Junque Yard: picture blog of what's blooming in the garden

I accidentally posted these garden pictures in my other blog, and then forgot to put them here where they belong.


Don't get old people, you won't like it:

Evening Primrose (yellow) and Oriental Lilies (orange)

Siberian Irises

I love it when my sage is in bloom!

Trilliums make my heart happy.

The original caption on this was "the pansies are winning!" But is it really a race?? :)

Snapdragons, petunias, begonias, violas. OH MY!

Junque Yard: Things. They are a'Blooming!

'Maters! They are a'comin'

Tiger Lillies and the season's first Black-eyed Susans.

Day Lillies

Tiger Lily - close up

First Cukes of the season. Thanks to my neighbor, who gave me the starts

Banana Peppers...my favorite

Purple Bell Peppers, ready for picking.

One more tiger lily, because I love them...

Carpenter Bees in the Junque Yard

I'm mainly referencing this article, because the behaviors of the bees are spot on.

http://www.news-reporter.com/news/2006-04-13/News/081.html

I have had a growing problem with carpenter bees chewing up my back patio overhang.  As the article suggests, it's a relatively untreated wood, and probably the only untreated wood I have on my property.

And carpenter bees think it's yummy.

The first time I saw it happen, I had NO idea what was going on.  The big fuzzy bee was making crunching noises right in front of my eyes.  Then there was a pile of wood dust on the ground below it.  Overnight, there was a hole in my wood.  I was fascinated, and yet knew it was probably very disruptive. So I started reading about it, and yup...the momma bees release a pheromone that the babies remember, and come back to in the fall.  We plugged up that hole, and kept watch over the summer. Nothing happened, and no other holes were made.

The next couple of years my porch didn't see much action, and I was relieved.  Maybe that one bee released a pheromone that said, "NOT WELCOME HERE."

But this year, the bees are coming in droves. We've got 2 new holes, and we've been doing what we can to get the bees out of them.

I am so against killing bees with the bee shortage out there. We need them to pollinate our food plants so badly that in California, there are bee keepers who keep their hives on trucks, and just driving around to various orchards so that the trees can be pollinated.

IT'S THAT BAD.

Bees are dying left and right, due to something called "Colony Collapse Disorder." Which is fancy phrase that means scientists don't know why colonies of bees are just dying. It's been having for many years now, and the closest thing that can be attributed to it is insecticides and human progression eating up the land and giving the bees no where to go.  Lately, I've seen something about mites on the bees that are also part of the problem. But I bet the mites have been around forever, and it's a smoke blowing technique to take the blame off of insecticides.

But that's me...I'm a conspiracy theory nut.

Heh.

I've toyed with the idea of keeping a hive. In the city, I don't have much to fear from animals (like bears) ransacking beehives. Heck, I've never even seen a deer around the neighborhood. Not that deer are a threat to bees. But you get what I'm saying.  But I can't afford the liability of my neighbors getting stung. And really, I don't want to get stung (I do have a few girly traits that pop up here and there)

So I compromise, and try to go lots of things with pretty flowers that encourage bees to stay in the area. All my neighbors have gardens in one fashion or another. From container gardens to raised beds, to flower and rose gardens, we run the gamut here. And we all share produce and plants, which I think is pretty cool.

But I cannot have bees chewing my patio overhang until it falls down around my ears.

Sigh...it's a struggle. But a worthy one.

More Junque Yard...garden stuffs

I was playing with instagram today, and here's some photos I took:

this is Muffett, sunning herself.

Rainbow Swiss Chard and baby Spinach. Yum!

Strawberries are coming!!

this is a rogue iris. I didn't plant it, but it popped up this year.  My mom thinks a squirrel planted it for me.  Surprise!

My Columbine is blooming like mad. However, all the flowers point down, and look like death flowers.  Does anyone know if this is normal for them? it's the 2nd year the flowers are doing this.  But when you lift them up, they are actually very pretty with little yellow centers.

Junque Yard - Spring has Sprung Early!

It is amazing to me how early spring is this year.  We had a very mild winter (they say it happens every 10-11 years or so, and we were due). The weather man said on the news yesterday morning (friday) "3 weeks ago today we got 4-8 inches of snow.  I remember that, and the day after started a warm trend that has carried us through till now. Today will be the first day it doesn't quite reach 60 degrees. And we are only a few days into true spring!  It makes me feel humbled and grateful, even though it's weather, and really, who controls that? Who exactly am I being grateful to?

Anyway, before I got off on a theological rant, the end result of 3 weeks of BEAUTIFULLY warm and sunny weather is that the trees and flowers have fairly BURST into fruition. On my commute to and from work I see all manner of trees that look like they have split a gut flowering. It really does look like they violently pushed forth their leaves and blossoms. Particularly the younger trees. The older, larger trees seem to be holding back, as if they know not to rush these things.

