From the Garden: A, B, Cs

It has been a minute since I did the Garden Alphabet post.  I thought that would be a fun approach to a mid-June garden update.  

A: Artichoke, Allium
It is our second attempt at growing artichokes.  It is going much better this time.  Several are starting to fruit.

B: Basil, Box Elder Bugs, Bok Choy, Basket of Gold, Birdsong

There is something so magical about dewy grass, morning sunlight, and birdsong.  Our Basket of Gold flowers have come and gone for the year already.  The bok choy have finally started to go to flower. 

C: Clematis, Currants, Chives, Corn, Crows, Clothesline, Cosmos, Carrots, Compost

Matt bought me a new clematis for my birthday.  I love them so much.  Now we have three, all slightly different in color.  The currants haven't started to turn yet, but the bushes are loaded.  One of the lines broke so Matt restrung the clothesline.  A pair of crows appear to have set up house in the neighbors' tree.  They're in the backyard on daily basis.  Ginger isn't sure what to make of them.  Matt and I watched one of the crows pick up a leaf with its beak and deliberately dunk it in Ginger's water bowl.  It was like dunking a doughnut in a cup of coffee.  We weren't sure what that was about, but it was interesting to watch.  We planted corn for the second time and it came up with almost 100% success.  The rows are beautiful.  We're almost out of corn in the freezer, too.  I need to trim the chive blossoms this week.

D: Drip hoses
The ditch is running, but we only have one hose set up thus far.  It has been raining so consistently that we haven't really needed the irrigation.  Matt has a plan for a slightly different configuration of the hoses this year.  We're still perfecting the system.  It sure does make garden life easier though, not having to water by hand.

E: Eggplant, Enjoyment, Eating Outside
The backyard is our oasis.  As the trees and vines leaf out it becomes an exceedingly private retreat for bocce, reading, lounging, dinner, and more.  The eggplant are looking good, but I suspect once the warm days arrive they'll really take off.  They're coming soon!  It is forecasted to be almost 100 here on Friday.

F: Fruit Trees
The apple tree is doing great.  Matt pruned it beautifully this year.  It is really growing into a lovely (and pickable!) shape. It was a blessing in disguise that the second apple tree died.  We needed some open grass to play kubb and bocce.  The peach, apricot, and plum tree in the front yard are still question marks.  The deer did so much damage when the trees were young that I'm not sure they'll ever really recover.  

G: Greenhouse, Garlic, Grapes, Geraniums, Green Beans
The garlic is coming along great.  It might be time to trim the scapes this weekend.  Both vines of the Grandma Grapes have leafed out.  We're down to the last bag of 2021 green beans in the freezer.  Matt planted the greenhouse with peppers, eggplants, and basil.

H: Hammock, Harvests, Hollyhocks, Hen and Chick
My hollyhock along the driveway died.  I don't know what happened.  I thought they were one of those flowers that was hard to kill.  We got some seeds from Brittany though so we'll just try again.  We think there are two coming up in one of our wildflower patches, but I won't be certain until it blooms.  Matt has been harvesting/thinning the spinach from the low tunnel.  We'll use it in smoothies primarily.  Matt hung his hammock in the pine trees out front for the first time this year.

I: Iris
We have three varieties of iris--two are purples and then there are these white ones.  Matt and I had to consult photos from previous years to see when we'd planted so many along the driveway.  Neither of us remembered there being so many!

J: Jenga with Keleigh, June berry Bush, Johnny
The June Berry Bush continues to leaf out, albeit in a rather spotty fashion.  I thought the drought had killed it though so I am heartened.  I think it might just make it now.  My sister, niece, dad, and stepmom visited the first weekend of June.  Keleigh just bought her first car and I can't believe how beautifully she's maturing.  And how fast! 

K: Kubb
We learned how to play kubb at family reunion last year and Matt quickly became obsessed.  It is a really fun game and one that is open to a wide range of players.  Our kubb course pictured here is right where the other apple tree was, circling back to the F is for Fruit Trees entry.

L: Lilies, Lilac, Lily of the Valley, Lobelia
Matt bought me this gorgeous new lily plant for my birthday.  We also picked out a lilac bush and planted it along the front fence.  The lobelia are blooming on the greenhouse shelf.  We should really plant them out somewhere.  The Cosmos, too. 

