Phasing to Summer

Now is time for our summer garden to take over the vegetable patch. Earlier this week I pulled out our very sad sugar snap peas. They were beginning to weep to the ground leaving the teepees useless. It made for easy harvesting. I simply yanked them out of the ground and pulled off the pea pods. This method is certainly messier. I should have caught those peas earlier. Some are well past the ideal sweetness stage. No worries. We'll shell them and toss them into some salads or even saute them with other vegetables.

The broccoli has been doing well. We missed harvesting a few crowns they have since gone to flower. Our mistake has made several pollinators quite happy. We really expected the crowns to get larger but they are not trending that direction. These are just going to be small and less full. So as to not miss anymore crowns I decided to go ahead and clip off those looking peak. About half of our plants were harvested and subsequently removed. I'll let the other half grow another week before they will be pulled out entirely. We'll need the space to grow some beans.

Another bunch of spring onions need to be pulled out. I'm thrilled these onions finally grew so well for us. We've had numerous crops fail. It's very upsetting seeing them wither away. This year we tried a different variety and I think we hit a winner. I'll be sure to get to these hardy delights this weekend when we'll be enjoying some big salad suppers. Those onions might last another two weeks so long as the heat does not get the best of them. By then I'll have my second wave of bell peppers to plant in that location. These bell peppers would be great to eat but they may very well end up being the decoys for those pesky deer. Often the intense late July causes the deer to get desperate for vegetation. So long as they lay off our tomatoes we'll be fine.

I had plans to get back in that vegetable patch to tidy up the weeds situation. Unfortunately these afternoon rain storms have gotten in the way of my garden time. I wanted to get that section where the peas had been cleared up and prepped for weekend planting. Now it is looking like my weekend will be busier than imagined. Once the weeds are pulled I need to turn the soil then add some compost to liven it up for the tomatoes. My heirloom black cherry tomato plants grown from seed are ready to get growing. These plants will be my second wave of tomatoes. Our first wave has had a good month start making us very eager for those green beauts to ripen up to a perfect bright red. I can't believe it. Garden tomatoes on my plate so very soon!

Lessons

This week I have learned that.......

Plenty of rain and sunshine really kicks your garden into gear. 

Warm strawberries and fresh snap peas are fantastic for lunch.

Toddlers with strawberry stained faces are so cute.

Enjoying the splendors of your own garden is quite a blessing.

Making garden memories

We have spent most of the week inside due to all the rain it was so nice to get outside to enjoy the garden today. Adelynn loves being outside. As you can imagine all that rain has put her in a bit of withdrawal. I totally get it because I too had been wanting to be in the garden. We love the garden. A week away has made for much to do around the garden. The weeds for example have been very busy growing and getting into things. Naughty weeds. I'll get to them later this weekend. I noticed them getting sassy in the vegetable patch and I got my eye on them. They won't fool me. You see the weeds are not on my mind at the moment. They should be but instead I have a bigger problem to address. There were some huge storms that passed through our area this week causing flooding all over the place. Sinkholes, downed trees, even roads were washed out. We too had our own share of damage. Taking advantage of the break in our stormy week it was time to get outside.

While I took stock of our garden Adelynn wandered around chasing the cat. She and Lincoln ran around chasing butterflies. It was hilarious. All those big storms caused a lot of mess for me to clean up. We lost all of our mulch and a good amount of topsoil when the flood water raced downhill washing across our back yard. Unfortunately our vegetable gardens lie in that washout zone. We haven't had a big washout for a few years. Keith has spent a good deal of time working on ways to divert any water from our garden areas. Up until this week his design held up. Nevertheless we press on, clean up, and reevaluate our garden flood prevention. I spent the morning searching for mulch and raking what remains of our mulch. It must have been quite a stream of water that passed through our yard which is to say there was hardly any mulch to be found. Most of the mulch must have been washed into the woods. There it will remain.