Even in my own pitiful bulb garden, I have hyacinth that are so flower-laden they are falling over. I have one sprightly daffodil, and several tulips that bloomed before reaching their normal height. The result is shorter, yet cheerful tulips that warm my heart every time I pull into my driveway.

Last weekend, we started planting seeds. We started our tomatoes and peppers in old blister packs that we've saved from years prior. We also planted our lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, and kale in long planter boxes that are close to the kitchen door - which allows for quick access when making dinner.  The spinach and chard both have sprouted, and we should be able to eat those in about a month or so.

The only other thing I've done this early in the season is to remove about 50 strawberry plants from their bed. I did this so that daHubster could line the bed with timbers, and we dumped several bazillion gallons of compost, in effect raising up the strawberry patch a few inches, giving me a place to plant my butt while I tend the strawberries, and giving the strawberries themselves some good fertilizer.  I replanted them the same afternoon, so no strawberry plants were lost in the making of this project.  I predict that I will have tons of yumminess come June's picking time.

Yesterday it rained hard, though still pretty darn warm. It's foggy outside - I can hear the foghorn's going crazy on the lake. But it will soon burn off, and be another great spring day.

Junque Yard

This morning is muggy but not hot. We had some rain overnight, but not enough to get rid of of the humidity. I'm debating turning of the AC, but I think I'll leave it as I do my chores. Sweating is over rated anyway.

We are finally starting to see some color in the tomatoes! Heavy with fruit, the tomato plants seemed to have been in an indefinite holding pattern. It's been warm enough, the sun has been out, they just seem to be taking their sweet time ripening.  But last night I spied a few lil buggers starting to tinge orange. YAY!

The peppers are growing like weeds.

The cukes have flowers like you read about. heh. I love that phrase, even if it doesn't make any sense.

My poor pumpkins. Still no female flowers. All male. My brain keeps wanting to make inappropriate same sex jokes, but I've refrained...so far.

The raspberries are almost done. Did I say that last week? I really mean it this week.

I finally filled the bird seed feeders, and put up a new nyjer sock for the finches. They love me now. We seem to have an over abundance of birds in our yard this year - with or without the feeders. I think it might be because we haven't had to mow the lawn for over a month (not enough rain for the grass to grow). We have a lot of clover and thistle, and I think the birds are eating it up. We also have a LOT of worms, and the robins are feasting.

My flower garden in the front yard is pathetically choked with weeds. I really REALLY need to get off my dufus and take care of that.

*slurps coffee*

Maybe later.   :)

Pictures from the Junque Yard

Raspberries, almost ripe for picking.

In the background are bush cucumbers, in the middle are hot banana & jalapeno peppers, and in the foreground are carrots.

A bumper crop of tomatoes are well on their way.  Carrots are in from of the tomatoes. The book was right, tomatoes do love carrots.  :)

Close up of the banana peppers, they grow up so fast. *wipes tear*

Potatoes in a can.  LOL. Not really, but that's what it looks like.

Bush Beans just at the blossom stage. Pretty little purple flowers become delicious wax beans (yeah, I don't normally like wax beans either, but they taste way different out of the garden)

PUMPKINS!

  

Junque Yard

I've been remiss in posting photos lately. It's not pure laziness...there just hasn't been much to show. Once the spring bulbs blew their wad (metaphorically speaking, of course), there's a lull in which the loverly Siberian Irises usually do their thing. I had a large cluster of them, that I split up into several smaller clusters and dispersed around my garden bed, but they did a poor showing this year. Just a couple of scraggly blossoms. I don't know if it was crappy weather we had, or if they are still recovering from the replanting, but there's plenty of green growth on them. They will come back next year.

Anyway, with the warmer temps the Asiatic Lilies have started strutting their stuff. I have some that have been in that bed for 2-3 years, and I planted 6 more early this spring.  The nursery I bought them from unduly forced them, and some attempted to bloom early, hardly waiting until they'd poked their heads out of the ground. Ah well, next year those guys will be phenom.  However, the rest are making their showing now, and what I show they are!

Sometimes, my camera phone does good!

Don't mind my toes peeking in at the bottom.

An awesome looking white and peach colored one that's being blocked by some black-eyed Susan's who won't appear until later this summer.

Seriously, does it get any better than this???

You know, I have no idea what this is. My uncle gave me a hunk of it, and said it was easy to grow. He was right! It's pretty too, but the flowers are at their peak in the mornings. I'll snap another of them when they are really looking pretty.

And in the herb garden, the Sage is blooming like nobody's business!

Flowerz. I haz happeh.  :)

Junque Yard

Here are pictures of some of the plants growing here at the micro-mini ranch.

