May 30: strawberries!

Picked all the ripe strawberries.  2 1/4 cups when mashed.   Made 2 half pints and three half cup jars of jam!  Delish!  Yesterday Paul and I picked all that were ripe which was about a dozen.   And son any more were ripe today   Ripe strawberries only last a day.   Tomorrow there will be lots more ripe ones!  Makes me realize that the ones in the stores must be picked far from ripe in order to last.  That's why they are white inside instead of red.  These are red all the way through and oh so sweet!

The new Maple is growing fast.  The very green first bed in this photo is the oldest strawberry bed.  Planted early spring 2012.  And it's still going strong.  I think the reason is that we've used the technique of cutting back the runners to favor the "mother plants."  Strawberry beds are supposed to wane after the second or third year.  

May 29: first pea pods!

Nibbled the first pea pod today.   And the first strawberry!   Oh my!

Cut down most of the lovage to make room for the bergamot to grow. 

May 28: first beans up!

Beans growing in such a straight row looking like soldier ready for inspection in their standard green uniforms!

May 26: Busy time in the garden

First cucumbers up!

Busy time for the gardeners and the garden!   Everything is growing so fast with this hot weather.  Most days in the 80's!  And a few rains plus lots of watering.   Carrots looking good!   Thanks to Bill's weeding.  And Jean Catania weeded the mints!   And we planted 18 holes of corn.  2 seeds each which we'll need to tho to one each if they both grow.  

Garlic and onions growing fast!

One of my favorite photos each year.   The purple chive flowers with the red barn!

May 24: lettuces!

Wonderful lettuce harvest for Tuesday's SAGE luncheon.   Plus asparagus for Bills asparagus risotto and eggs and delicious chicken from SAGE.  

May 20: Planting day!

May 20:  planted squash seeds  in bed 1. 

First 3 hills of cucumber seeds in bed 3.  

Tomato plants that we raised in the greenhouse in beds 5 and 6 plus peppers, eggplants, basil, and parsley we raised in the greenhouse.  

Added a few more potato sprouts to bed 7 where there were blank spots.  

Planted first row of green beans and yellow beans in bed 9. 

Also transplanted basil and parsley and pineapple sage into the herb bed. Still looking for stevia and lemon verbena.   And the lovage needs to be cut down!   

May 15 and 19: Killdeer Eggs!

When you first look at this photo, you might not see the eggs.  But if you look at the next photo and then back at the first one, I think you'll see that there is a nest (actually just a scooped out shallow depression) in the woodchips with 3 speckled eggs.  They belong to mom and dad killdeer, who fly about noisily when you get within 30 feet or so of their nest.

When you get really close, they lay on the ground ten or twenty feet from their nest and  act injured....the old "broken wing, look at me trick," to distract you from the nest, as int he photo below.  I think if they'd just be quiet to begin with their nest would stay more hidden since it's so well camouflaged.

The first photos were taken on Sunday.  When I came back to look on Thursday, there were 4 eggs and the parents seemed even more protective--noisier, more "broken wings."

I just read that incubation is 24-26 days after the last egg is laid.   So that means June 9 at the earliest.  the chicks leave the next soon after hatching to begin feeding on their own.  I was glad to read that, because I was wondering how chicks in such an open nest could possibly survive.