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.

Picture Perfect

Yellow flags blooming on left Golden Standard hosta in front right

I've talked about my rain garden before, but this weekend I weeded, planted, and mulched with cocoa bean hulls so it is picture perfect right now.  The blooms are at their peak or just past so it has been a stunning show. With our early warmth followed by cooler temperatures bloom time was lengthened on just about everything this year.  

Blue flag in center, very small Japanese maple on right

I added a Japanese maple to add some future height in the back ground.  We also added some new river stone to the downspout  areas to refresh the old ones which also adds a bit more water break for the rushing rains we tend to get.  I also found a couple of perennials to fill here and there.  

Dwarf Alberta spruce near center with Amsonia in upper left

I was able to put in some of my annuals over the weekend, petunias for one, but will hold off on the coleus and impatiens until the traditional Memorial Day weekend planting.  My dwarf Alberta spruce enjoyed the mild winter.  I did not leave it up to nature to water with so little snow.  I put the hose out twice during the mild temperatures of February and March to get moisture around the roots.  I also piled snow around it to add some winter protection each time we got a fleeting amount.  It came through beautifully with no winter burn.  After three years in the ground, it seems to be taking off this year.

I used some salvaged netting from a tree shipment to train the sweet Autumn clematis away from the hand rail this year.  I love the way individual leaves have poked through and expanded on the opposite side making the netting a bit more organic looking.

Lined area of rain garden, ferns, reeds, native irises, and trollius fill the bottom

The ferns have found their roots this year and are rooting in other areas.  The sensitive fern has completely left its original spot and is coming in through the field stone lining the rain garden.  The hostas were happy to lose the competition the Aruncus was providing as I moved it to the "dry berm".  I did not have much luck growing coleus in this spot without having to water frequently.  The Aruncus seems to be thriving in this spot quite well.  
A perennial garden can be planned, but there is always room for improvement.  Things die and there is always something that catches my eye and I really have to have it.  I always add a few annuals into the perennial beds to give it continuous color throughout the summer.  The few woody plants that I have in this area provide anchors for the vegetative plants that dominate the spot during summer, but add nothing during the dormant months.  Size does matter, so I always keep in mind what the potential size is for a plant.  I'd rather leave room for annuals while the perennials are getting established and reduce those each year as the permanent planting get larger.  
Weeding is a must.  I have seeds from maples, box elders, buck thorn and a whole host of annual weeds that blow in.  A perennial garden is never care free.  Even with edging, grass finds its way in with self sowing seed heads.  Mulch helps keep the amount down but it is not fool-proof.  I will not use weed barrier cloths especially in an area that I will be moving and digging on an annual basis.  The cloth will not allow the mulch to decompose and become part of the soil around the plants.  Years ago, my husband and I removed some over-grown shrubs around the school property.  The mulch added year after year was decomposing on top the cloth while the gray clay soils underneath remained unchanged.  Weeds managed to grow on top the cloth and we had to pull and rip it out of the shrub roots.  A tree of heaven had grown on top the cloth and pushed roots down through the cloth making it very interesting to remove.  Nix the weed barrier cloth in the planting beds, use it around your tomato plants instead (to reduce soil splash and related fungal problems).  It is also good under rock paths and the like.
Get out the camera on those days when you are all done doing the hard work so you have lasting memories of how good it looks when you put the time in.  I really enjoy looking back at the garden throughout the season and from year to year.  With digital, even an amateur can do some amazing picture taking.

blue flag iris

Mother's Day Tribute to my Mother (and Happy Birthday, Mom)

Door County cherry pick, Mom and Gwen

Mom knew how to eat local.  This is from a Door County cherry picking trip.  It wasn't exactly local eating from where we had to drive to pick the cherries, but it was a day trip which meant lots of pitting and canning the following day.  Going out to pick berries from the surrounding area was local and it happened every year, in each season of ripeness.  There was also the gardens that we grew as well as trips to the "muck farm" for massive amount of fresh produce for home preservation.  Canning is a skill I learned through observation and repetition.  