These are strawberry blossoms. Last weekend I finally got a chance to week the strawberry patch. it's located up against our garage, and only gets 3/4 sun. But it's enough to keep the strawberries happy. I mostly have the June-bearing variety, with a few ever-bearing. The difference is that the June-bearers produce heavily for about a month (usually June - hence the name), and then spend the rest of the summer producing baby strawberry plants in the form of runners.  The plants have 3 years of production, so the runners, or their offspring of the main plants are great to keep the "family" going.  June-bearers are reputed to have better tasting fruit, and the fact that they produce quantities at more or less all one time make them great for canning jams with.

Ever bearing strawberries produce smaller quantities of fruit, but they do it all summer long. Supposedly, their fruit isn't supposed to be as great tasting as June bearers, but I haven't found that to be the case. Once you try a home grown strawberry, the overpriced pints you can buy at the store just can't compare. Strawberries can also be frozen. We've also tried dehydrating them, with mixed results. My goal has always been to grow enough strawberries in one season to make at least one session of jam purely from my own garden. I can never seem to get enough strawberries at one time to be able to do it. So I supplement what I need from the farmer's market. Someday...

These are the raspberry bushes. They are in their 3rd year, and going strong. Raspberry is a great plant to try if you are new to gardening. You can't kill them! They can be pretty invasive, though, so you need to make sure that where you put them, you want them to stay. Unfortunately, I am not listening to my own advice, and plan to move them after their production cycle this summer. DaMan is constructing a better spot for them to grow, and we will move the bushes into a lesser trafficked area in the yard. And then I will be spending the next few years cursing myself as I pull up unwanted raspberry sproutlings from the old spot.

I took this picture on a windy day. I couldn't get these charming little flowers to stop moving!  These are the blossoms of a horseradish plant. I was gifted with a root cutting from my uncle, who promised me that horseradish would also grow anywhere. As I got it late in the fall last year, I didn't have a spot picked out for it, so I stuck it in a pot, and did not get a chance to give it a permanent home before winter came. I figured it would not survive, as this past winter was very cold, with lots of snow. But it did. it was one of the first plants in the yard to out out leaves. And these adorable little flowers smell really good too! A very light, floral scent with none of the eye-watering you might expect if you knew the power of the root from which it came. I cannot wait to dig out a piece and grind it up to serve with a giant hunk o' beef. I love horseradish!!

This is a mystery flower. It's not something I planted, but it's growing in between my front porch and and ornamental hedge under my living room window. I have no idea what it is. It's probably some weed, but as I also have some lily of the valley growing in that same spot (which came over from the neighbor's yard), I can't say for sure. It's pretty though. There's a quote that says, "the definition of a weed is a plant that's growing in a spot you don't want it to." Makes you think, doesn't it?

This is by no means all tha is growing here at the micro-mini,  but it's a good time to stop and get ready for our weekly trip to the farmer's market. Let's see what kind of damage we can do this week, shall we???

Junque Pile

The holiday weekend has been nice, with a few bumps in the road, but that's to be expected, right?  Saturday started out with a trip to the local farmer's market, where we bought some of the tomato and pepper plants. We have a favorite vendor there, a life-long multi-generation farmer woman who always takes the time to talk to us, and give up hints and tips on growing. She also sells lots of heirloom variety plants, and we have had great luck with her plants. She's friendly, knowledgeable, and a hoot to chat with.  I believe she's got a secret crush on the Hubster, and it's reciprocated, even though he won't admit it.

It's not normally too early in the season to plant the warm weather veggies, but the spring has been so cloudy and cold, most of the tomatoes and peppers aren't as robust looking as they normally are. But we make do, right?

picture borrowed from www.plantertomato.com

We like to buy farm eggs at the market when we can, but the ultra-premium price they go for here is not conducive to our family budget. At least some of the time. This past Saturday we decided to splurge when we say another vendor was selling duck eggs. Never having had them, we chatted the seller up on the difference between duck and chicken eggs. They are larger, richer, with a bigger and more vibrant yolk. If you've had farm fresh eggs vs. store bought commercially laid chicken eggs, you know the yolks are more vibrant in and of themselves. Duck eggs go way beyond!  We brought them home, lovingly cradled in my arms, and I set to work frying up a couple for us. Delicious! The whole meal was.  I felt all down home. Bacon, a fried duck egg, and toast made of home made bread. It was almost a religious experience. If the city I live in won't give in and let the residents keep chickens (a cause I've helped lobby in the past), I'm going to smuggle a couple of ducks in here, I swear it.  :)

The weather precluded us from planting a lot, though the Hubster did construct a cage for growing potatoes. We were originally going to grow them in a set of leftover tires from our car, but after researching on the net, he decided that a cage of landscaper's cloth filled with straw would be more to his liking. He planted a good 4 lbs worth of potato eyes, while I attempted to weed the herb garden and the poor pitiful strawberry garden.

