Thinking big

These tiny little stems are our gardening adventure for this growing season. Every winter, Maria dreams through the seed catalogs and gets ready to start her garden. We're so lucky that she takes orders for seedlings. Even luckier that she encourages us to try something new.



This time, we ordered three leek plants. They are tiny now but they grow to be six feet! I took some worm's-eye views just to make them look like anything at all. Hard to imagine that they will be as sturdy as they appear to be in the Westcoast Seed photos. Apparently, they are pretty fool-proof and we look forward to having a leek feast about the end of August.



But if I thought we were adventurous, it's nothing compared to NASA. They are planning a future launch, Lunar Oasis, which will put a greenhouse on the moon. I wonder if we will live long enough to have our broccoli imported from space.

I'm having trouble embedding the links today. Here's the link to giant leeks:
www.westcoastseeds.com/how-to-grow/Vegetable-Seeds/Leeks/

and here's the one for Lunar oasis:
www.astrobio.net/news/article3085.html

I'll try again later...perhaps the linker thingie is on a break this morning.

Construction zone

Last winter, when there was so much wet snow, our carport took on a decided list to the west. Despite the downturn in construction, we had to wait until this past week to get it repaired. Part of the problem was the lack of concrete footing for the supports. In a perfect world, we would have scrapped the structure and started over. That's not possible since we wouldn't get a permit now to put a structure where it is. So, cool jack devices are helping to keep it up while the work goes on. underneath.

One of the casualties, is our favorite garden: the one we worked so long and hard over one whole summer with a truckload of dirt and many new plants. The necessary trampling in the small construction space is adding to the previous destruction by the runaway truck. But the thing about gardens is they're always a work in progress. See how the crocuses are bravely defying the big boots? Or maybe they're standing guard over the budding evening primrose.


Our other fear is that our glorious clematis montana will not survive the necessary digging near it's roots. It has some small green buds so it is alive, so far. If we can get it back in place in the next week it may yet bloom. There's another montana in the back but this is the nicer of the two. It has beautiful pink flowers and is always so beautiful.

Joy!

This morning I walked outside and there was spring. The garden has rebounded from the ice and snow. I couldn't resist taking some photos of the strong crocuses which force their shoots up through the tough old rhododendron leaves.

And the beautiful snowdrops which don't last very long. Our colony is slowly growing. It's not quite a drift in its space but, definitely,is starting a trend.

I was also very glad to see that our beautiful white clematis survived the winter in its container. There are two nice strong buds growing on otherwise dead-looking branches.

My daughter informed me that a garden with lots of dandelions indicates good soil. Well, we don't have many dandelions and I thought it was because we routed them out quite quickly. (This despite the fact that they are probably my all-time favorite flower.) We do have, even this early, a whole ton of buttercups which prosper in our soil. I wonder what that indicates?

The garden work calls...it's very loud today.

Rude awakening

Talk about crashing the party! Here's what woke up the neighborhood about 3 am. Apparently, I slept through the huge crash - but I quickly woke up to someone quietly asking if I'm awake. Go figure.

A pickup truck somehow managed to crash through the huge rhododendron (one of my faves) in the neighbor's yard, taking along a vine maple and some big log things which were lying under the trees. Then he crashed through our shared fence and came to rest in our garden. No one was hurt - the driver was able - and highly motivated - to try to escape. If only the truck could have backed up through all the debris.

The neighbor's camper had some minor damage. Of course, it only looks minor as it'll probably be a write-off the way insurance works. The truck is gone but we still have yellow tape all around so I guess it's a 'crime scene' now. The garden will recover and all we really lost were a few plants and a couple of hours of sleep.

Wasn't that a party?

Practise...

...makes perfect. Well, as close to perfect as I ever get. Yesterday afternoon, I was knitting happily on the Angora Triangles sweater. I was even happy knitting angora in the heat. And I was looking forward to being finished the body of the pullover and getting started on the sleeves. As I reviewed how I would be picking up the stitches, I took a very close look at the photo illustration. The construction on this is very different from anything I've ever made. I was going to say weird but that's just too judgmental.

Anyway, I was peering at the photo trying to figure out how the words went with the picture. And then I saw it...the fundamental error I had made halfway through the front. Oh, rats! Sometimes a picture is worth so much more than a 1000 words. Rippit, rippit, rippit.

It's a good thing I was having a really peaceful day. I was either reading, knitting or hooking on the rug that seems to be taking forever. Maybe a bit less focus on that reading stuff. Pictured is the view that contributed to my serenity while I read or hooked ...

It really was a special day. Even us retired folks benefit from a day when there is no place that needs our presence.

Winter garden

This was how the Beauty berry looked yesterday morning. And then, it was gone in the fine mist of rain. The snow, I mean not the shrub. I noticed this morning that there are fat green buds on the forsythia. Now that doesn't necessarily mean spring will come soon but it does raise the spirits. Just dreaming of the bright yellow flowers can raise the level of the cloud layer by inches.

A tour of the garden at this time of year is quite interesting. All looks brown and quite dead - from a distance. But, up close, the sword ferns are showing tight, pale green fiddle heads. In a sea of dark brow magnolia leaves are sturdy bright green sprouts of oriental poppies. Under the lilac, is a Lenten Rose (hellebore) bursting to show off its flowers. This will be it's first year to bloom since being purchased at a local garage sale two years ago.

The day is cold for a tour and I didn't want to linger. I could see , though, how much work will need to be done. Funny, how, I can see it now when nothing really is urgent. But when all that growth begins in the spring, I don't want to change anything.