End of May in the Garden

Clematis in Bloom

Some, but not all, of the clematis around the yawd.

By "kennel" door

 SE garage corner

 South fencerow

 1st bloom- West Gate

 2nd year-Big garden entranceway

The Big Garden

Sweet potato patch- Row 2

 Burgundy Pole Beans- Row 2

 Squash Cage & pepper plants- Row 4

 Row 3

 Blue Potato flowers

 View of Rows 1-3

 View of Rows 3-5

 Planted basil between tomato cages

Also planted zinnias & salvias in these gaps

Critters

Kiki with plants going to streetscaping

 Potato bug on potato leaf

Foodstuff

Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Lamb's Quarter Pie (both from garden)

and roasted white beans

 Strawberry Freezer jam (from Holly's garden)

 Asparagus curry

 Sesame Tofu (broc from Scharf's)

Propagation

Cuttings: L to R: Catmint, Black & Blue Salvia, Clematis, 

Hydrangea, Sedum

 Milkweed seedlings

Fruits and Flowers

Unknown, but delicious Roses

along South fencerow

 Just ate a couple Black Raspberries today!

Hardy Kiwi vine

Currants

Poppy

Another Poppy

Garden Art and Junk

 Cultivator "flower"

 

The found headboard project

(w/Chuy Sanchez)

The vent whirligig and a beer to celebrate

That's all folks!

Peaed Myself

Of course the peas are peaking the week we have temps in the mid-90s! Geesh. Don't give me no mid-90s until later June, please.  Good thing I could share them, because I'm eating peas in the garden, peas for snack, peas in meals, peas on the side. I think I've peaed myself to death. 

In food
And at the same time it is Black Raspberry season. My second planting that I did last year is really doing well, so we have lots this year.

 I rarely make desserts, but I can handle a scone as they

aren't too sweet. Plus, the blackberries were melded into the

dough so I didn't have to deal with my fear of dead fruit.

 Recipe from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook.

These were yummy, but I only got 1, because I live 

with a piggy.

Due to the heat and AC loathing I cooked as little as possible this week. Among the dishes was this

this Yum Woon Sen. It was suppose to have pork in it. I subbed tofu and added shredded carrots and more herbs- cilantro, thai basil and mint. It was very good. 

I also made Black Bean and Slaw tacos and Bowties with snap peas, ricotta and lemon. Both were excellent. I think I need to make these pancakes with black raspberries instead of strawberries. Strawberry season is wrapping up. 

In flower

 Scarlet Runner beans

and Swamp Milkweed.

Many thanks to Holly for more swamp milkweed babies.

In projects

The newest chicken coop/run is still in progress. The girls are still not allowed free range or even unsupervised time in the run (too many holes, too small babies, too many lurking cats). Two features I added to this coop are- the ramp has sand embedded in the paint to help them grip. I got this idea on a forum. Below the ramp I put an old litter box, drilled some holes in the bottom and filled with play sand. This has 2 purposes- the sand is grit for digesting food and they seem to consume a lot of it and it will double as a dust bath area.

The Speckle Sussexs go toe to toe in establishing

the pecking order (below)

 Poppy with sand on her beak (below)

She likes me best.

In critters

This moth was spotted almost blending in with the lavender walls of my bathroom. Here it is on the ceiling. I think it's a Raspberry Pyrausta, but those typically have white lines as well. Maybe they were rubbed off? There are few moths this color. The larva of this moth eat Monarda, which I have a lot of. I may post to BugGuide for another opinion. 

Merry Pea Season to all.

Summer Comes

Looks like our lovely couple of weeks of rain, clouds and 70's are over. The forecast for the week is 90's and I'm seeing my first zucchini and tomatoes- sure signs of summer.

 First zucchini and

first maters- Sungold

(plant purchased from store)

Can hardly wait....

The Alpine Strawberries

Black Raspberries- my fav garden fruit

 The smaller fruits have richer flavor

Lots in bloom and bumbles

Butterflyweed and

parsnip flowers (covered in wasps, hoverflies, small bees, flies)

 Illinois Prairie Rose- a native climber
The flowers change color as they mature. The darker pink are younger and fertile- notice the pollen. The bumblebees love this rose.

 Oriental Lilies and

Hollyhocks

A new Salvia for me- Amistad

from Bowood nursery

A daylily in the Biergarten

Bumbles happy at Borage

Dill coming into flower- a self-seeder

First Nicotiana in bloom in the garden

having returned from last year's roots,

which is surprising given the hard winter.

Indian pink- Spigelia

Experiment Update

This is my biochar experiment (very unscientific with my small sample size). The California Wonder bell pepper plant on the left (control) has continued to outgrow the one on the right (biochar-treatment). The left one also has a blossom. 

Reuse, reduce, recycle

Closing shot- using an old (and broken)

ladder as a plant stand.

Happy Almost Summer