The soil has been to wet to mess with the strawberries, and as a result, the grass has started to take over the patch. But when I saw that they were struggling to put out their pretty little blossoms, I knew I had to do something. So Sunday, I was delicately weeding in and amongst the strawberry crowns, trying not to disturb them, while ripping out the grass. Thankfully, Hubster was smart and got a couple of extra bales of straw, as we hear it makes for great mulch, and weed suppressor.

When it was storming too much, or the fog was too thick, we'd come inside and do the normal weekend things every body does, cook, clean, etc. I attempted to make some home made hamburger and hot dog buns, with a 50% success rate. I made the buns too small, anticapating that they would grow larger after the last rise.  Not so much, unfortunately. Next time I will try not to be so frugal and squeeze more buns out of the batch. Either that or we will have to have teeny tiny burgers.  LOL.  Check out the recipe I used here: Belle's Hamburger Bun recipe on Allrecipes.com.

On a sad note, my microwave died on Sunday.  It was a quick and most likely a painless death for the poor overworked thing. It was a gift from one of Hubster's cousins, and we'd had it for most of the time we've been co-habbing (about 8 years). I was heating something up, and it just shut down. I thought that the circuit breaker blew, as it occasionally does. The fridge and the microwave are on the same circuit, and they occasionally fight each other for current (it's an older house).  But no, the circuit didnt need to be reset, and the fridge was still running. I guess the fridge won that little battle.

I breifly contemplated running and experiment where we see how long we can go without a microwave before Mr and Mrs Junque kill each other, then I slapped myself upside the said and told myself to get real. I may be all for "Living the Simple Life," but there's simple, and then there's simple.  Right?

Today, the weather god's have promised sunshine and warm temps. I'm holding them to their promise, and we will get those tomatoes and peppers planted.  We will also get the cukes, zuke, and loofa seeds in their appointed spots and make the appropriate genuflections to the above named gods that the weather becomes summer like, and the seeds germinate.  I draw the line at ritual killings, but do you think they would take an offering of some misshapen hamburger buns??

Junque-yard

One of my local nurseries has the most amazing selection on unusual herbs in the spring time. I was wandering around last year, when I saw they had a patchouli plant. I had never before even made the connection that  patchouli was a plant!  If I even thought about how Patchouli was made, I figured it was by squeezing whacked out hippies really hard (I KID! I KID!) No, I never really thought about where patchouli oil came from, so when I saw it, I marveled at it, but didn't buy one. And then I kicked myself, hard and often, because my mother loved patchouli oil. I went back later that summer and see if they still had it in stock, but they didn't.

So this spring, I knew that I was going to get her a patchouli plant for either her birthday or Mother's day. Her birthday, which is in early March, was too early for the nursery to have their plants out yet. We were still in the grip of winter at that time. So last week, I headed back to the nursery, driving with my fingers crossed that they had what I wanted. And they did! As I was doing cartwheels down the aisles (no easy feat with a plant in my hand), I decided to see what else unusual they might have. Something that I could grow as a challenge to myself, and my poor little herb garden. 

I ended up grabbing 2 awesome challenges!  The first is a stevia plant. I'm going to see what it's like to grow, dry, and crush it as a sugar substitute. The second is a curry plant! How cool is that?? I always figured that curry was a mixture of spices, and not it's own plant. And it smells heavenly too...just like a warm golden curry sauce.

I have no idea about the care and feeding of either of my new charges, but I plan on researching and learning. And sharing with you!

BTW, Mom loved her new little patchouli plant. And it smells nice too. Much lighter than you'd expect.

No hippies were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Junque-ology & Junque-yard

This scary image is one that's going to give me nightmares to years to come. Our house, built in the 1950's came with a 50 foot TV antenna in the backyard. Over the winter, one of the legs broke away from the in ground cement block and is now swaying dangerously toward our roof. As a temp fix, Da Hubster anchored it with rope to a fencepost at the back of the property, but the antenna needs to come down.

I have no problem with this. It's an eyesore. I have, however, in years past, planted morning glories around the base to pretty it up, and I would have missed being able to do that, so I asked if Da Hubster could possibly leave some of it at the base for me. He said he'd try.

This is a pic of the antenna and the start of the morning glories

I love my morning glories:

Anyway, we've been waiting for the rain to stop, and the wind to die down, so that Da Hubster can make the climb up and start hacking, or buzz-sawing his way back down. Easter Sunday appears to be the day. We will see how it goes. If you don't hear from me, it's because I had a heart attack watching him do this. *nods*