Summer weather has been good for growth

Bed #1 on 6-16

Bed # 1 on 6-19

Bed # 2 on 6-16

Bed #2 on 6-19

Bed # 3 on 6-16

Bed #3 on 6-19

Bed #4 on 6-16

Bed #4 on 6-19

If you have been following the weather in the Midwest you are probably aware that we have been hot and dry.  I have photos from the vegetable gardens taken 3 days apart.  I have been watering to supplement the lack of rain.  Look what 3 days of heat can do for growth!
The peas that went in before Easter are in full production and even starting to lose their vigor with the heat.  I expect that I will be composting the vines within the week.  I have bush bean on their west edge and peppers and kale on the east edge, so this will provide the growing space those crops need.  This is the one vegetable plot I ran soaker hose through so I can irrigate without overhead sprinkling as needed.

Clockwise from left: shelling peas, Oriental peas, lettuce, garlic, and green onions at bottom.

 I pulled my garlic this last week also.  You can see it laying on the right side of this photo.  The tops had browned out which indicates they are done growing.  I had no idea what kind of garlic I put in as I picked up the bulbs at the farmer's market last summer and used what I had on hand.  It is the first time I had soft neck garlic in the bed so I was able to braid it for drying.  Hard neck garlic has too stiff of stems for this.  I started with three plants and just kept adding to the bunch to braid them into this bunch.

There have been several things ready for harvest.  We had fresh green onions on the vegetable tray for our parties.  The peas have provided my coworkers with healthier eats from my desk than a candy dish.  They appreciate the effort, so it is fun to share with them.  All the plants are in the ground now.  I held off on the tomatoes until after the graduation party was done so they would not risk damage from guests accidentally stepping into the bed.  I ran a soaker hose through this area as well and mulched with a bargain bin brown paper mulch that I found at the hardware store.  I'll let you know how well that works when the season is done.

Soaker hose around tomato 

brown paper and cocoa beans for mulch

I was so pleased with the tomato harvest last year that I put them back by the driveway again this year.  The sun and heat are fantastic in this area as well as the water supply so close for long, slow soaking.  Tomatoes do not grow well under black walnuts which has limited their growth in the backyard.  My neighbor has a beautiful tree and I would never  begrudge her the shade so I can have happy tomatoes.  The peppers do not seem to be affected even though they are in the same family.  I am happy to work around this and enjoy her shade on our backyard visits.  Good neighbors are worth working around small inconveniences that jugulans can present.  
It is good to sit down and get some journal entries done again.  It has been helpful to me to look back at some of the entries from last year to know what work and when I was planting things.  Maybe now that we are done with all our parties and planning, gardening will become part of the pleasures of life again.

Date Night With My Daughter

We live in a pretty nice city.  It offers so much in such a little space.  I spent last Friday celebrating the very little spaces that most people don't see even though some are in plain view.  Our first stop was the lake front.  We took some lawn chairs and sat on the bluff just cooling off.  They don't call Lake Michigan one of the Great Lakes for nothing.  She was curious about what else was along the lake shore so I took her on the nickel tour.  

We sat on the South Shore fishing docks and listened to the sail boats sway in their berths while a few guys were fishing near us.  It also has a great view of down town and the Lake Express Ferry.  You can also see our first wind turbine on the lake shore from here.

A bit further north and you are in the Port of Milwaukee. There happened to be a freighter in the docks at the time as well as another on the river side off loading next winter's salt.  This area along the river is not one of the beauty spots of the city, but it is home to Milwaukee's smallest park.

Kaszube's Park is dedicated to the original Polish fishing village that occupied Jone's Island.  The Kazube's never owned the land and were evicted so the land could be used for larger commercial operations of shipping.  It is also home of the sewage treatment plant.

I took her around to the other side of the river to see some of the most run-down pieces of real estate right near the fresh water research institute which is really growing at our local university.  We watched our ship leave port and took a trip down to the boat launch which will get you to all three rivers feeding into the lake near this point.

A summer evening becomes complete when you stop for custard at Leon's.  The place almost always has a line.  We enjoyed a strawberry sundae under the glow of the neon canopy.  If you find yourself in Milwaukee, a trip to Leon's, especially at night, is a step back in time.  
With our lives so busy lately it was so good to slow down and take some time to be with my daughter.  She is already planning on a similar tour with one of her friends to share the local spots that make big cities great places to be.

Praying Mantis Emerge

Lot of babies hanging around

Peek a boo!

I'm the king of the flower pot!

Me and my shadow...

I have been running here and there with graduations and gardening.  Fortunately, I took a few moments to take a deep breath and walk around the garden after a day at campus registration.  When I saw these little guys crawling around on their egg casing, I was glad I did.  The praying mantis have emerged and about the size of a dime.  I have not seen them in the quantities that I caught this time.  Some times you have to take the time to catch the little things in life.

A Graduation, a Garden

I haven't been doing journal entries about my garden because...I'm too busy gardening.  Life has also kept me busy, so some things had to take a back seat to all the other things going on.  Today I "powered through" and planted over 12 flats of plants to wrap up my flower planting.  All that remains in my gardening cue are my tomatoes and peppers which are going in after we host a graduation open house for my youngest.  They would wait until then anyway to keep them toasty on the few remaining cool nights we have left.

My lovely girls have taken to having their photo ops in the best garden spots.  After years of standing them here, and seating them there to commemorate occasions, they now just move to where I can capture all that is blooming, including them!  Neither one has taken an interest in getting dirt under their nails yet.  I do hope that some day they come home looking for advice on starting their own garden.  I will wait patiently.

We have participated and a lot of last times this past month.  I will miss the days of fast-pitch softball, even if I haven't always enjoyed the drive to watch them.  We have enjoyed watching the team build each year and grow into one functioning unit on the field.  Some year's had exciting playoffs while others just fizzled and ended.  I will miss the players, parents and coaches that made those hours at the ball field worth the trip.  I especially will miss watching my daughter behind the plate in her catcher's gear.  She was a reluctant volunteer to move into this position her sophomore year, but she did it for the team.  She quickly adapted and even coveted the position that she held.  Her pitcher has been the same all three years, so the two of them developed a real friendship both on and off the field.  Watching them walk off the field with their arms over each other's shoulders after a tough loss was something I came to look for after their post-game team meetings.  I will miss those girls much more than the game. 
So, onto another chapter of life.  In just a few short months, my little bird will fly the nest and I will be left with lots of time to garden and all those other things I have put off doing over the years.  I know I will miss her, but I also know that this was my job in life.  She has been prepared to become independent, and so she will be independent.  Like the saying goes, "Parents have to give their children two things. One is roots, the other is wings."
Hats off to all the graduates and their parents who got them to this point in life.  I look forward to meeting you on a new playing field and seeing you as the the changed people we all become with time.  Best of luck to all.