Food! And a bit of Wildlife...

(Is anyone besides me having trouble with this new Blogger stuff?? Yikes.)

First, if you don't grow lettuce in spring, I must nag you (again).  Just do it, okay?  Trust me on this.  Until you eat freshly picked lettuce, you just don't know.  Sigh.  I hear corn is like this, but I'm not growing corn (for lots of reasons).  Anyway...

The lettuce pictured below is some from the third time I have gathered lettuce.  What's left there is after I filled two gallon bags to give to two people.  And, today, I could pick some more.  This will go on until the heat sets in...and then, well, lettuce bolts (goes to seed) as heat is not its thing.  

Garlic, how do I love thee?  Oh my.  Today I harvested two more very early varieties, Blossom and Xian. These very early ones have certainly performed for me this year.  Don't know if or how much this mild winter contributed to this.  

Happy is me. See garlic, see me smile...

 

 

Blossom in its unwashed, freshly dug state and then cleaned up a bit.

 

And, Xian, still dirty and then less dirty.  See, one thing I am especially enjoying is that I have managed with these very earlies (and Chinese Pink) to get them out of the ground before they have shed most of their layers.  Cleaning has never been easier, as I just take a wrapper off and shake a little.  That explains, by the way, the color difference.  That brighter colored layer was removed.  

Did I say I was happy about the garlic??  :)

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We pause briefly here to check in with Rudy.  He had surgery last Thursday and has been recovering.  He thinks he is ready for much more activity, but we're (me) following the doctor's orders and he's resting...

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Before I got on with it....I'm so excited!  Yesterday (early evening) I was making a tiny bit of progress with some weeding on the south side of my house (hint:  south=warmer) when I discovered a daylily blooming!  Yes!  It was too late (low light) to take a picture, besides I have too much pride to show that many weeds.  But, it was!  And, it looks like it has three scapes!  It's Firestarter.....

(From the AHS database)

Firestarter (Murphy-J.P., 2005)

height 48", bloom 6.75", season EE, Rebloom, Dormant, Diploid, 24 buds, 3 branches,  Red with darker watermark above gold green heart throat. (sdlg × sdlg)

 

 Which, as you'll note is an EE (extra early)...but, never, never never (nevah!) have I had a daylily, a regular daylily bloom in April!  A first.  Now, here's the thing.  I have this particular daylily in another area and guess what...yup, (or is that yep?) no scapes that I saw.   Curious, no?  

Whatever...we'll take it (it even beats a Florida daylily that's scaping on FL time...).

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Okay, because I am feeling particularly blog-gy, I have a little bit more for you.  Not for the squeamish.  You've been warned.

A few days ago, I spied these enormous birds just down the street from me...in the street.  I'm guessing they are buzzards (someone will probably tell me otherwise, if so, which is great).  They let me get within one house of them and then they took off...but not too far (into a tree) so they could go back to their find after I left....

  

That's my attempt at trying to get them into the same picture.  The one on the left was acting as a guard, sort of, and was the first to fly away.

There's (above) two views of the feasting on....squirrel, if you wanted to know.  Which is fine with me.  The less squirrels around to dig in my garden, the better.

This would be (above) the partner.  Not hungry, I suppose.

And, now my brave brave companions...who only ventured down to check things out when the birds flew away.  Which was probably wise.  They were rather large birds, after all.

Leo, being camera shy (get me from my best side....which he must think is behind...haha)...

And, Sam...who I imagine is saying "I prefer to get my own.  The chase is half the fun."  

Sam story (and then I will go)....Yesterday, DH hears Sam at the front door.  He opens the front door...and there, along with Sam, is a rabbit placed directly in the center of the mat.  Sam comes inside, but only for a brief time, as he wants back out...to...ahem...take care of his prize.  He only wanted DH to know what he done!  Haha.  Such a great hunter.  And, yea, for one less plant-eating varmint in my yard.  

Only people who don't seriously garden (in my opinion) can tolerate all those critters whose only purpose is to eat and destroy your garden.  Because that is their mission...so, you have to decide...which team you'll be on.  Garden or No Garden.  It's that whole cycle of life thing. 

Garden Reading: The Garden Primer

If you knew someone to guide you, keep you from making mistakes and just generally mentor you in gardening, I suspect that someone would resemble Barbara Damrosch. At least, I hope she would!



Image courtesy of Workman Publishing.

Newly updated and greener than ever, Barbara Damrosch's The Garden Primer is available and ready to lead you down the garden path. While the beloved original still rests on many a gardener's bookshelf (saw it myself recently at my sister's), this new version brings it right up to date. Armed with the latest information, any one of us could venture out and make magic in the dirt. You know you can...and if you didn't, this is the perfect manual for you.

Ms. Damrosch jumps right in with What Plants Need. Of special interest to me was the section on Bulbs (you know how I love my daffodils) where I was reminded that it just might be time to divide some of mine. On page 513, I read, "If a clump is dense and the leaves have started to flop, it's a sign that division is needed." Well, that describes my clump of Mt. Hood exactly. Guess what I'll be doing after the foliage has withered (it will be fun to see exactly how many are in the clump).

I also dug right into the section on Vegetables. You might remember those peas I planted on a whim? Just waiting for me was a load of information on peas (pages 340-345). There I learned that I was right (whew) to have a trellis waiting for them and that I needed to not let them over ripen on the vine, lest they lose their sweetness. I'll have to remember that as they are just now breaking the ground. Also, to pick them right before dinner (unless I'm eating right where they grow) as they start to lose their sweetness upon picking. I also learned they freeze well (hope I have enough to freeze!). You can see I focused on the reward, i.e., the eating (hehe) vs. the actual growing; however, The Garden Primer contains plenty of information on the actual growing.

After each section, there is an extensive glossary with pictures and detailed information on, for example, numerous vegetables. Just liked I looked up peas, you could look up anything you wanted, like tomatoes (pages 373-379), for instance. Of course, trees, perennials, shrubs, herbs, wildflowers, you-name-it are all covered including a section on houseplants. If you can grow it, there's information for you to absorb and learn.

Because I have vegetables on my mind, it was with special delight that I discovered a lovely and very colorful feature on Barbara Damrosch and Eliot Coleman's Four Season Farm in Harborside, Maine, in the Spring 2008 edition of Country Gardens magazine. On display were the vegetable gardens (advice put into practice), luscious vegetables themselves and a flower garden in full bloom. A feast for the eyes and so very inspiring! Pictured also was the herb garden, complete with a plan featuring the actual plants used. I immediately turned back to the section on Herbs in the book, eager to learn more. (It's hard to put down; you'll see!)

If you didn't guess or or were unaware, let me be sure you realize we are talking about organic gardening. And, at Four Season Farm, they clearly know what they're doing! If you don't know something or, like me, are always eager to advance your gardening skills and knowledge, then make sure you have a copy of the new and improved The Garden Primer at hand. Our gardens will thank us!

Lettuce and Other Stuff

So, I'm out and about running errands and I see lettuce starts. Of course, I have lettuce seeds at home, but...I confess, I'm interested. The price of a nine pack is less that a package of triple washed lettuce at the grocery. And, I see a Red Sails pack that is ready for picking now...hmmmm (that's what thinking sounds like)...

It just so happens that I actually (a first) have a place I can plant some lettuce. I should back up and say that my yard is hard orange clay. Not exactly soil (soil? How kind of me.) that one can just drop things in. It has taken me years (emphasis required) of work and countless bags of amendments, but there actually are spots now where one can...plant...without backbreaking labor. Amazing. Usually, I would scout out a spot and drag bags around. I either pocket plant or build up. Lately, there's more of the building up as my digging days are behind me (I hope).

I have very little blank space (ask the dogs). It occurs to me that those spots I am saving for tomatoes could host lettuce. Then, when it's too hot for lettuce (Mayish, I'm thinking), out they go, add some more amendments and in go the tomatoes! Sounds like a plan, right? I'm game.




In fact, I'm so motivated that I actually also planted some peas. How many years have I thought about that (but not done it)?? Well, we'll see how they do....their trellises are not exactly the best and who knows if the weather will cooperate, but, hey, sometimes you experiment.

Best of all, I had a little salad...almost home grown (very tasty)...so, no matter what happens, I got my money's worth.



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As the early blooms begin to pick up steam, it's hard to keep up...but I try...so, here's a few more things:


I thought this crocus was a bit unusual. Most of mine have stripes (that have stripes, of course) on nearly all the petals...like these:


The Roman Hyacinth (one bulb) has apparently increased! Multiple stems this year! And, with our mild winter, I didn't get the usual frozen one first.


Saucer Magnolia right on schedule (for it)...early...this means a freeze could be in our future (let's hope not):


Look closely and you'll see a bird's nest:


The first of the tulips surrounded by larkspur seedlings:


An early daffodil, an unknown, though I think if I could find a daffodil hunter, it might be identified with that distinctive orange ring:


What's interesting with daffodils is that one day you might have one open....then by late afternoon or surely by the next morning, the whole group bursts into bloom...and they last for a number of days.


Another variety of iris reticulata...this was a little mix...will the yellows make an appearance...who knows.


The very first flowers on one variety of creeping phlox. There's a Korean Spice Viburnum above this one and I noticed the buds swelling on it...won't be long!


And, lastly, Glory of the Snow, thankfully, no snow...

Well, that's all I have time for now....it's a bright and sunny day...I think it's calling me.