Strawberries and dirt

I spent a spectacular Saturday and rainy Sunday in my yard. Saturday was all about getting as many things as possible done before the forecasted rain struck late afternoon.  The biggest project we finished was the fort (see previous post), but we got lots done in general.  The girls and I mowed, weeded, trimmed trees, staked tomatoes, picked lettuces, cucumbers, spices and strawberries and built a woven branch trellis.

We ate nearly 4 cups of strawberries and made three strawberry rhubarb pies. By three I was tired but happy, and ready to head inside when Mike got home for supper. The girls and I had made a homemade salad with all our own greens, cucumbers and strawberries for lunch and I was excited to show off the pies for supper. Mike worked all day at his new job in the Children's department, and came home in the rain secure in the knowledge that he'd be resting due to precipitation on Sunday. We sat out in the yard that night on newly dried lawn chairs enjoying the candles and solar lights in the smell of recent drizzle.

When we woke up Sunday, Mike could see me eying the front yard and the rain. His dad had asked Mike to come help move some sod, but cancelled because it was raining, leaving Mike available. He cleverly offered for us to go for a walk in the rain in an attempt to distract me, but when we got back, he just sighed and said he just wanted to finish one more cup of coffee.  Then we went out and dug in the dirt.

Turning sod is hard work on the prairies, and Mike's wife wants the grass roots composted and as much of the dirt saved as possible. In order for the ground to be easy to dig it needs to be soaked, which is a rarity on this province. Luckily record flooding, and Bob's unwillingness to have a hole with wet dirt in it, cleared the way for me to have a patch of wet dirt. Mike cut up the sod, and Anwyn and I banged the dirt off of it. We spent about three and a half hours in the rain clearing sod, but we didn't quite get finished. More tomorrow - on the way back to dump the grass we found more ripe strawberries despite 24 hours of rain. I picked two cups for breakfast and count myself luck to have both berries and dirt (see album with tree house and digging pics).

Just for Gus, I will let you know what is newly blooming:

• lupines (pink, white)
• pink and fushia peonies
• white bell flower
• thrumbingeria
• 5 types of morning glory
• white bleeding heart
• sedum (6 types)
• 4 other ground covers
• yarrow

Fort for what?

Yesterday the girls finally finished the last of the work on their dream fort (inspired a bit by Douglas's hobbit hole).  They made the roof from leftover metal roofing from the house last summer, and built walls from scrap lumber and some particle board Mike bought for them. The whole thing made him nuts because so many things have been added one by one to the fort that nothing is really square, and we were forever adding on, trimming or shimming. The idea was that the girls learn some basic skills with tools, but lots of the measuring and cutting required more than basic skills, as nothing was the same size at the top and bottom.

 The fort is decorated with the door from the old hobbit hole from Meadow and is bedecked with pails of flowers. There was substantial arguing about artistic differences over which colors of pails should go where, but Mike hung them on hooks so constant redecorating is possible. The girls also have the hammock hung and Anwyn has been building massive sandcastles to celebrate the new look and dress up the play area.  That whole process is a little pitiful, as the sand was purchased before she turned three and she has to scrape the whole area to get enough to work with.  Looks like we'll need to get her a bit more.

Anyway, the fort itself was finished last week when we hung the lanterns, and then it was steadfastly ignored.  Since substantial family resources were invested, and the girls have been nagging for a roof for two years straight, I pictured them practically moving out there. I know I lived in my tree house and playhouse at that age (it is best to stay outside when you insist on pulling the tops off all the baby carrots).  This weekend I required that the last of the construction material be put away, and suddenly the fort was beloved. Anwyn and her friend Rachel played there late into the night, and Leora colored on it with a marker (a sure sign of both ownership and affection.) Once I could tell they loved it, it all got better for me.  It is easy to see what the work is for when you can see their joy.

Beautiful Blooms

View Album from second week of June

My late June back yard  is my favorite time for blooms in the whole summer. It is a mass of purple, pink and white in all my beds.  I like to just wander around the yard each day and see what is happening.

In the side by my tomatoes, I have big pink bloom on the morning glory I started from seed, and across the path I have daisies, two types purple iris, salvia, pink roses and pink ground cover - all blooming right now. Each of my beds is like that. My show stoppers right now are my columbine, iris and daisies (pink and white), but I also love things like my late pink lilac. As my iris finish, I will get more roses, delphinium and lupine, yarrow (already blooming in the front yard).  After those finish, I will have day lilies. You can view the pictures from the third week in June if you'd like to see what all these flowers are starting to look like - I should warn you, Mike also took a lot of bug pictures.

All my veggies are blooming now except pumpkins, peas and beans. I think my early beans are a week away or so. I have baby cucumbers and am eating the first early strawberries.  However, we are still fighting with bugs. The cherry trees have small infections of black aphids and the red current is suffering waves of attacks from the wasps. So far, my kohlrabi look mostly good under their net, but the mesh size may not be small enough. 

I am excited about most of the plants in the garden, especially my volunteer coriander and my potatoes, which are already thick and knee high. My carrots are still sad, but my strawberry crop looks spectacular. The raspberries in the alley, which were pretty small after transplant, now look great. Last year at this time, my yard was not nearly this nice. Of course, last year the rain prevented anything from growing.