Inspiration from my Garden

A lot of our jewelry making inspiration comes from the backyard garden.

Saint George in Southern Utah offers gardeners two short growing seasons per year, interrupted by a period of hot, dry late summer sun. By mid May, we're enjoying peas, greens, radishes, spring onions, leeks, turnips and are harvesting our over-winter seed crops. Tomatoes, cucumbers and summer squash will start coming on in June as well as the first apricots and cherries.  Here's a look at my May garden.

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Thompson Seedless and Flame grape vines growing along the wall in my southern utah garden.

Pomegranates grow well in our southern utah climate: Dixie sweet, Pom Wonderful and Angel Red

Blossom from a Japanese long onion going to seed. I save seed stock from year to year on my favorite garden edibles.

It's been a struggle for raspberry bushes here in Saint George but I think I'll finally see a crop this year.

I favor plants that are resistant to local pests. Greens such as swiss chard, mustard greens and Asian bok choy, pak choy, chrysanthemum greens and picture below - Japanese shiso, an herb in the basil family. I use the large leaves as wraps in Korean BBQ.

Garlic chives in their second year. The pretty purple flowers are also delicious!

Our favorite spring vegetable, sugar peas. Can't get enough of them!

Red Orach going to seed in the garden. This plant along with shiso is a random "weed" now in the garden. Both plants readily reseed themselves.

Fragrant English Lavender in full bloom. One of my favorite plants.

My pumpkin patch! ;)

It's going to be a bountiful apricot harvest this year. This is a Mormon/Chinese apricot tree with edible sweet kernels.

Purple and gold pansies.

Lemon snapdragons in bloom.

​Thanks for visiting!

#dlcgems #southernutah #garden #saintgeorge #utah #selfsufficency