I took out the old arugula, and threw some new seeds in the same bed, watered and waited.  And this is what I got in just three days!!!  We get several plantings every year in this bed.  We call it the arugula bed, but the truth is:  there are all kinds of things growing in here.  This year we had a sunflower that planted itself, and there is also echinacea, morning glory, chickweed, and Columbine growing here.  So, not just arugula, but mostly arugula.  I love it.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

These are chanterelle mushrooms that I picked from our yard.  They are growing down near the apple trees, and all around.  There are so many, I was able to just harvest the clean-ish ones.  They can be really hard to get clean sometimes, so I try to stay in the grassy areas, rather than the dirt and rocks.  

 

Chanterelles come up every year around the Fourth of July, especially if we've had a bunch of rain.  This year they have been especially prolific.  Patty and I have been out a few times collecting them.  We know all the best spots.

 

Harvesting mushrooms can be a risky business if you don't know what you are looking for or looking at.  Please don't use my picture for identification purposes;  get a good mushroom guide, or find somebody who knows about mushrooms.  They can be delicious, or deadly;  and who wants to find that out the hard way?  Not I.  

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

This is what we do with all those blueberries.  We make blueberry ice cream.  We added a little lemon zest and some lemon juice, and voila!!!  Blueberry ice cream.  You can do it too.  It's in the recipe section.  The recipe is for peach ice cream, but just use 4 quarts of blueberries, lemon zest and a little lemon juice.  It is not only beautiful;  it is tasty too.

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

Look at all the apples on the Golden Delicious branch.  This tree was grafted with three different apple varieties.  Since apple trees need cross pollination to produce apples, the grower took scions from Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and one other variety, and grafted them onto a strong root stock.  As the tree grows, each of the three major branches cross pollinate, and produce its own kind of apples.  This way we only had to buy one tree, rather than two or more.  And we get three different kinds of apples.  Pretty cool, huh?

 

Oh, the flashing around the trunk?  That is to keep the raccoons, possums, and squirrels from swiping all of our apples.  Not too pretty, but it works.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I thought you might like to see what else is happening in the garden.  Cucumbers are blooming and starting to set fruit.  Yay!!!  I check on them every day, and guide the tiny tendrils onto the wire trellis.  When I'm out there I can hear the  bumblers and honeybees buzzing in the flowers.  It's a beautiful thing!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is part of our garlic harvest.  We pulled up the German Purple and Music bulbs.  The white Chesnok garlics are a bit slower, so we will wait another week to harvest them.  When the bulbs come out of the ground they have to cure for a couple weeks in a dry, airy environment.  Then after that I can clean them up for storage.  

 

They look great!!!  Another good crop of garlic.  Enough to hold us for the year, and enough to plant in the fall for next year.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING !!!

Photo from the Farmers Almanac

 

I hope you are flying your flag today.  We are!  No fireworks here, but definitely a flag day.  

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!!!

 

Every year this weed comes up in the garden.  And my friends have told me that it will take over the garden.  

So I weed out some, and leave some, if it's not in the way.  I just love these flowers.  And the fritillary butterflies use it for a host plant for their caterpillars.  Ok, some of it can stay.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

And just look how beautiful it is!!!  It stands about 3 feet tall, and is in full bloom.  Every time we get rain and wind, it lists to the south, but that's ok, I go out there every day, and prop up everything that has fallen over.  When I brush against the cilantro it sends up the most gorgeous smell, so fresh, that I don't mind the work.  

 

We eat the leaves, the flowers, and the berries, and when the seeds turn brown, we harvest them, and grind them into coriander.  We also save some of the seeds for next year's crop of cilantro.  What a fabulous herb to grow in the garden.  It is so easy, and so useful.  Try it in your garden.  It doesn't require much space, and gives back so much.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The pears are hanging like grapes.  During the spring the limbs stand straight up.  That's how you can tell pear trees, by those vertical branches.  Well, those branches are bent down now with the weight of the pears.  I think they get ripe in August, maybe the end of August.  I will be needing some good pear recipes, if you have any.  All I know to do with them is eat them fresh, in salads, like beet salad on arugula.  Mmmmm.  I love just thinking about it.  Fresh pears!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!