Mom with her camp cookware

Cooking outdoors was also a skill I learned from my mom.  In my 6th grade year she gave my dad an ultimatum.  Less time in the bar, more time with her.  They bought a camper.  Mom was quite an outdoors cook.  I think it stemmed from growing up with wood stoves on the farm.

Mom and Dad at Boulder Lake September or October 1970's

Those camping trips with my parents were special times.  Half of my sisters were grown and out of the house by the time the camper came into being, but that didn't stop them from becoming family trips.  These photos are from sister #3 and the car in the background belonged to sister #2 and her husband.  (I am #6 in a line of seven girls.)  We would take week long trips in the summer.  Sometimes it was a long weekend trip to go hunting or fishing.  It was always good to get away from the TV and spend some time talking around a campfire.

Mother's Day camping trip late 1970's

Mother's Day weekend became our first official camping weekend of the season.  Our most memorable trip was to northern Wisconsin (more north than we already lived).  The temperatures were in the high 70's when we left on Friday.  They never were that warm again the rest of the weekend.  The kids wore socks on their hands to warm up as we didn't bring winter gloves.  We also warmed rocks by the fire to warm our hands.  There's a whole story there which ends up with stitches in the emergency room...another time for that one.

Picnic 1970's Mom and Dad

We went on picnics frequently as a family.  We didn't stop and eat in restaurants.  The large number of people in our family made that cost prohibitive.  We would pack a lunch and eat it in some nice spots somewhere along our route.  Dad and Mom liked to take Sunday drives through the woods that surrounded our area in the Nicolet National Forest.  Dad never owned a 4-wheel drive vehicle in his life, but that didn't stop him from taking us boldly where only logging trucks have gone before.  Dad gave us an adventure every time.

Lunch during tree planting 1970's

We also learned a work ethic from our parents.  No one was too young to contribute in some way.  In order to earn tuition money for my older sisters to go to a different district's high school (this was also a lesson in political activism), we went in groups to plant trees for the Forest Service.  Grown ups would make the hole with the planting bar while we little ones put the trees in for them.  Looking back, it was the little ones that carried the bag of trees and did all the bending.  I'm sure some would consider that child abuse, but we lived through it with mostly fond memories.

Mom in front of the old Red Owl store

Even after dad passed at an early age, Mom continued to teach us how to make it in this world.  She went back to work to earn some extra money beyond Dad's pension.  She also passed on her great sense of humor to all of us.  Dad was the prankster in the family, Mom had a finely tuned wit.  Laughter is a gift that should never be over looked when considering the legacy you leave your children.  We have a rich legacy from our parents in that department.

Gwen and Mom 1960's

I also learned early on how to enjoy a cold beer after a hard day.  Before any one out there gets the wrong idea, my parents did not get us drunk to sit and laugh at us.  It involved a sip or two to see our reaction to such a different taste.  No children were harmed in the taking of this picture.  Enjoying the little things in life is really the best take-away my parents could give me.  I still can be happy with the small stuff in life.  It's all the small stuff that makes a big impression.

On the "to do" list today

1.  Clean all the debris out of the "pond", change water, and get the pump running.
2.  Flood the pressure washer trying to start it so you can clean out the "pond".
3.  Weed all the maple seedlings out of front beds while you wait to try starting the power washer again.
4.  Successfully start the power washer and clean all the Lannon and field stone in the wall around the "pond", the "pond" liner, the wooden park bench, and the bird baths.
5.  Find the Teflon tape so you can join the two hoses with no drips.  Use it and be happy there are no drips.
6.  Now that the pond is done, look over and notice that the herb garden needs attention.
7.  Re-pot  the catnip, peppermint, and sage into larger pots and sink them back into the herb garden.
8.  Move the rhubarb into the herb garden from behind the garage in case John really does build a bigger garage next year.
9.  Water in everything you moved, potted, and neglected this morning with water from the rain barrel which is overflowing after 3" of rain this weekend.
10.  Realize your back is killing you from bending over so much, go in the house for a beer, and sit at the table to enjoy the backyard.