….Wow! is all I can say.

Autumn arrived!

There was a carnival.

And a huge Irish Festival.

Youth ministry has gone into full swing.

Fall Fest happened.

We had our Cornerstone fall DLT mixer, which we call the crockpot cook off, and we baptized three people that same weekend.

We had a men’s conference, a women’s conference and two Volunteer outreaches with the town.

We have also done a fall clean up day at the church.

Meanwhile we have been managing to keep the projects at The Vicarage going.

Brenda started a painting project on the third floor of The Vicarage.

Meanwhile James and the girls have been working in the forest garden cutting away brush to what the girls are calling the maze of pink trees.

The Forest Garden Sept. 2025

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As always happens at this time of year, I look back and think of all the projects I wanted to accomplish in the forest garden over the summer.

I usually look back with a regret. This year not so much. It’s not that I accomplished all those projects, but I did accomplish some and I did a lot of gardening in comparison to previous years.

I think a part of my satisfaction this year, comes from the fact that we have actually used a lot of the produce from the forest garden. We have been making iced tea from this mint all summer in place of Kool-Aid.

The chickens have been keeping us in eggs as well.

For the first time ever, I had success with potatoes.

And the flowers this year, have been amazing.

FLOWERS AT THE VICARAGE THIS WEEK 7-14-25

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

THE FOREST GARDEN IS IN FULL BLOOM HERE AT THE VICARAGE.

THE DAY LILLIES ARE EVERYWHERE THROUGHOUT THE GARDEN BRINGING THEIT BEAUTY AND BRIGHTNESS.

AND THE HOSTAS ARE LOVING THE WARM RAINS WE HAVE BEEN HAVING.

THIS YUCCA WAS JUST A ROOT CUTTING WHEN I PLANTED IT A DECADE AGO. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR THINGS.

ABND FINALLY HERE IS THE ANTIQUE HYDRANGEA I PLANTED LAST YEAR. IT HAS GONE INTO BEAUTIFUL BLOOM.

A WALK AROUND THE VICARAGE6-24-25

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If we were to walk around the Vicarage today you would see that the forest garden is coming into full bloom.

The lilies above are the first of the season and they are coming into bloom at the same time as the Lady’s mantle in the picture below.

I keep a good supply of clover growing throughout the garden. It helps keep the rabbits from eating the lettuces.

The bishop’s weed is springing up everywhere.

While the main fragrance is the Japan’s. This flowers may not be much to look at but they pack a powerful fragrance punch.

Strewn along the garden paths is copious amounts of Maryjane and creeping Jenny interspersed with wild daisies.

The summer squash is starting to blossom.

And I have to start using more Thai basil before it goes to seed.

Finally the sinking garden is starting to fill out nicely. I hope you enjoyed our walk.