M: Mushrooms, mowing, mint, mud
The mint patch we put in last year came back swell!  All three varieties!  We have a lot of mud in the garden and mushrooms popping up in the lawn on account of all the cool and rainy weather lately.  The rain also means I feel like we just got done mowing and the grass is ready for it again.

N: Neighbors, Neighborhood
I really enjoy our neighborhood.  It is a good blend/balance of people.  The city installed a sidewalk back in October last year and it makes me happy watching all the kids on scooters, dog walkers, and couples passing by.  I love being able to hear the baseball games being played at the park a few houses over.  The ping of the ball of the bat, all the parents and fans cheering delight me from my yard.  It is so wholesome and happy sounding.  It makes me think of my own childhood playing ball.  We're also blessed to have good relations with our direct neighbors, especially Pam and Jack.

O: Onions, Oregano
The onions were a failure.  All the seedlings fell over and died once transplanted to the garden.  We just can't seems grow onions worth a hoot.  Matt cut back the sage and oregano.  They'd gotten overgrown and woody.  They both look much happier and brighter now.

P: Pine cone pollen showers, potatoes, peonies, peppers, peas, paths
I was in the living room gazing out the window when I saw little puffs of....something...coming off the pine trees out front.  My first thoughts were smoke or steam.   It was a misty swirling like that.  Upon closer inspection I realized it was pollen being released as the pine tree was sprinkled with rain.  The raindrops would knock the pollen loose in little swirls.  They were hard to capture in video, but certainly cool to watch with the naked eye.  The peonies are blowing up right now, on the heels of the irises.  Matt used some free landscaping rocks we acquired to finish off one of the garden paths.  Only one more to go!  The pepper plants are filling out with beautiful green fruits.

Q: Queen of the Garden
Ginger remains the undisputed Queen of the Garden.  She's so happy it is summertime.

R: Rabbits, Rain, Rose, Raspberries, Rain Barrel
It seems like we've been out of town for peak Austrian Copper Rose bloom the past few years, but not this year!  I love that bush.  It is a gorgeous curtain of orange and yellow blooms.  Our neighbor, Mark, is having an especially fabulous yellow rose bloom on the corner, too.  His aren't Austrian Coppers though.  I bought a rain barrel with my birthday money.  We plan to use it in the shoulder seasons before/after our ditch water comes in.  Black Bunny and his partner, Patches, can still be found in the front yard on a daily basis.  They really ripped it up this year, too, digging troughs/trenches for reasons that are unclear to me.

S: Strawberries, Squirrels, Spinach, Sitting, Sunflowers, Sunchokes, Sage.
We saw the bob-tailed squirrel yesterday.  I'm always so glad to see she's still around.  We ate our first-of-year strawberries last night on a stroll through the garden.  They're SO good.  Nothing from the store comes close.  We were sitting and gazing as we often do in the evening.  We noticed the new clematis was blooming and wandered over to take a look...and before we knew it we were stuffing strawberries into our maws.  We dug some of the remaining sunchokes and sent them home with Hannah.  We originally got the sunchoke plants from Hannah's place in Missoula.  She's since moved off-grid near Three Forks and so now she can transplant the sunchokes there!

T: Tomatoes, tomatillo, thyme
We planted way fewer tomatoes this year.  We still have so much sauce and diced tomatoes in cans that Matt decided to devote the garden space to something new.  Like corn and artichokes.

U: Underground Roots
Matt was bemoaning how many roots there are under the garden.  We're ringed by trees and Matt frequently has to hack through roots while prepping the soil for planting.  It never seems to end.

V: Volunteer Violets
The violets are done blooming.  I'm going to dig up the ones that have weaseled their way into the actual garden beds and see if I can get a patch going elsewhere.  We're fine with them on the paths, but the plots are for veggies.

W: Wildflowers, woodpeckers, weeds
We have several wildflower patches these days.  We just added a new one along the new sidewalk out front.  They're a messy tangle of beautiful.

X: eXcitment
Alright.  This one is a stretch, but I couldn't come up with anything else.  This is such an exciting time in the garden though.  Things are starting to really take shape and come to life.

Y: Yard work
As I mentioned, we got some free landscaping rocks.  Matt used them to create edging around several shrubs and flowers in both the front and back gardens.  Pictured is the ring around our new lilac bush.

Z: Zzzzzzzzs
Ginger spends 1/3 of her time in the yard stalking bugs and smelling stuff, 1/3 rolling in the dirt, and 1/3 snoozing in the sun.  She really is living the dream back there.