Interesting Garden Pictures

Deb's Ruby Queen Corn is doing well. Interestingly, it has purple silks and purple tassels. The purple silks are at the bottom of the picture.

I think that these were two seperate blossums that grew so close together that the squashes become connected to each other.

We have quite a few of these flowering plants in our meadow. It is a Common Mullein and is supposed to grow straight up. For some reason, this one took a couple of 90 degree turns.

Inspired by my brother-in-law's blog, I present my version of the Sistene Chapel hands (cucumber version). I have two cucumber plants and they are finally large enough that they are starting to reach out and touch each other.

Deborah found this crippled moth and brought it to me to "take a picture and put it on your blog".

A Perfect Califlower

The califlowers are ripe and delicious. This year we were finally on the ball and tied up the green leaves so that the head didn't get any sunshine. The results are very white califlowers. Too bad the county fair isn't this week.

Blueberries and Baseball

The blueberry season has started here. They are my favorite berry and we eat them as long as they are available. We went picking on Friday and picked a little over 17 pounds.

And they were very big.

That night we went into town to watch our town's vintage baseball team. Our team is the one in gray. They are dressed as lumbermen would be in the late 1800's. They play baseball according to the 1860's rules. No gloves, no walks, a ball can bounce once and if you catch it, it is out. It is a lot of fun to watch.

Unless they are losing. Nathan and Stephen are watching them lose 12-5.

Work yesterday, Play today

Wednesday was a big food day here on the ranch. I picked beans and peas before 8 am.

Then we quickly went to the farmer's market and bought 8 qts of pie cherries.

Once back, some friends came over and we all went raspberry picking in the woods. We didn't find too many this time.

Since our friends were staying for the day, they got to help pit cherries and snap beans and shell peas. It wasn't as hard as Stephen makes it out to be. With 6 pairs of hands, the work goes fast.

And the results - 5 pies for the freezer and one for dinner!

I canned 14 quarts of beans with Wednesday's pickings and Monday's pickings.

So why did we work so hard on Wednesday? So we could play on Thursday. Well, we still had to pick some things from the garden, but today was a much lighter day, garden-wise. Today, after our chores, we went to a local lake which has a great beach and a spray park. We met some other families there and had a great time.




Playing tag on the circle like end of the sidewalk near the beach.

The chicks are here!

Our new chicks are here! We got the call early this morning (6:45 am) to come get them at the post office.

We bought 30 of them. We bought four breeds: Araucanas, Black Austroloops, Silver tipped Wyandottes, and Delawares. They sold out of our favorite breed, the Dominiques, before we ordered this year. So we are trying some new breeds.

They come in this box and are peeping like crazy whenever we move the box.

Their new home. At least for a while.

And lest you think that I was just lounging around waiting for the chicks to arrive, here is my last week's project. We bought an unfinished bookcase and last week while my dh was away on a business trip, I stained and varnished the pieces. I like the staining but the varnishing is another matter. I always think, "This time, the varnish will go on just right and not bubble or drip." And something always doesn't work quite right. This time, my first coat of varnish was too light. So I lathered on the second coat and I think it will be okay.

Peas, peas, peas, and baseball

So what have we been doing lately? Picking peas! This is three days worth of peas. We're not going to have a pea tsunami, but we are having a slow rising flood of peas. I think tomorrow it will start to recede. Good thing too because the green beans are coming on! Usually the peas are done before the beans are ready but the peas are a week behind and the green beans are on time. I froze all these peas.

It was a wonderful day. Just perfect weather. In the evening, we went to baseball practice. Two of the coaches are coming every Wednesday night during the summer and are having practice for anyone who wants to come. The boys are enjoying it, especially Nathan who jumps at any chance to play baseball.

Nathan made a bet with one of the coaches. If the Cardinals won 2 games of the series with the Detroit Tigers, Coach would wear a Cardinals hat all through practice. If the Tigers won 2 games, Nathan would wear a Tigers hat through practice. Nathan lost. He consoled himself with wearing the Cardinals World Series shirt.

Signage

It is another gorgeous day up here. It actually has been perfect weather all weekend long. This afternoon, we headed into the woods to post our signs.

We made these signs at the woodworking class this winter and they were a gift for my dh's birthday. I varnished them in May and today we posted them. This sign is for Venison Junction.

Hemlock Trail is named for all the hemlock trees along the trail.

Waiting for Daddy.

A picture for Mike. "The Green North"

A Perfect Day in the Garden

It was an absolutely gorgeous day today. Warm, but not too hot. Sunny and a nice breeze. A day where it was a pleasure to work outside. And we certainly did work. The pea tsunami hasn't hit yet, but there are signs that it will hit either tomorrow or Saturday. I picked about 3 pounds of peas today.


My herb garden is pretty with the orange day lilies and the purple butterfly bush. I'm moving the daylilies after they bloom because they are starting to take over the herb garden and I want some more room for my herbs.


I didn't see any butterflies on my butterfly bush, but I did see a lot of bees.

Deb's hollyhocks are starting to bloom. This year, we have three colors: pink, purple, and yellow.

This is the week of the cherries. These are sour cherries, just right for pies.

In the sun, the ripe cherries look like rubies.

We picked 2 cups yesterday which was enough to make a cherry custard pie.

And today we ate our first zucchini!