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May 31, 2007
New Garden Sprinklers
Here's a photo of one of our raised beds-- we planted six this year. I replaced the center sprinkler today with four corner sprinklers (that you can just barely see in the photo), theoretically cutting our garden water usage by a third.
Here you can see kohlrabi, lettuce, spinach, and peas along the edges. I planted tomatoes in between. A cold spring slowed the growth of the spring crops, so they're going to have to share space with the summer crops for a few weeks.
BTW, the big green leafy plant at the bottom is Indian Mustard, which grows very well here-- no surprise, since the weeds that grow best are all in the mustard family.
Posted by DJSueellen at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Salmon azalea
Simsbury is azalea territory -- they escape gardens and grow carelessly by the road.
Posted by Sue at 12:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Weeping Japanese Maple
By the front walk -- I'm told this one stays red for the whole growing season .
Posted by Sue at 12:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 30, 2007
Native Rhododendron
Deene tells us this rhododendron is native to Connecticut. It blooms once a year -- our yard is a riot of color right now.
Posted by Sue at 12:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 29, 2007
Luminous clematis by the back door
I don't know what her name is. She sure is beautiful.
Posted by Sue at 11:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 28, 2007
Not much to look at ...
Now that we've had our last frost, I'm starting vegies for the garden. The view's a bit premature -- you'll have to use your imagination!
Posted by Sue at 11:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Homegrown
This morning's accomplishment: French toast made from home-made bread, home grown eggs, hand-milked goat milk, and served with home-made strawberry-lemon marmelade. I was pretty proud.
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May 25, 2007
Flowers at the reservoir: Wild violets 2
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Flowers at the reservoir: Wild Geranium?
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Flowers at the reservoir : Lyre-leaved Rock Cress
Lyre-leaved Rock Cress
Arabis lyrata
• Family: Mustard (Brassicaceae)
• Habitat: rocks, sandy soil
• Height: 4-12 inches
• Flower size: 1/4 inch across
• Flower color: white
• Flowering time: April to May
• Origin: native
Posted by Bob at 12:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 24, 2007
Flowers at the reservoir: Wild Violets
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May 16, 2007
Seen at West Hartford Reservoir No. 6
Butterfly, just nosing around in the gravel. He stayed for his closeup, then fluttered off.
Posted by Sue at 11:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Anticipation
Like new recruits waiting for the call (bad simile?), our tomato and pepper seedlings await planting. The weather has been unusually mild: 40's at night, 80s and 90s by day. But we learned last year, when mild weather lulled us into thinking summer was here: a Memorial Day Weekend freeze killed the summer crops we'd planted early. So our new recruits continue to wait in anticipation... But Memorial Day is fast approaching!
Posted by DJSueellen at 11:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Iris
Something else in bloom. We revel in anything that's not a weed!
Posted by DJSueellen at 11:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 15, 2007
First attempt at sourdough starter
Way too much flour, yeast, and water in a container much too small. We came back home an hour after making it and the cats were obviously twitchy about the strange foamy thing next to their food dish
Posted by Bob at 12:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 14, 2007
Homemade Ricotta
Tonight I tried my first cheese experiment: ricotta made from hand-milked goat milk. Ricotta isn't actually a cheese because, well, I forget why. But it was tasty. I served it with linguini and a walnut-garlic-fresh basil-chive-olive oil sauce. (The basil grew on my window sill.) And of course whole wheat garlic bread-- though I confess I bought the bread at Albertson's as I was browsing the bakery section today.
Somehow there's nothing quite as satisfying as putting food on the table that I made myself (with some help from Christy the goat). And Albertson's had rennet in their baking department, so more cheese experiments will be forthcoming.
Posted by DJSueellen at 09:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 13, 2007
Poison Ivy
It's everywhere in New England. You just learn to always be looking out for it, just like watching for rattlers when hiking in the West. If you're not sure, "Leaflets three, let them be" is always the best advice
Poison Ivy up close
It usually grows together with lots of other plants and thus can be difficult to spot. This clump of plants has lots of poison ivy in it.
Posted by Bob at 02:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 11, 2007
...And the Milking
Of course, dairy goats have to be milked. Suellen & I switch off. Since we're sharing the milk with Wind, who is old enough to be weaned, we only get about a pint or pint and a half each day. That's more than enough for the breakfast cereal, so over the weekend we're going to try making cheese.
Posted by DJSueellen at 11:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Goats
Our latest gardening tool is two goats, a mother and kid. They'll eat some of what grows on our land, and hopefully their sharp hooves will churn manure into the soil, improving its health. Surprisingly, the Mom, Christy, really likes the spiny, evergreen bush called greasewood that is sommon in salty soil. We have quite a bit of it... and as you get closer to Little Salt Lake, it pretty much blankets the countryside.
Here, three-month-old Wind plays on a makeshift teeter-totter whil Christy takes a nibble of tansy mustard.
Posted by DJSueellen at 11:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hackberry in Bloom
Common hackberry has been one of our better choices as trees go. We've got about ten of them, and all survived the winter. This one is in its third year with us, and went into bloom this spring, the first of the hackberries to do so. This is in spite of not only an extraordinarily cold winter, but an antelope attack last summer that bit the top off.
In contrast, we lost 50% of our apples, and all of our maples, blue spruce seedlings, green ash, and (sorry, Sue), roses. Lilacs, however, are doing fairly well now that we put in the drip system for irrigation; we only lost two out of fifteen. Our one remaining cottonwood, too, is going strong.
The weather and soil are challenging, so the success of the hackberry is welcome, even though it's not a very useful tree. Hopefully in a couple of years, it will give us shade from the summer sun.
Posted by DJSueellen at 11:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 06, 2007
Bandit stalks bunny rabbit
This was Bandit's second day being allowed outside for a bit, and she immediately stalked a rabbit. (The rabbit eventually darted away to its burrow under the next door house)
Posted by Bob at 10:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 01, 2007
And More...
This one was growing out of a crack in the rock near the peak of the hill. The peak of the hill is at 7,824 feet, but it doesn't even warrant a name on the map.
Posted by DJSueellen at 08:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
More Wildflowers
We're basically in a desert climate, so anything that blooms here is beautiful.
Posted by DJSueellen at 08:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wildflowers
The wildflowers are in bloom in the mountains. I took photos while on a hike Sunday. I don't know what they are, but they're pretty.
Posted by DJSueellen at 08:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
We've Got Some Too...
Not to be outdone, here's a picture of our forsythia. OK, it's not as nice as Bob's. But we just planted it last fall-- one of the few things we planted that survived the unusually frigid winter, so we're pretty happy to see it. (Note the cage to keep the rabbits out, so hopefully it will continue to survive!)
Posted by DJSueellen at 08:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack