Thursday, May 23, 2024

Attempt To Catch Up

Oh, my.  I can't remember a busier spring.  Maybe it is true that the older one gets, the faster time goes.  Uh-oh.
 
We've been having many rainy days lately.  Which is a good thing considering our drought conditions last summer and lack of snowfall this winter.  Yesterday morning our rain gauge held 3" of water.  This morning we have lovely sunshine, and I'm hoping it will dry some of the puddles and muddy dirt everywhere outside.  But rain is predicted to come again later tomorrow and continue through the weekend.
 
I've been using my time indoors to stock the freezer with casseroles and soups that will come in handy this summer.  (No rest for the wicked, they say.)
 
One more cutting of chives (if the four clumps in the garden ever dry out) should fill the quota of frozen chives I use all winter long.  Our asparagus patch is bursting forth with a bumper crop that gives us plenty to eat every day and still more to share.
 
Rhubarb is a miraculous plant that just keeps on giving.  Unfortunately, the rhubarb desserts I've been happily baking are giving me visibly tighter pants.
 
The southern part of the most recently plowed up planting area has so many good sized rocks (mini-boulders) in it that not only has my little Mantis tiller proved totally inadequate in working it up, but even Papa Pea has been hesitant to use the Gravely garden tractor in it fearing the rocks will cause unwanted damage.  If nothing else, we grow magnificent rocks here.
 

So our good neighbor offered to bring his small backhoe over to do the job of extricating the blankety-blank rocks.  He's a pro with his machinery, and now we only have to haul away the piles of rocks unearthed.  We'll use the bucket on our tractor once the ground dries enough so we won't tear up the area needing to be accessed.  The guys finished up in drenching rain.
 

Our haskap berry bushes have been totally blossomed out and the earth beneath them is carpeted with falling petals as the berry buds form.
 
That's all for today as I'm heading out in my muck boots to pull up the rest of the hardy and healthy weeds I was working on removing from the blueberry patch before the most recent rains began.  If the lawn area, which is particularly long and lush, isn't dry enough to mow before tomorrow's rain arrives, we may have to use a hand scythe to beat it into submission. 

8 comments:

Michelle said...

So GLAD you are getting moisture even if the timing is inconvenient. We finally have a garden again after a two-year hiatus; Rick even planted new strawberry starts! Some friends shared some of their delicious asparagus with us, and the neighbor let me pick some of her GORGEOUS rhubarb since ours is pitiful after its neglect. Three cheers for homegrown food!

Katie C. said...

We are finally getting some rain too. Yippee! The pollen, tree in particular, has given me the cough from hell. I even had to get a steroid inhaler which I hate. As a result, I croak like a frog. Ten more days of it. Yuck.

We have two rain barrels. One has filled up nicely but the other has not. Hmmmm? I need to look into that so catch some more of this rain.

How do you put up your chives? Dehydrate whole, hang to dry, freeze….? I’m waiting on my oregano to get a bit longer before I cut it to dry. I rubber band a bunch of it and use binder clips to hang bunches of it from a plastic hanger. I hang it from the rod in the guest bath because Sophie Kitty likes to play soccer with whatever she can get loose.

I’m so happy that we have quite a few blossoms on our blueberry bushes. This is the third year for the bushes so I’m hoping for a good harvest. It also seems that I might have gone just a (cough) tad overboard buying and freezing blueberries last year. 🙄 I found a good new recipe. Smitten Kitchen blog has a new recipe for a blueberry loaf that’s absolutely loaded with blueberries. It’s super simple to make. My one comment is to mix in the flour before adding the frozen blueberries unless you really like everything being purple. I also think the cold from the berries makes the batter more difficult to stir.

Take care and have fun in the garden, Katie C.

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

Oh, to have a small backhoe of one’s own!! Can you imagine what could be done with that!! We’ve not had as much rain, but perhaps just enough. I’m not using much of my rhubarb this year, and I still have a lot! I hope things dry up for you and you can get things accomplished. - Jenn

Rosalea said...

Good to hear you are getting rain. Hope it makes up in some part for the lack of snow. Similar situation here..spring started really dry, but we got a good dump of late snow and now have had over 3" of rain in a couple of storms. Everything is sure green and growing now. Funny how those rocks "grow"....'Tis good to get one's hands dirty again, and those weeds do pull easier when the soil is moist!

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - I know you must be thrilled to have a garden again this year. So happy for you. I just came in from picking some of our rhubarb for a Rhubarb Crunch. Maybe having it in the oven will warm up the house. Only 44° this morn.

Katie C. - You sound like quite the busy beaver already this season! :o) I cut my chives with scissors (less than 1/4" long) into small containers and freeze. Easy peasy. They stay absolutely like fresh ones all winter, ready to use as a garnish or in a casserole or scrambled eggs, etc.

Jenn - I always put a couple of bags of cut up rhubarb in the freezer for a pie or two during the winter. Works out great. And we do love our rhubarb pie! Even though the rain has kept me inside too many days, I have to remind myself that it's still May and our temps don't really warm up until first of June. (And then not very much!)

Rosalea - Yep, I think we have enough moisture in the soil, at least for now. Hope it's not another too-dry-summer. Fingers crossed. I guess frost keeps pushing rocks up to the surface (what else could it be?) but I sure wish they'd stay deeply buried!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

We are in a dry spell, but it's giving us time to plant. I had a counter full of chive flowers and chives ready to make chive oil, but decided not to. My husband was shocked. I laughed and said, well, there is about a hundred more flowers out there I can still use if my work slows down outside.

Mama Pea said...

Pioneer Woman at Heart - Aren't the chive blossoms beautiful? I've often wondered why more people don't grow them in their flower gardens because the blossoms are so prolific and gorgeous. And of course the chives themselves remain green and vibrant all season long. Yay for chives!

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