Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The Hills Are Alive . . .

. . . with the sound of . . . potatoes growing.





Got out in the garden this morning before the no-see'ums were awake and got all the potatoes hilled up. Good job, Mama Pea!





Can you make out the three little, itty-bitty gumball sized tomatoes in this picture? They're cherry tomatoes in a bed that I've got covered with a cold frame. We open up the top during the day but are still closing it at night to try to keep the overnight temperatures from dropping too low.





This is the bed of California Poppies that I started inside and thought I froze by putting them out too soon. As sad as they looked for a while, they're getting nice and full and starting (just starting) to bloom now.





Now why I ask you, don't people plant chives as "flowers?" You could hardly find a prettier blossom than a chive blossom. And they bloom for a long time outdoors on the plant and hold up very well when cut and put in a vase inside.





Lastly . . . ta-daaaah! Our first harvest of spinach this year. Dinner tonight? Homemade Bean Soup with Ham and homemade cottage cheese with chives and cherry tomatoes (NOT from the garden) on a bed of fresh spinach leaves. (If Agnes had shown up today [she was AWOL again], we might have had a yummy dessert, but no such luck. Darn.)



6 comments:

Chicken Mama said...

Great pictures, Mom! And the poppies: yellow?! I didn't know there were such things as yellow poppies!

I ventured out as LITTLE as possible today: got up to 84 in the shade, and it's still 80 in the shade now at nearly 6:00 PM. Maybe I can get out during that tiny window of opportunity between the sun going down and the bugs being too horrible!

Mama Pea said...

Hey, Chicken Mama - Thanks, Chickadeedle! I don't know what happened to the coloration on the poppy picture; they are actually a deep gold/orange color. Not at all as 'lemon yellow' as they show up in the picture.

I never did look at our high temp today. But Dad mowed the lawn in only shorts and I sweated in the garden all day in shorts and tank top. It's down to 61 degrees already now at 6:45 though. Feels good!

RuthieJ said...

Wow Mama Pea, everything's looking pretty good after such a slow start. The spinach looks delish!
The car thermometer said 97 when I was going to pick up Rick at work around 1:45 today. Fortunately, we had some late afternoon thundershowers and now it's down to around 76 and the windows are open again. I don't do so good in heat like that, but the gardens sure love it!

Mama Pea said...

Hi, Ruthie - Thanks for your kind words. We sure did go right from cold to hot summer. So weird. Turtlenecks one day and tank tops the next. I've got the weeds in the garden and flower beds pretty well under control except for the strawberry patch. The straw I mulched with had oodles of oat seeds in it . . . dang!

Marty said...

I'm sorry, but having been an employer for over 38 years, I have to give you some advise. Fire Agnes! She has taken advantage of your good nature and that should not be tolerated by such a great employer as you. I know it is tough, but it must be done. I have Emily, who was highly recommended, coming out to fill out an employment application with you tomorrow.

Mama Pea said...

Dear Marty - Bless you. Bless Emily. Bless anybody who can come help me.

Amen.

P.S. Will Emily do windows?