There’s some wonderful things going on my yard this year, mostly courtesy of the continuous rain we’ve had for the past couple of months.
An inexhaustive list of cool things:
- Mushrooms everywhere! Not just the stinkhorns, but all kinds (not that I know what kinds those are, but I love mushrooms! I feel a thousand secret doorways into the fairy realm are lurking in my yard).
- The oregano is twice as big as it was last year, marking my first perennial herb planted in the yard to survive. I know how much bigger it is because it had engulfed its label so I know where it ended last year.
- The lemon balm, which did not successfully return in its pot this year, at first grieved me, but then I saw a small plant growing in the yard, beneath the deck, exactly below the pot. Pinched a leaf, sniffed, and verified lemon balmness. I shall move it back to the pot, and yay!
- New perennial bleeding hearts planted in the shade. They look good, and maybe they’ll come back next year!
- Fresh strawberries out of the garden. So far I’ve had two, and the bird netting seems to be effective in keeping the critters from eating them. Delicious instant sweetness.
- Seeds sown right outside from last year’s crops that have germinated and are growing like crazy: beans and cucumbers. The only failure there seems to be the chili peppers, which didn’t take (though I tried sowing them indoors, maybe this is the problem). I have harvested melon seeds yet to plant, probably this weekend sometime (though this weekend already has BUSY! all over it).
- What is soon to be a wealth of basil! Yay, pesto!
- Healthy cilantro planted from seed, though still tiny (and since I killed an enormous plant last year before I managed to harvest it, I probably should hedge and not mention it) but for the time being a hopeful yay!.
- The topsy turvy planter, highly recommended by Elaine (and others) is installed and its tomato plant is growing nicely. We’ll see how it does. If it does really well I’ll get another one or two and try the stuff that hasn’t worked for me in the ground: peppers and zuchinni maybe, or maybe just more tomatoes. BTW, the tomato plant in the topsy turvy is also from harvested last year seed, and I didn’t segregate my seeds well, so I’m going to be surprised. It might be cherry tomatoes, and it might be romas!
- Lavender in front yard coming into its own this year, and spilling out of the bed, and looking so lovely. I can’t take credit for this as a perennial in the garden herb because my mom planted it two years ago, but I still enjoy it.
- New experiments with anise hyssop and purple coneflowers. Maybe the butterflies will come!
Also, as the weather heats up, I get to rotate back in all my favorite summer recipes. This week we’ve had delicious black beans and couscous and will have prosciutto and mozzarella panini (with basil!) as well as super cooling and tasty yoghurt soup later in the week. We’ve stepped up the grilling too: delicious salmon yesterday (with farmer’s market asparagus that was soooooo tasty) and fajitas to look forward to this weekend! Life is good! Food is good!
We got the new Wii game, WiiFit, and we’re loving it. So far it’s really motivated to do some exercise every day. Granted, it’s only been three days, but if this continues long enough to form a habit, I could really get strong and toned over the summer, which would rock! Also rocking, but unrelated, a new yoga studio is opening up within walking distance of my house. I’m going to give it a try!
That’s awesome. I’m very envious of your gardening. I don’t think that our yard is very condusive to gardening, but I have high hopes for the future.
WiiFit = woo!