Around the House

This guy loves to have his picture taken, and he's constantly asking if I'll put him on the blog:

The gardens are really loving this heat/rain combo we've had for the last week.  Lots of plants are sprouting.  Some of the cooler-weather things have bolted.  I think radishes are really pretty when they bloom:

Also, I never mentioned that I picked up this purple shamrock from the farmer's market last week:

About 20 years ago, when I worked in New Harmony, my boss had a purple shamrock that I watered along with the geraniums.  I always thought it was so pretty and unique, but I hadn't seen another one until now.

We also had another fire and s'mores last night.  The weather has cooled a bit, and it's finally not raining.  It was really lovely yesterday.

Lydia Behind the Camera

I sent Lydia outside yesterday to photograph the gardens.  She's getting better at picture-taking all the time.

She also took the camera to the driving range, where she, Malachi, Gyunay, and Nathaniel hit some balls:

Memorial Day Weekend

Normally, Nathaniel has a ton of people over to our house Memorial Day weekend for his annual kayak trip down the Blue River.  This year, (due to Covid19), we only had one family come visit us:

We had an epic water balloon fight:

And we did take the kayaks and canoe to a local lake, where we took turns.  It was a lot of fun, and we always enjoy seeing our friends.  The kids were so excited to have friends around.  

More Crazy Garden Plans

Three of us took a kayak trip today.

So, we got Lydia a new bunk bed a few weeks ago, and her old box spring was not needed anymore.  I stuffed it under the carport next to the trailer, because heavy trash pick-up is not happening now due to Covid-19.  Then today, Nathaniel dragged out the trailer to take Elijah and Gyunay kayaking, so he had to get the bed spring out of the way.  Thus, it was laying in the yard after he left, and I thought, Wow, that looks so much like a raised garden bed. So I dragged it to the grass next to one of my gardens:

Then, I added some random pulled weeds and covered them with potting soil.  It is one of those compressed bags of soil that is supposed to expand when wet, but I just dropped it in without adding water since it's going to rain for the next forever.

I did wonder what Nathaniel would think.  Luckily, he's used to me, and he's pretty tolerant of my craziness. I asked if he'd help me attach the wire stuff to the t-posts for trellising, but I was making dinner and figured that we'd do it later. He went on outside and did it for me!

I think it may actually look fairly nice once there are plants in and around it.  In any case, it's more growing room for me!

Sweet Potato Planting

We grow sweet potato from slips.  I pinch off the sprouts from last year's potatoes and put them in little shot glasses full of water in the window sill.  Then, after the roots have grown and the temperature outside is warm enough, we plant them in the garden:

As you can see, I had two garden helpers this morning.

It's warm and softly raining off and on all day today, so it was pretty good weather for planting transplants.  We also replaced some of the tomatoes that we lost in the hard frost last week.  Lydia transplanted a few of the seedlings she originally planted in botany class, way back when we still had co-op.  She put the sunflowers and cucumber in the front, and she has some other seedlings that we are going to let get a bit bigger.  Overall, the gardens are coming along fairly well.  We have been eating lots of fresh radishes.  I planted tons, with the thought of fermenting a few jars, but so far, we've just ate them fresh.

Signs of Growth

We had a very late hard frost early Saturday morning, and I had to cover my tomatoes for the first time.  We saved most of them, and lost a few other plants.  Overall, it was ok, but really a bummer to have such a late frost.  Normally, our last frost date is around April 20!  As you can see, the potatoes still look good, although a few leaves were frost-burned:

On the other side of the trellis, the peas are starting to climb:

And if you look close, you can find the honeybee:

Luckily, I have seen quite a few honeybees this spring.  Last year, there was a noticeable lack of honeybees.  

And here is Henry, strutting his stuff with his hens: 

And the front gardens are starting to slowly green up:

A lot of things are very tiny right now, so it will be a while before it looks bountiful, but plants are getting into place, and most are growing.

Book Review - Hadley Beckett's Next Dish by Bethany Turner

Hadley Beckett's Next Dish is a delight!  Author Bethany Turner uses humor as deftly as her main character uses butter.  This is the first time I have read anything by this author, but it will not be the last.  Her characters are believable, and both the male and female leads were well-developed.  The setting was fun, and it seemed realistic to the celebrity chef world.  Turner uses pop culture references but doesn't become cliche by overusing them.  It was easy to get into this book, and it was hard to put it down.  I don't give this book five stars because it's a literary masterpiece like something by Charles Dickens, but because it delivers exactly what it promises: a humorous, romantic story that is well-written and immensely likable.  Also, I love the way the author weaves the theme of forgiveness in a real-world, modern-day setting.  I highly recommend this book.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.   

Just for Fun

Malachi wanted to take some pictures of the chickens for your viewing pleasure, so here you go:

As you can see, we have them pretty well confined so predators can't eat them at will.  

We also got a couple of shots of the cats:

The cats have been especially lovey lately.  We went to my parents' cabin over last weekend, and I think they missed us.  Ever since, they have been so cuddly!

Spring Beauty

The early spring flowers are gone, so no more daffodils or tulips here, but look at these fun flowers:

I call them Dr. Seuss flowers.  I can't remember what they are really called.  We bought them at Walmart and planted the bulbs last fall.  

Here is my rhubarb plant:

It's small, but it lived.  And there are peas growing next to it:

Those little sprouts around the peas are arugula.  There are more peas in the front berm, and those are bigger:

In the new front berm, I have a few flowers blooming:

Did you notice the lily of the valley?  I transplanted it from this patch:

I love lilies of the valley.  They smell amazing, and I love the delicate little white bells.  This large patch is to the left of the front steps, so you get a whiff of them any time you go up or down the stairs.

April Harvest Totals

We're getting closer to getting more produce from the yard!  April's harvest was small, but there are lots of plants in the ground now, so May should be much better.

Arugula - 1 cup
Carrots - 3
Eggs - 170
Lettuce, red leaf - 1 cup
Oregano - 3 cups

The oregano I harvested and dried on my screen dryer.  I will have lots more of that to harvest, which is good.  I use a lot of dried oregano in cooking.

Here is the post about the screen dryer: http://barefootkentuckymama.blogspot.com/2014/09/diy-seed-drying-rack.html