Peas, please!

I'm going to need some help picking peas this year.

Good thing Rollo is getting so tall!

Trick or Treat?

A garden-fresh strawberry in mid-October?  

Definitely a (very small) treat!

The Last Shall Be First

The birds are singing, the weeds are blooming, and it finally stopped raining, briefly, after some significant downpours.  It is time for the gardener to start gardening. 

Before applying my handy tiller to the beds in the southeast corner, I paused to pluck the remaining carrot tops.  And actual carrots came with them.  I keep planting carrots, because I still have seeds.  But they never amount to much in one summer.  These seem to have overwintered well.  In fact, these are the largest carrots I have ever grown. 

So I have brought them in, the last of last year's harvest, and hopefully harbingers of a good harvest to come this year.

What is in your garden?

Plum Time

When I started sewing those skirts in June, I knew I wouldn't have much sewing time in July, but I didn't really remember why.  Now I do.

Plums.  Our plum tree is prolific again this year, and it is keeping me busy.

Scoot and I picked these just this morning.  There are more ripe ones on the tree, and more underfoot.

I've bottled some jam, and a lot of barbecue sauce.  And we've had plum desserts, plum dinners, and plums on the side.

The plums are delicious, but they don't keep well, so I'd better get back to work!

What are you preserving this summer?

Shoo!

 Someone has been eating the strawberry leaves.

And the bean leaves.

I think I have a suspect.  I caught him eating the fruit trees.

He hasn't been eating the violets, but then I don't want to eat them, either.

Too bad he's so darned cute.

Musical Monday

Spring is here!

 The weeds are going to town.

Hopefully the strawberries will, too.

When spring is here, I always think of this song.  I would never do such a thing to a pigeon, of course.  But I'm about ready to do in the varmints that chew up the wires in the car every winter.  Any ideas?

First Tomatoes

Ripe tomatoes in June?  Hooray!  They're called Gold Nuggets, and they are tasty.  Some of my Golden Sweet peas are ready to eat, too.  And the squirrels haven't eaten all the cherries yet.  What are you picking?

Saving Seeds

I usually miss picking a few pea pods when they're fresh.  They get lost in the glorious green tangle, and I don't find them until the seeds are getting a bit tough.  So I let them go.  They mature and dry out.  When I pull up the plants, I pick the crisp pods and save the seeds for next year. 

It looks like I missed more than a few pods this summer.  I'll have plenty to plant next spring.  Since I bought the previous seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, I know the new ones will grow true.

 In fact, I think I'll plant a few right now, since they're already sprouting.  I've never tried a fall crop before.  Here's to a new garden adventure!

Yuppies*

*Young Upwardly-growing Pea Plants

I know that my Golden Sweet pole peas need some support as they reach for the sky, so I've given them their usual teepees.

But last year, what I thought were bush peas were less bushy than I expected.  So I've tried to give them something to cling to, as well.  It's for their own good.  Floppy pea plants are easy prey for slugs.  Alas, like gangly teenagers, they resist and resent my efforts at improving their posture.  Still, I keep trying to gently rein the plants in.

(For the record, I had impeccable posture in my youth.  Having babies did it in.)

 

I'm also trying something new with potato plants.  I read, at Irish Eyes, that by gradually adding dirt, one can grow many potatoes in a small space.  I used what was on hand to build my containers (sign posts and landscape fabric), and bought three fancy, small seed potatoes to plant.  Two have sprouted so far.  Potatoes are funny about when they sprout, though, so I won't give up hope for the third.

 

We had a warm, sunny week, followed by plenty of rain.  After a fortnight, look at the potatoes:

 And the peas:

 

My lettuce is actually growing this year, too.  Onward and upward!

Mother's Day Bouquet

A cluster of tulips,

all from one stalk.

Like my sisters and me,

or my bundle of boys,

with bewildering variety,

but so much in common.

We come from good stock.

Thanks, Mom!

Garden Invader

I found this growing next to my blueberry bush.  It is about two inches tall, shaped like a pine cone, pale yellow and sort of waxy in appearance.  I think it is blooming. 

What is this thing?