Since the mulch clean up was not as involved as I expected it to be I took the time to harvest all the lettuce and spinach. They are on the verge of bolting so it's now or never. The best part about a good hard rain is that all those no good trouble making bugs that normally would be found terrorizing my greens were washed off the plants. It makes the sink washing process so much easier. It took me over an hour to collect all those greens. Between checking in on Adelynn and breaking up kitty shenanigans I was pretty distracted. Blissful though. Listening to the birds, I kept an eye on those little clouds with rumbles of thunder passing by and I looked toward the sunny skies. Being outside was wonderful. It was peaceful to be surrounded by the garden. 

When I was done harvesting the lettuce and spinach I moved on to next vegetable. Our spring onions are going strong so I selected a few that were ready to be picked. Into my harvest basket on top of the spinach and lettuce they went. Adelynn made her way over to me looking in my basket at all the lettuce. She picked up a leaf and inspected it gently dropping it back into the pile. I placed the full basket next to the pea patch. Her eyes were drawn up to the peas tangled around the teepee poles. She saw numerous pea pods dangling there and looked at me. Pointing to some plump pods she said "more" reaching out a hand to touch the sun warmed green pods. I plucked a pea pod off the plant and began to pop it open. Eagerly she grabbed the opened pod. She has been watching her big sisters devour peas all week. She knew what to do with that pod and was so pleased with herself for knowing how to eat them. Her tiny fingers began to delicately pick a pea out of the pod and then place it in her mouth. After concluding that the pea was indeed sweet and delicious she began to stuff more into her mouth. Moments later the pod in her hands was empty. She requested another pod. I handed her another opened pod bursting with perfectly round sweet peas. Realizing that she needed to invest a little bit of time in this snack she decided to find herself a spot to sit and enjoy those peas. A small grouping of rocks next to the apple tree is where she decided to sit.

I kept plucking peas off the plants and in between that I'd open a pod for her to take back to her rocks. She would occasionally sit next to me offering every other pea from her pod. Such a delightful garden memory. Seeing her sit there on those rocks munching away on peas was amazing. Here we were having a good morning enjoying the bounty of our hard work. I tending the garden as she played. It was reaffirming that there is simple goodness in working the dirt. Growing your own food and seeing it on your table even if that table happens to be a pile of rocks under an apple tree. If you ask me that is a rather delightful table location. As she and I enjoyed our peas I thought about what our little garden will produce this year. It will be a wonderful journey to see what delicious produce will grace our table. About 6 pods later Adelynn had her fill and was off to drag her "buckie" (her blue bucket) off to another adventure. She moved around the yard collecting various things to put in that bucket. Sticks, rocks, chalk, a pea pod just because, and shovel. With my pea bucket full it was time to move on to the next thing to harvest.

Our strawberry patch is on the end of its season. We have had a bountiful amount of berries this season. Today looking through the patch I realized that I needed to pluck those berries days ago. Some were just over ripe and wasting away. Oh the sadness to see a beautiful strawberry going bad. I filled up a small bowl with the juicy berries and set them on the ground. Adelynn had toddled up next to me and babbled gesturing towards the berry patch. I had a strawberry in my hand and she looked at it as I was inspecting it for damage. She pointed at it and said "Mmmm" then babbled some more which I took to be her asking for a bite. Taking a step toward me her foot kicked the bowl and she saw a big treat waiting just for her. Picking up the bowl she giggled and squealed. Before I could stop her she put a small strawberry into her mouth. Moments later with a look of disgust on her face she spit out the leaves. I didn't have time to remove those leaves before she ate the berry. It was very adorable to see her eagerness. Her second berry was almost the same result. I sat down and showed her how to pluck off the leaves. With that bit of knowledge she began to enjoy her strawberries. Half of the berries I collected ended up in her belly. She'd take a bite out of each one delicately placing them back into her bowl. Her face stained pink with strawberry juice she offered me countless grins. Juice running down her chin staining her shirt she was full of blissful enjoyment. I loved watching every minute of her happy strawberry chattering.

