Even the catmint is pretty this year.  Sometimes it's hideous, but this is beautiful.  Nepeta cataria, botanically.  Catnip or catmint, commonly.
 

My wildflower book says it is well-known and distinctively aromatic.  It contains a chemical that tends to repel insects, making it a good companion plant to protect other plants from bugs.  It may be this same chemical that affects the behavior of cats.  Our cat, Ranger loves to lie in wait near it, waiting for what, we don't know...moles and lizards, I'm guessing.  Good!!!  He also likes a good roll in the catmint.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

You are looking at our two sinks full of kale, ready for canning.  There is so much kale in the garden, we've got to do something with it.  
 

So we found out how to can it.  Doesn't seem that difficult.  Just takes time:  time to clean it, and lots of time in the pressure canner.  We started the process at 9am, and didn't finish completely until 6pm.  We ended up with 7 quarts.  
 

Seems like a big investment for a small reward, but we'll have our very own kale this winter.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!
 

 

 

Check out this crew!!!  Christensens, three generations.  Tere, Claudia and Collin, Catherine, Christen, and Connor.
 

They've been coming to our garden for years.  The first time Connor came to the garden, he was about 4 years old, and was thrilled by the idea that he could eat leaves, stems, flowers, and seeds.  Today they came to pick blueberries, and see the garden.  He still wanted to taste everything.  He's 12 now, and he loved showing his little sisters all the joys of the garden.  
 

Sharing the garden with younger generations makes me so happy.   Maybe I'm planting seeds for the future.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!
 

 

 

It's marigold season.  The garden is loaded, and all our little vases are full.  Some other containers as well....
 

 

They make me smile.  :)   I hope they made you smile too.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Look who Jon found in the blueberries.  SEEK called it a Common land snail.  Who knew they like blueberries?  Well, this one is wrapped around a couple of berries.  Maybe it's just holding on there, but it was too curious to not show you.  It's up about 4 feet, I wonder how long it took to get up that high.  See its antennas.  Are they called antennas?  Better go check Wikipedia.  Be right back...

 

I copied this:  Land snail is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as slugs).  The majority of land snails are pulmonates. That is, they have a lung and breathe air.  Land snails have a strong muscular foot; they use mucus to enable them to crawl over rough surfaces and to keep their soft bodies from drying out. Like other mollusks, land snails have a mantle;  and they bear one or two pairs of tentacles on their heads. In most land snails the eyes are carried on the first (upper) set of tentacles (informally called 'eye stalks').  The second (lower) set of tentacles act as olfactory organs. Both sets of tentacles are retractable in land snails.
 

Ahh, not antennas, tentacles.  OK. That's about all I need to know.  You can look it up, if you want more.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

It's time to start picking blueberries.  Look how beautiful they are.  
 

We always start picking blueberries on Father's Day;  and sure enough, this year I picked about 30 berries.  Each day since then, we've picked about a quart, sometimes two.  The season lasts about a month for us, because we planted several varieties of blueberries.  Two bushes are still full of completely green berries, but they will ripen in the next few weeks.  Meanwhile we have plenty to keep us busy every morning.  
 

We add blueberries to our lunch salads all summer, and Jon makes blueberry muffins in the fall and winter.  I just got a great recipe from Roxanne for scones.  She used a cranberry and orange scone recipe, and substituted blueberries.  De-lish!!!

 

Can't wait to make them myself.  Next rainy day maybe.  Today is an outside day, lots to do in the garden.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Have a little Kale!!!!  Hahaha!  
 

Planted too much.  But it's so pretty, and when the seedlings are ready to plant in the garden, they seem so small.  I think I planted about 18 seedlings.  Well, they grew!!!  Now we have tons of Red Russian Kale.  It's also called Ragged Jack.  See the stems?  They are purple.  
 

It's not just pretty, it tastes good too.  Check out the recipe section for a good kale recipe.  The recipe section is under Neighbors sharing, almost at the bottom.   The kale recipe is under vegetables.  Let me know if you want some kale, we have lots!!!

 

It could be that truckload of mushroom compost, or our own compost that we added to the soil this year, that is making everything grow so big.  Or maybe the cool, wet spring weather.  Whatever it is, the garden looks great!!!  I'm happy!!!

 

I really have to be careful what I plant, because it is GOING to grow.  That's just me.  If a little bit is good, a lot is better.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING !!!

 

 

 

This is dill in the garden.  It is about 4 feet tall, and there are about 60 stems just like this.  
 

See the umbrella-like flower heads?  Remember the Queen Anne's Lace?  Same family, Umbelliferae or Apiaceae, which also includes parsley, celery, cumin, fennel, lovage, carrot, parsnip, cilantro.  Each one of those little yellow flowers will become a seed to add to dill pickles, or let them fall back on the ground to grow a new plant.  
 

We use dill in lots of things, not just pickles.  The leaves and stems are great for cooking with fish, and the green seeds are delicious in any kind of salad:  tuna, chicken, potato, pasta, fruit.  Dill leaves are also a great flavor to mix with unflavored yoghurt for a vegetable dip or sauce.  
 

I love seeing dill in the garden.  When these finish blooming, and the seeds are still green, I cut a few giant heads and put them in a vase.  Beautiful!!!

 

Oh, yeah, black swallowtail butterflies use dill as a host plant for their caterpillars to eat when they hatch.  

 

Lots of reasons to love dill.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!
 

 

 

 

See the little trees coming up from the fan clubmoss?  They are about 4 inches tall.  I think these are the fruiting bodies.  In fungi, they would be mushrooms;  not sure what they're called in mosses.  Guess I better get busy and do a little research.  I'll get back to you.  

OK, I learned that those "little trees" are the spore-bearing strobili.  Mosses don't have flowers or seeds, but reproduce by spores like ferns and mushrooms.  That's about all I know about it.  I just know that I love seeing this huge colony of clubmosses.  Thought you'd like to see it too.   
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!