Plant?  Tree?  Fungus? 

Alien life form that is planning to take over the world?

Whatever it is, it does not belong next to my blueberry bush.

Maybe I'll plant it elsewhere to see what it does.

What would you do?

Update:
This is called a groundcone, a parasite that preys on things like salal and huckleberries.  So, hey, why not a blueberry bush?  I'm glad I moved it.  You can learn more from Parasite of the Day or Wikipedia.

Not to Scale

Some of our flowers...

Stash to Treasure: Lavender Sachets

Take a little bit of this . . .

(flowered sheer fabric left over from a most elegant nursing coverup)

add a little bit of that . . .

(lavender in the garden)

and you can make these:

Lavender sachets. 

The directions I followed are here.  The hard part was removing the dried buds from the stems, but the result is very pleasing.  I don't generally like to add scents to my life, so I hope someone will like the sachets at our upcoming Relief Society Service Auction.  And if not, well, the scent is growing on me.  I'm tempted to make the dryer version, but I'll have to wait until next summer to harvest more buds.  I'm letting the rest of the plants bloom, and the bees are very happy about it.

The Case of the Lifted Lettuce

It was a dark and stormy season . . . or too dry, or too something for my leafy greens to grow very well.  I planted lettuce, spinach, and carrots at the right time, and then again later.  But, except for about three carrot seeds, two spinach seeds, and one lettuce, they just did not sprout.  The only lettuce that has grown successfully in my garden this year sprang from established roots, one of those "live" lettuces from the store.  It grew back nicely, and I saved it for a special occasion.

I looked forward to adding it to my Grilled Chicken and Mango Salad last night.  I tore the remainder of last week's farmers' market lettuce into the bowl, then went out to the garden to harvest the fresher head.  But where was it?  In the space where, so recently, green leaves grew, there was only a hole.

Exhibit A:  the hole

The leaves had not been nibbled away, nor slimed by slugs.  The lettuce was simply gone, roots and all.  The lettuce lovers of my family denied any involvement.  Upon whom could I call to solve this mystery?  The Scouts, of course!  (Never mind that they were also the aforementioned lettuce lovers, and therefore suspects.  A Scout is trustworthy.)

The Caterpillar applied the skills he developed last year for his Stalking--I mean Tracking--Merit Badge to find this evidence:

Exhibit B:  the track

He identified the culprit as a raccoon.  This makes sense.  We know there are raccoons in the neighborhood, that their paws are capable of uprooting small plants, and that they will eat anything (not just the cat food the neighbors set out for them).  

Having convicted the miscreant (in absentia), the Cub Scouts sprang into action to prevent further leafy larcenies.

Exhibit C:  scare tactics

It  may not have the power of a brass serpent on a pole, but Scoot believes that this shiny CD fish will startle potential felons, and encourage them to go home and rethink their lives.

Exhibit C:  the League of Protection

Rollo contributed another fish (made at Cub Scout Day Camp).  He is also searching for a hero with animal communication skills.  He'd like to interrogate the bees.  Busybodies like bees should know what is going on in a garden, don't you think?  If not, Rollo's glowing countenance and Super D2's moral support may win the day and prevent further robberies.

Not that I have any lettuce left to steal, anyway.

My Favorite Tulips

Every spring I look forward to the blooming of my

Angelique tulips.

I love their plethora of petals, subtly shaded with pink.

They won't last much longer outside,

so I'll leave some here for you!

Maybe Spring will come

I've been waiting so long for winter to really arrive that I've forgotten to anticipate spring.  The gray, rainy days flow on . . . will it really snow this time?  (It did, twice I think, twice more than last winter, but still . . .)

Last Monday, though, the sun came out, and I came out, too.  I found that the garden has not forgotten.  It is time to make my plans for it, almost time to set up my seed nursery again.  Maybe spring will really come.  Maybe even summer, but it's too soon to think about that.

In the meantime, can you name these sprouts?

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

What is coming up for you?

Answers: A. Iris   B. The pink ones are peonies 

C. I didn't think I'd see the rhubarb again 

D. Garlic   E. Weeds, the true sign of spring!