Can it be?

Just because the honeybees are in the hostas doesn’t mean I believe. Just because some weeds are taller than the pear trees (not showing you that one) doesn’t mean I believe. Just because there’s more raspberries than ever doesn’t mean I believe. Even a breeze that promises thunder (can’t show you that either) doesn’t mean […]

Eric the half-a-garlic

The trouble with growing root crops is you can’t see what’s under the ground. The cool part of growing root crops is that things are happening underground unseen. Last fall, I pushed a half dozen garlic cloves into the soil. They sprouted and waved their stalks in the air. Then a couple days ago, I […]

Compost Happens

Every true blue organic believer is going to tell you that a steady supply of compost is the one best thing you can do for your soil. Soil too sandy? Compost. Soil too heavy? Compost. Not enough earthworms? Compost. And it’s all true. Compost even apologized to the hazelnut and mulberry trees I abused and […]

My first attempt at orchid pruning

Aww. My orchid finally ran out of gas, or at least the flowers did. They lasted until the end of June. Six months! Supposedly, I can get another spray from the same stem. Just cut it at the first node down from the spent flowers. Or cut it two or three nodes up from the […]

Mulberries!

Along with the daily pint of mixed berries, today I finally picked two whole mulberries. Two delicious, rich-tasting mulberries from a tree I planted this spring. A tree that I nearly killed by leaving it in its shipping box for a week and watering the wrong end. I’ve heard that mulberries are robust trees (a […]

The water lily and the guppies

This is why I keep guppies–for the water lily. One water lily in a free-standing black tub. Keeping even such a small lily pond means setting up a whole system. I add hornwort and anachris to aerate the water. I add water hyacinths to help clear the water with their roots and for a few […]

Summer, still?

Ah! Another barbeque perfect day. How long can it last? And the first coneflowers are stretching out their purple wings, oblivious to their inevitable, tatty fate. For now, they’re sunny and happy and ready for the bees.

Yay, summer!

Finally. A nice sunny day! Just in time for the Fourth. The lilies are happy too, all pink and yellow, swaying in the sun. Other than that, no fireworks here. You should be outside watching yours.

Iceberg in lettuce

Iceberg lettuce looks like something you have to form, not at all like a natural object a plant can grow. But they do grow. With all the rain, hard cores have been forming inside. It’s been amazing to watch the leaves curl inward and iceberg itself. But with all the rain, some of the outer […]

Today’s harvest

This is the earliest raspberries I’ve ever harvested my raspberries. Usually I get maybe three berries before the fourth of July. Today I picked a few in the morning and a lot in the evening. Must have been all the rain. It sure as heck wasn’t the sun. There were a few red raspberries too, […]