It Has Rained.

A lot lately.

People complain, but I know two things- it makes for easy weeding and I've done a lot of planting without watering. Weeding and watering were both challenges we faced last year with the heat and drought.

Even with not doing the tomato sale this year I still haven't gotten the plants in the ground, but the ground is saturated and cool yet. It's so wet  you can hear the earth sucking in the water- for real.

Good Eats: Things I'm eating now

Parsnip Pancakes

2 eggs, 1 lg parsnip grated, chopped chives, oregano, parsley, 2 Tbs flour, S & P

Stir it all up. Heat some EVOO in a pan and fry pancakes on each side until desired doneness.

Yum. Almost everything was from the garden or chickens.

Salads

Since we are on the topic of food, gardening and cooking...

My mom surprised me with tickets to see Michael Pollan, lunch and a signed copy of his latest book, Cooked. I love this man's brain. 

MP and I

In bloom:

The Gorgeous Allium

Red Buckeye- Aesculus pavia

I saw a small bumblebee of sorts go to these flowers

Deutzia, Red Buckeye and daylilies in the Biergarten.

Viburnum

Black Chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa

Miss Kim Korean Lilac- my favorite of the lilacs. 

The smell was almost nauseating this morning in the heavy air. 

Bridal Veil Spirea 

I once used these for Barbie bouquets. 

Up close with Daisy Fleabane:

Scenery:

At the back steps.

Transplanting alyssum.

The Potager

Biergarten in back. Potager in the front. Seeds starts in the middle.

Deutzia (white shrub) Korean Lilac (purple)

And a closer look

Shhhhh. The babies are asleep.

Baby Chickadees are in this purple bird house!

Love in a Mist (Nigella)- reseeded and getting close to bloom time

The snails are quite happy with the weather we borrowed from the Pacific NW.

Waiting for transplant:

Tomatoes, Balsam, Nasturtiums, Zinnias and more

Native wildflowers, Petunias, Flowering Tobacco, Alpine Strawberries and more

Chives blooming in the Potager.

I transplanted several species of Milkweeds today (from seed I started in the nursery). I'm trying to grow more milkweed due to the dire situation with the Monarch Butterfly population. Some of the varieties I transplanted into the front prairie and under the Maple include: Asclepias exaltata, A viridis, A. verticillata and A. sullivantii. 

Projects:

I ordered two varieties of Oyster Mushrooms- Elm & Phoenix from The Imaginary Farmer

They come as mycelium growing on wheat. In addition, they give you a bag of sawdust pellets and a growing chamber (aka bag). All you do is add water, hydrogen peroxide, used coffee grinds and churn it all together. I chose these two varieties because I am hoping to inoculate my garden with the leftover growth once the first flushes of mushroom has occurred indoors. 

Here is the Elm Oyster mycelium (white mold) growing on wheat.

Here is the prepared growing chamber:

"E" is for Elm

Just for Fun: My students and I spent our last day of class together walking the campus grounds looking for examples of the ecological concepts we have covered. 

We were lucky to see a Leopard Frog along the way.

Hoppy Spring Ya'll.