The garden grows and grows. The corn is thinking of tassels, the blackberry has a few flowers on it, the gooseberries are almost ripe, the pumpkins are flowering and vining, the beans are going like gangbusters, and I pulled up five garlic bulbs big enough to eat and there is still more in the garden.
The Amy Pond saga continues. We could not find a small enough solar pump or fountain locally so Bookman ordered one on
the internet. It has not arrived yet. We could not wait for it because after two days we had mosquito larva in the pond already. Wednesday Bookman picked up four goldfish at the fish store. The next morning on my way through the garden to catch my bus, I discovered the raccoon had returned in the night. It tried hard to get the fish. It moved the bricks and rocks around, it pulled leaves from the floating water plants, but the fish managed to escape the carnage. The raccoon came back a few nights later and tried again. The fish survived. Except the next afternoon one of the four went belly-up probably from all the stress. The solar pump will be delivered Monday or Tuesday and between fish and pump we should manage to make it through the rest of the summer without becoming a mosquito breeding ground. One thing I have noticed with the pond, the outdoor neighborhood cats like to stop at it in the mornings and afternoons for a sip. And even though I still have the frog birdbath fountain going, the birds really like the pond a lot. In fact, it seems most critters prefer the pond to the fountain which is staying much cleaner this year because the wildlife isn’t using it as much. In spite of froggy being lonely I will still keep him going because I like to hear the water splashing when it is sunny.One of the things I have become interested in over the last couple of years is learning about edible weeds, dandelion being the one everyone is most familiar with. Pre-blogging days I actually bought dandelion seeds from a seed catalog even though my yard was full of them. The seeds I bought were for French dandelions, they were supposed to somehow be better than my American ones. I planted them in a row in the garden and eagerly awaited their sprouting, imagining how delicious their greens were going to taste. Not one sprouted.
Fast forward to this year. Did I learn a lesson from the French dandelions? Of course I didn’t. At the plant sale Bookman
and I attend every year they had on offer edible weeds: four purslane for $2 and a chickweed for $1. I have these growing in my garden like the weeds they are. They had not sprouted yet, and it was still early spring. So I bought some.The purslane was a different variety that what I had seen in my garden. My purslane was smaller leaved and darker green. The purslane I bought had bigger leaves and was a yellowy-green. I planted it and within two weeks it was eaten to the ground. Every time it has tried to come back, something eats it. Meanwhile, the purslane weeds I paid nothing for have been coming up all over the garden and I have been pulling them out like crazy. Nothing wants to eat them, not even me apparently. Who wants to eat free weeds when there are weeds I paid for being regularly snacked on by something?
As for the chickweed, it was so very tiny and delicate when I bought it. I planted it carefully, watched it grow and begin to spread. Oh it was starting to look really good. Just a little bigger and I can pick some to add to salad. And then we had a week-long dry spell during which I didn’t think to water the chickweed. Why would I need to, it should be able to withstand a dry week, it’s a weed. Of course it didn’t make it. It dried out and became a crunchy skeleton of its former self. Meanwhile, I am now regularly pulling chickweed from my vegetable beds. It’s everywhere. And even after a week of no rain, it is showing no signs of shriveling up. Of course I have no interest in eating this free chickweed, how could it be as tasty as the now dead one I paid a dollar for?Have I learned my lesson? I don’t know. If someone told me quackgrass was edible and high in vitamin C and iron and had a slightly peppery taste, put it in a pot with a price tag of $2, I would probably buy it and plant it and watch it die while I cursed the quackgrass I yanked out from the strawberry bed.
Dinner this evening involves calendula flowers made into a pilaf. Did you know that calendula is a cheap substitute for saffron? I just found that out from a book on herbs which is where I got the recipe for the pilaf. There will also be green beans and kale at dinner. Yum.
Bookman saved me by uploading the text before he went off to work. I will add photos and a video tour of the herb spiral and polyculture garden tonight so check back later or tomorrow.
Update: I have internet! I have all my files! Woo! I added the photos and below is a video tour of the herb spiral and polyculture bed. Enjoy!
just a drop of washing up liquid or the like on the surface means that the larvae have no water skin to cling on to. It won’t harm the fish. A short-term measure whilst you await your solar pump
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Bettie, thanks for the tip!
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I love hot weather. This is our last week at home, though, and then I’m headed to SC for some really hot weather, I hope.
Your poor goldfish. I had some hermit crabs that I gave to a friend with a 6-year-old four years ago, and when I was petsitting for them, I brought the crabs home with me and was entertaining them with new shells and the weather on the shady part of our warm and humid deck (they’d been inside, of course). All the crab food was in a plastic carrier bag beside their terrarium. One night a raccoon took the dispenser top off of one container and left teeth marks on the top of the other container. Guess fish smell was attractive to him that night. I took the crab terrarium in before dark after that.
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Jeanne, ugh, anything over 75 to me is hot. 80 is just bearable. And 90 or over is complete misery. I don’t like it hot, that’s why I live in MN, but the weather gods feel the need to make me suffer a little each summer just to help me remember why I like cool weather. I do hope you enjoy the hot weather in SC.
Hermit crabs, what fun. I am surprised the raccoon didn’t decide to try and snack on them!
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In haste—have to finish reading this great post later, but
in the meantime—please write a poem with your first line:
“the corn is thinking of tassels . . .”
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booksandbuttons, if I were any good at writing poems “the corn is thinking of tassels” would be a perfect first line. I’m not so good at it though. If you are, however, please feel free to make something of it! π
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What a lovely video, Stefanie. Glad to hear your voice, for the first time. And a beautiful herb and spice garden you have. Can’t believe you grow your own cumin and cilantros… plus all those other herbs and spices. You’ll have a rich harvest I can tell. More vids in the future I’m sure. π
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Arti, thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! It’s fun growing all those herbs and spices. There will be more videos in the future, and in case you missed it, I did a video last Sunday that is a tour of my vegetable garden.
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I enjoyed your second video Stefanie. I’m having trouble with beets too. Only one seedling from spring soldiered through and I put four more seeds in the soil just the other day. With hope, they’ll do well.
I too have some French dandelion seeds but I did not bother with them this year. There is an allure to eating weeds that one paid for versus the free ones. I reason that the free ones will always be available and I can take my good blessed time going about it.
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Vanessa, thanks! I am glad I am not the only one who has trouble with beets. It sounds like you’ve managed to grow them before though? I always get stunted leaves but never get roots which makes me sad because I really love beets! I hope your new seeds do well!
I suppose paying for weeds somehow raises them in our esteem, they go from being weeds to being “greens.” π
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This is my first year growing beets. Thanks for the good wishes. I’m looking forward to eating the beet greens.
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Ah, I see. I’ve been trying to grow beets for years. I must say they are doing better this year than they ever have but that’s not really saying much. I still don’t think I will actually get beets to eat.
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Aw–I hope you are incorrect in your statement and that you have a couple of good tasting beets this season. It’s fun to keep trying nonetheless.
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Ouf, we have had high humidity lately, which I find just energy-sapping. There’s a bit more breeze today, but it’s still very hot out. I shouldn’t complain – I’m not really complaining, just saying, you know, endless sweating isn’t the best fun. Well, what I’m really saying is I empathise! And have you kissed that froggy yet? It’s always worth a try (though I know Bookman will always be your true prince).
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Litlove, humidity is the worst thing about summer. I can grumble my way through heat if I have to but a thick soup of humidity just squashes me down. We are now getting cool, dry breezes from Canada so we get a bit of relief for a few days. Hopw you have relief soon too! As for the frog, have declined to kiss him, Bookman really would be jealous π
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