By nap time she was ready to sleep. Snuggling up with me in the rocking chair her little blue eyes looking up at me she talked to me in her toddler babble. I could see her eyes getting heavy with sleep. Slowly her talking stopped and she was falling asleep. We rocked some more and I watched her. She smelled of strawberries and dirt. Her blond curls covered her ears falling down along her neck. I could see traces of strawberry juice on her neck where I missed cleaning her off after lunch. She was perfectly happy perfectly peaceful. Yes. I do think this is a day worth remembering.

Lessons

This week I have learned that.......

May is a busy birthday month in this house.

A parent's birthday gets the kids super excited to make it extra special.

The garden sure changes over a week's time.

Another stray cat will find our gentle family a delight to enjoy.

Birthday pie is always a good choice.

No more excuses!

This little window above my kitchen sink has been bare for 5 years. Wow. I can't believe it has been that long. That's a long time to have one little window left bare. I guess I never really put too much effort into finding a window covering for this one. Which is odd since I've been quite irritated with being blinded by the late afternoon sun. Last weekend I decided after numerous nights of being blinded from working on after supper dishes that it was time to cover that window. Squinting while washing up is really as awful as it sounds. Surprisingly it took 5 years to motivate me into action.

Why did I wait so long? Part of my delay has been a result of me seeking that perfect curtain. Oh the perfectionist in me is strong. Almost to a point of ridiculousness as in standing night after night for five years squinting while doing dishes. Since I've had 5 years of nightly squinting to envision that perfect image you'd think that I would know by now. Nothing came to mind. Nothing seemed a good fit. Instead of fretting over the style, the look, the color, the material, the EVERYTHING, I just did something about that window. I had enough of that sun blinding us in the afternoon making the kitchen hot and uninviting.

I went to the basement in search of the fabric for some simple new curtains. I sorted through my fabric stash discovering several tidbits from the 1980s. Oh my. What were we thinking?! After many bouts of laughter and some seriously awesome finds I had narrowed down my choices. I laid out three options. One a nice simple light blue gingham that screams farmhouse window, another simple off white plain cotton and the last a medium weight linen with a lovely floral print. As you can see you know what I chose. Whereas the others were delightful this linen sold me with its nice print just the thing to add some fun to that window. Also it had another attribute: this fabric required zero cutting! It just happened to be the correct dimensions I needed to sew. How's that for a happy happy sew sew project? Perfect I tell you. Some pressing here a little bit of sewing there and it was all done in under an hour.

The finished curtain fit perfectly in my window. It has made such a difference in the control of that powerful afternoon sun. Now my only problem is I can't put off doing the dishes because of the sun. Hmmm, maybe that's why it took 5 years to decide!

Lessons

This week I have learned that......

Turning 10 is a big deal.

Enjoying a nap in a hammock is bliss.

Playing in the dirt is fun no matter your age.

When cats play outside all night long they turn into furry lumps on your couch all day long.

I may not be ready for a 10 year old!

Kitty and heirloom radishes

These are two things that do not necessarily go together. Unless, of course, you live at our house and happen to spend time outdoors. Our cat Lincoln loves to be outside. He loves to stretch out on the patio hoping for someone to give him a belly rub. While his day is spent wandering around the yard looking for critters to chase we are turning our attention to the growing season. There is something wonderful about having a kitty as a garden companion. In between his safari moments he makes time to visit us as we are working in the gardens. Although we can do without his digging help we do appreciate his affection.

We are nearing the end of our first season garden. Our growing season in this part of Virginia allows us to get in a good 3 season garden. I always start my first season the week of St. Patrick's day. Yes, this may give many master gardeners a shudder as they know we can still get another frost or two before the all clear is reached. And yes I admit it is risky of me to consistently throw risk aside and set my seeds to dirt. My belief is that by planting those cold weather veggies early I can give them a month head start to grow. I watch my garden and ensure that those little seedlings are going to grow safely. A tarp covering here and there is well worth the bounty we get by the end of April through early May.

Lessons

This week I have learned that....

Car magnets are the new fun toy. Addie loves to take them off the cars and replace them.

When you want to "Kuh-er" you needs lots of paper and plenty of crayons.

There are sunflowers that can grow to 16 feet tall! The Sunzilla! Amazing.

A dress and some curls