Tree Frog?

Spent some time cleaning up the containers, and also knocking down the comfrey to make way for this year's crop. I found this little critter underneath a planter box. He blends in!

Cherries, Raspberries and Blues

The timing of the fruit this year is a bit later than before.


The cherries really came on last weekend. The crop is miniscule compared to 2009 when the tree was laden. But, the cherries are still delicious. I think the birds have gone for other cherries in the neighborhood, and are letting me harvest mine.

The raspberries started getting ripe on Sunday, July 10. They seem huge this year! The crop seems less, but each berry seems bigger.

The blue berries are on their way. One of the new berry bushes has delivered about 5 berries. The other bushes are more full of berries than before, just not ripe yet.

New Blossom

I didn't realize that Hens and Chicks blossomed. But here is the start of a blossom stalk. Very interesting.

Siberian Iris

Some photos of a new addition.

I am pretty sure this is a siberian iris. Got two clumps from a woman at work, last year. After transplanting in my garden the clumps did nothing except look like big grass. The gift was becoming suspect. But this year, I got blossoms. After looking them up on the web, I read that they are pretty hardy. The flower blooms on a tall spike that stands about 3 ft tall. It took about two weeks to go from the hint of a blossom to the bloom.

Honeysuckle

I bought the Honeysuckle about 2 years ago at the February Yard and Garden Show. This is the first bloom. If you get up close, it does have a nice scent. I was hoping for a bunch of blossoms of which I could catch the scent from as far away as my porch. I think will need to wait another couple years for it to do this.

Fresh Kale Pear Simple Salad

I have a few kale recipes saved up to share, but had quite a bit going on to prevent their being posted. Here is the most recent from a couple days ago. I found that the kale I planted in the fall (yes, the fall!) finally did something. I harvested leaves and got about 3/4 cup.

Build salad as follows:

3/4 cup Kale, ripped into bite size pieces

1 roma tomato, seeded and chopped up, sprinkle the pieces on the kale bed

1 red pear, cored, chopped up. Place the pieces on top of the kale and tomato

1-2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil dressing (Safeway Select)

2 tsp of toasted sesame seeds on top

Rated a 4.5 on the kale scale.

Finally, Roses!

This spring has been hard on the roses all over. This week is the first appearance my roses - usually they are all a blossom around Mother's Day. So this is a month late!

Today, a bit of rain. Topped out at 60 F.