Barefoot Kitchen Witch - In the Garden

Things Growing

On Saturday we had a break from the endless rain and the sky was just cloudy.  Perfect diffused light for taking a few pictures of the baby fruits and vegetables that are coming up....

Here we've got mostly squashes.  The tomatoes in between weren't/aren't supposed to stay there, but at this point it looks like they might.  I don't know where else we'd put them.  Anyway, right in front is zucchini, the next squash is a pattypan, and the next is a dwarf butternut.  All three were fabulous producers last year, so we're keeping our fingers crossed for this year.  Beyond them, near the cherry tree, are the pumpkins - one is orange, one is that white, ghosty kind.  We'll see how they do.

And here's the cherry tree.  That's how it looked a few days ago when I took the picture.  Now?  Not so much red.  Betweenthe birds and me, the cherries are mostly gone.

Those are Cascade Hops climbing up the string to the stick above the basketball net.  We've got them growing in a half a whiskey barrel in front of the garage on the right hand side.  On the left, same deal with Willamette Hops.  My husband brews beer, and last year he started growing his own hops.  They love to climb, and right now it's a race between Cascade and Willamette to see which one gets to the top of the stick first.  Willamette started off strong, but Cascade is out in front now and will probably be the winner.

Sweet 100s.

Blueberries.

Brandywine.  I think.  I forgot to check when I took the picture.

And finally, teeny, tiny little baby pattypan squashes.  Aren't they adorable?  We're so proud.

Sunday Morning, After Rain

Morning Stroll

Weekend mornings.  Early.  Cups of coffee in hand, Bill and I head outside before the kids are up to take a leisurely walk around the yard.  To check out the growing things.

Like the peas.  These won't be around for long.  And we'll have no idea how many the plants give us, because Alex and Julia will pick the little pea pods and eat them before Bill and I even see them.  Most of them.

But here are a few - proof that they existed.

I love the pea blossoms...

 

Nearby, in our little garden next to the driveway, the garlic is sending out scapes, or flower stems, which I'll be harvesting tomorrow, probably, and using in a variation on scallion pancakes.  Cutting the scapes is also supposed to increase the bulb size of the garlic, too, so it's a completely win-win plan.

From there, it was into the back yard to check out the various squashes, tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, and assorted greens.  And to admire the feathery asparagus.

Harvest time is past, and we allow the asparagus to grow tall and flower.

 

Now it's around to the front of the house...

This rose bush is HUGE this year.  We bought it ten or eleven years ago - before we bought this house and moved in here - from a guy in our neighborhood who had gorgeous flowering plants all over his yard - he nad entire green hands, never mind a green thumb.  Anyway, every August he had a plant sale - he'd pot up tons of plants, put them all out in his driveway and over the grassy areas of his yard, and people would come and shop.  Like us.  We bought a lot from those plant sales, including this rose. 

Moving along...we walk through the boat garden.  Last year Bill took over and added a bunch more perennials, like these lupines...

And this...which I don't remember the name of...

 

I bought this pink daisy a couple weeks ago.

Here's a view of most of the garden.  The irises are winding down, but there's plenty of other color to take over.

That's my cup of coffee there on one of the stepping stones.

I love early mornings.

Make a Wish

Chives Up Close - With Some Bugs and Spiders

First Harvest of 2009

 

These are the seedling rejects.  Bill trimmed them away from the other seedlings that have sprouted up this week, and rather than toss them on the compost heap, he put them in a little dish in the fridge, and later they'll get rinsed and added to a salad.

Spring Is Here - No Matter What the Calendar Says

Though we still may see a bit of this in the morning...

 

Or a bit of this...

 

We're also starting to see more and more of this:

 

 

 

We've also got garlic coming up...

 

And Bill's got seeds planted in the little starter pots in the basement...and yesterday he planted peas and broccoli rabe outside.

Bye, bye winter.  It's been fun, but it's time to move on....

Multicolored Bounty

In Which My Son Serves Breakfast to a Spider On This Dewdrop Laden Morning

Foggy this morning.  My husband, son and I were all outside this morning, before the sun burned through, checking out all the vegetables and (in my case) admiring all the tiny water droplets that adorned the fernier greens.

 

There were also little patches of dew-laden webs scattered on the lawn and tucked against the fence or the edge of a garden. 

I love things like this.  Love to look closely at the dewdrops strung like jewels along the nearly invisible strands of web. 

It's magical.

Anyway, in one such web I found its architect and builder - a little brown spider tucked toward the back of the web, out of the way, out of sight....

When Hail Strikes

We had hail here a couple of days ago, and while it was really cool from a safe-inside-the-house perspective, the poor plants outside probably didn't enjoy it quite so much.

Especially the ones with the big leaves...

 

 

It's hard to see, but that baby zucchini got hit.  It seems to be okay.  Our butternut squash plant lost a whole stalk or branch or whatever you call it. 

But still, I think everything will be fine. 

I can't help but imagine, though, how horrible it would be to have a working farm and have your crops - your livelihood - battered and broken by a sudden hail storm.  Leafy greens no longer so pretty, so tempting to consumers at the farmers' markets.  I hope our local farmers didn't suffer too much damage.  I'll be checking things out when I go tomorrow.  And if the spinach has some holes, or the mesclun mixes look a bit ragged, I'll be buying them anyway.