Around and Around and Around I Go!

That's what I've been doing the last week and a half, going around and around the garden to all the lovely strawberry plants, picking strawberries every morning!  A very bountiful Spring of fruit, even with competition from the squirrels, 4 regulars, and chippies, at least 3 in the yard now!  So I've made jam, and of course we have them for breakfast, and in salads, and best of all delicious margaritas!
It doesn't look like the cherry tree will be as bountiful this Summer, and our Snow sweet apple tree lost the one remaining apple, but I think the tree limbs need to get a bit bigger to support the large apples it produces.  Not sure what is happening with the cherry tree, could be that the late frost we had took out a lot of the fruit.  I still have one bag from last year in the freezer, it will be even more appreciated now!
The peas are doing ok, a steady handful every day, nothing spectacular but good in wraps!  I noticed the bean seeds collected from last year appear to be doing better than the newly purchased seeds. The hyacinth beans, and pole beans took off quickly and are halfway up the fence already!  The cucumbers are slow, but steady.
It seems to be a strange year, some plants are way ahead of schedule by 2-3 weeks, others are more on schedule.  It is a mystery to me, but interesting to observe with our ever changing climate.  One thing that doesn't change is the speed of summer, slow down please!!
The bees are really back in full force, lovely to see, but we've only had one Monarch butterfly sighting in the yard!  Yikes!  I know there was a good population in Mexico, maybe they've found a Milkweed paradise somewhere else, still hoping to see more and maybe collect some eggs again this summer!
I finally got my mailbox area spruced up, minus a wheel barrel full of rocks, not surprised really that was the case, but I'm done with rocks!  Oh, no, I'm not.  I still have a few more rock circles to take out, or maybe... just dump the mulch on top.  We had some serious Ash tree roots to deal with in planting around the mailbox.  I was able to get one large Huechera (coral bell) plant in, and several small huechera, from the garden, along with some daisies.  Better than it was!
Unfortunately, my arm tingling is getting worse, I'm just blaming it on the rocks, and the digging, toting of water, wheel barrels, pulling of weeds, picking of strawberries, pruning...but it all looks fabulous and the bees, butterflies, and birds are here! So are the pics...

yummy!

native blue eyed grass, likes moisture

Trying to figure out if this is a bee or a wasp

Another kitty makes his home here!  A visit to the San Diego zoo a couple of weeks ago, fun trip!

Keeping Up!

So, as in typical Minnesota style, May had a cool turn until this week.  So appreciative of the sun!  The plants are on their steady march, as are the weeds.  I've discovered if I can get at the weeds early in the season, April/May, it just makes it less daunting throughout the season.  I've limited myself to the weeds in the beds, not the lawn, unless it is a spectacular intrusion of thistle or some other large intruder!  Our dandelion lawn is for the birds and the bees.  Speaking of birds and bees... the birds have been plentiful and varied, the hummers are back!  The bees, not so much.  I'm hoping the cooler weather has just slowed them down a bit, and not an unnamed chemical company's desire to destroy the natural world.
Fred and Ethel keep returning to our pond but I don't think they are going to set up housekeeping in the yard, good thing because I'll probably put the pond pumps in today, don't think they'd appreciate the ambiance.
Our quaking aspen is getting its revenge for removing it by sending up leaf shoots off some super big root extensions, yikes!  Had to use the shovel and dig out over 12 feet of roots!  We are also removing the rest of the small rock stepping circles that I thought was such a clever idea at the time.  They did work out ok for the most part, but some had collected a lot of soil and provided a haven for dandelions and crab grass, so we are replacing them with paver rocks, just a few more to go! 

great start!

Off to the native plant sale tomorrow, see if I can squeeze in a few more appetizers for the bees and butterflies!
Greenie

columbine

columbine

woodland phlox-chattahoochee

bachelor button

siberian wallflower

wild geranium

crimson clover

flax

violets

peas!

crimson clover and violets

spurge

Conspiracy Theory

So a few things conspired against me this summer.  First my tailbone met up with a rock( inattentive mowing) then our basement had a run in with water, and finally, my ankle took an unexpected turn.  Things are slowly getting back to their previous selves, hopefully better with the basement.  Because of the basement problems I spent a lot of time removing some plants and lots of mulch from behind the house, but this gave a clear vision of the problem with grade and pitch.  Unfortunately, it stalled my fine tuning of garden plots and stalled my enthusiasm of reporting the rest of the summer in the garden.  It was a very good summer and even now near the end of October there are still some flowers blooming and the trees are fabulous!  I'll just show the photos, seriously that is always the best part of this blog/journal.

Greenie

Earlier than Ever- Spring brings color!

another purple tribute

pasque perfection

before the rains

white throated sparrow

duck love-in the purple rain

Fred and Ethel- doing a dance

Goldfinch love

Eli and Ricky- a touching goodbye

Spring actually started here in Minnesota about a month ago, with temperatures in the 70s, we watched as the Juncos, stayed.  I like the Juncos, cute birds, but it is always a good sign of Spring when they move on further north   They didn't move on though, until last week!  I even saw one yesterday, but that was understandable since this week's weather was more like what it should have been a month ago. The weather is crazy, so Minnesota. 
It has been a week of cold, purple, rain.  On a sad note,  our sweet Richard the lion heart left us two week ago for the rainbow bridge, and last week our singing Prince left Minnesota too. so I am melancholy.
Our resident ducks, Ethel and Fred returned about three weeks earlier than last year, and they have been returning to the yard more frequently too.  This may be the year they stay and raise a family, which would be fun and challenging!
Today the sun is back, so it will be a scramble of activity today, and probably sore muscles tomorrow.
One thing I will do today is collect more dandelion leaves to make pesto.  I made a dandelion quiche the other day and it was pretty good, and we have lots of organic dandelions, lots, and lots...good for the bees too!
I didn't overdo in the yard, just moved a few strawberry plants and picked alot more dandy leaves and buds,  and I made the dandy pesto, really pretty good.  It has a bit of spicy heat at the end but not overwhelming.  I would make it again.
Greenie