We’ve been enjoying bits and pieces from the garden lately. Carrots keep coming, garlic is done, brussel sprouts have begun, a couple of fennel bulbs, a few ripe tomatoes (thanks Jeff!), and I picked the first of what will likely be a good crop of green beans. Anne made some mashed potatoes with the first of the potatoes.

Fennel bulbs are one of those veggies that will stump most employees at checkout. I’m sure they do not sell very many — it’s not a very popular vegetable in the U.S. Then again, I’ve seen zucchini stump some employees, so maybe it’s a question of employee training and/or quality. If you haven’t had fennel, I do recommend it as something completely different from every other vegetable. The foliage smells a lot like black licorice, but you won’t likely find it with foliage on at the store. We often eat it raw, sliced thin, with olive oil and salt.

Artichokes are another good stump-the-checkout-clerk vegetable. We seem to have managed to trick one plant to bloom. The aphids seem to really like artichokes.

We planted squash late so as to avoid some of the squash bugs. Haven’t seen any yet, so that might have worked. The squash vine borers on the other hand are plentiful and likely doing their slow damage to the plants.

It’s a race now to see if the plant can live long enough to bear fruit. Two new mini varieties of summer squash are growing along with spaghetti squash elsewhere in the garden. Also found a nice robust acorn volunteer squash doing very well along side the compost bin. That’s nice since we didn’t plant any acorn squash this year.

It was a rainy day.

The perfect day to try out the new rain gauge from Jan. Thanks Jan! Looks like we had just under an inch of rain today. It was a slow steady all-day kind of rain. Now the ground is soggy. And the fruit and flowers are super clean. Perhaps I too should shower.

I had all sorts of plans these last 4 days. Not a one of them included this much rain. I’ve completed five of the ten cement piers for the deck, and I’d like to do 5 more, but there is a chance of “torrential rains” this evening. Albeit a slight chance. The storm that pushed through on Friday was outrageous with 70-85 mph winds. Some of our newly planted trees need staking now. The wind today seems to be blowing in the other direction so maybe that will help. Won’t much help the fallen hollyhocks though.

Still, the blooms are coming – you just have to look lower to the ground for them. And new blooms appear every day. This double poppy surprised me this morning. Nice, yes?

The garlic is growing rather well. It seems we did not plant enough. I can tell, and so can Peaches (the cat).

Just beyond the garlic is our first sugar snap pea blossom. It won’t be long now before we can eat some peas fresh from the garden.

There are many reasons to have dogs on an acreage, but my favorite is the contant reminder or inspiration that time for play is essential. Not that Jake is playing in this photo, but his paced droppings of sticks and balls near my dismanteled mower deck were the motivation I needed to grab the camera and join him in the field.

Yep, the mower deck broke. Kind of bad timing because the grass is out of control already. I swear grass did not grow this well last year. Someone has been fertilizing without my knowledge. It isn’t terribly broken, but it does need some replacement parts. That will take time, and the grass will keep growing. As will all the pretty dandelions. They really are kind of attractive.

To see more attractive views of growing things and projects, check out the new galleries I added on the right. New ones for 2009 season.

It was amazing outside all weekend! And it still is. But I am exhausted. Oh, I took my fair share of breaks to soak in some of the Spring. Never jumped in the hammock though.  Might be because we don’t have a hammock. Plus I get a little sea sick.

There is so much going on in the garden now. Our tulips and daffodils are finally open in full and the Magnolia shrub is incredible. Peas are sprouting along with spinach, lettuce, radish and asparagus. Mmmm, asparagus. I worked at setting up tomato cages and support systems. Decided I might as well plant the cherry tomatoes. Also planted more peas, soy beans, carrots, fennel and zinnia seeds.

Amidst all that planting and preparing, Anne discovered a nice natural patch of trout lilies. I can’t say I had ever seen a trout lily before, much less one in bloom.

It’s tree blooming time. Plums and wild plums appear to be the first to bloom.

And then I might place my money on the cherry trees, but the red buds aren’t too far behind. The crab apples have sprouted small clusters of leaves. I’m not sure, but I think they will leaf out more before blooming. The plums are very fragrant, or they would be if it would stop raining long enough to smell them. We did need the rain, but I’d like to have it stop now for a bit.

Or is it just “Willowrama?”

Regardless of the term, we do have quite a few curly willow cuttings growing inside and more out planted in the garden. The garden is still dormant, but we expect some good growth from these cuttings. Then we will plant some around the property and pot some for sale at the local farmer’s market. Anne has already sold a few cuttings on Craiglist (Cedar Rapids, IA). They are fast growers and offer attractive twisting structure during Winter. The picture above shows the catkin or bloom of the willow.

When we receive seed catalogs in the Fall and Winter month, it feels like no seed ought go unplanted. It also feels like we have a duty to explore new vegetables and flowers that we’ve never grown before. Toss in a bit of a challenge and we can’t really help ourselves. That’s how we wound up ordering and planting two varieties of artichoke. 

The challenge of growing artichokes in this climate is their biennial nature. Under normal circumstances, artichokes like to endure a cold period before setting chokes. So you need to set them outside early in the season so they are tricked into thinking they survived the cold. But you can’t let the little plants freeze and you can’t let them bake in a cold frame. We did the latter. It was a beautiful day and we went to work without raising the lid of the cold frame. Almost all of the artichoke we started from seed died that day. The few that survived, we planted. And a couple, as you can see, set chokes. Delighted as we were, we are not sure when to harvest. But I’m pretty sure this one is past it’s prime.

It’s always been one of Anne’s favorite, the purple cone flower, echinacea. And it happens to be a midwest native prairie flower. Or maybe that is one reason it’s on Anne’s favorite list. It’s on my favorite list because it’s pin-cushion head and frail leaves, and because of it’s herbal medicinal qualities. Not that I take advantage of them, I just like that such an attractive plant can also have practical qualities. Same reason I kind of like burdock, except that burdock is invasive and gigantic. Burdock fascinates me, but I can’t really like it. Echinacea both fascinates and pleases my senses. That’s a good combination!