Good morning PW. I’m just in for a jiffy to load another audiobook disc on my ipod. I wish they were labeled other than Track 1, 2, etc. so I could load all of them at once.

Doing some tree mulching while listening to Sebastian Junger’s A Death in Belmont.

What are you up to today?

Hi PW…. my herbs are growing like crazy…. and I have left over bell pepper plants from last year that are packed with red ripe peppers….. will need to pull them off, roast them and put them in the freezer….

Love my Greek oregano, rosemary, sage & basil….

My herb garden is doing OK except for the basil, drat. I think it’s been to chilly for it to do well. If it ever starts growing, I’ll have enough to feed an army.

two months I pretty much ignored all of the herbs because I was not capable to deal with them…… it worked…. the basil is now growing in two pots, one that I planted ginger not basil….. Oh well…

Off again. Be well.

I don’t think gardening is possible this year in NE Minnesota, I return from Chicago on Monday, temps through Wednesday in the 40s!!!!! I was planning to put in a small garden on the deck when I returned. I think not.

Also, no plans for summer. It looks like my mom is dying in the next month, last night dad said she was agitated. It was difficult to leave for a 10 day work junket, but I asked and my dad kept saying go, and after talking it over with a friend who is a therapist, she said, “well, if he said go, and you made the offer repeatedly and sincerely, then you need to let go of the shame.”

leaving for NE MN this afternoon, I am taking an extra day in Madison,it’s too difficult to go from being single surrogate mom to two Asperger children to diving into caretaking for my mom. I am NOT going to feel guilty about that extra day.

For my favorite little guy, I set up a kidsafe email for him, because he asked.

This is the email I got from him just now, we were talking about how he needed a new nickname from Little man to something else,as he just graduated from Kindergarten, and I need a nickname too. He wrote I was now to call him Medium Guy in one email. Then, when I asked about my nickname he wrote this:

Dear R.
I wil call u freund.

Sensurely,
Medium Guy

Love,
A.
P.S. Reply again please.

Yeah, a working summer trip like this has it perks.

Dear

Good morning you wonderful ladies.

My garden is going gangbusters, stuff is pooping up all over!
I still have to get some radishes in and some herbs. My Basil never came up.

DEATH TO WEEDS!

I have a ton of those little bastards but I temper that with some nice, juicy strawberries!

LOL!
Popping.

I broke my laptop and have to hold up the screen with one hand and type with the other.

Busted, sorry about your laptop, but LOL!

Summer is already upon us here in Central Texas. My little yellow plum tomatoes are furnishing garnish on foods.

spotted some great veggie bedding plants at International Marketplace near the Capitol. Heading there tomorrow, but not for plants. Ordered a Buddha statute from one of the vendors.

Here in NE MN, it was 32 last night. Not many nights over 40. Other area folks had temps in the 20’s overnight during the week. It did climb to 56 yesterday but I didn’t even bother to move my tomato, etc, plants out of the garage. At this rate, they won’t last to get in the ground. Extremely discouraging.

Hello to all of you. I just had to try one of those Topsy Turvy tomato thingies. I have tomatoes on it, but I don’t think its working as well as the plant I put in a pot. Anybody else try one of these?

“making a lot of rhubarb pastries “

Just don’t put the leaves in a salad!

Morning, folks. Hope all is well with everyone. We’ve had some chilly nights here as well; I always keep the big roll of plastic out by the garden so that I can throw it over right after din when I think about it. With the judicious use of the soil thermometer, the plastic and some timing, we’ve got some great looking chinese cabbages, spinach, lettuces, and spinach which..I will be harvesting starting this week. And for those folks who are in the Southwest and have been harvesting for two months, let me say — OH WELL. I still was having snow two months ago so I feel extremely grateful for my harvests now during the first week in June!

What is the deal with peppers? I can’t get hardly any to grow. One jalepeno, 2 bells and about 8 bananas. (What is a banana pepper, anyway!?) Everything else is coming along nicely except the red onion. Glad to see Aunt Toby’s in the house!

I put tomatoes and eggplant on the driveway. Yes. the driveway in containers. We don’t have enough direct sunlight anywhere else. Ron admonished me not to do it cause he thinks people will swipe our tomatoes. I told him I would take my chances. It even looks like rain today in NorCal. Hope so.

these peppers were planted a year ago…. had some out last year but this year they are all gangbusters…. the garden that I had in Athens I pretty much considered the peppers a shrub that stayed….. the trunk on the plans were fairly large about 2 inches….there were constant green and red peppers a year long…

I love banana peppers!
A quick trip across the grill…. YUM!
They are a sweet pepper.
I have six plants I am drooling over daily, waiting, waiting.

Hey, I figure we have to share a little. I think I’m gopher and rabbit proof, but the insects and birds, what are you going to do? So I suppose if your neighbor stole a few tomatoes, oh, well!

Is there irony in me plotting out my drip watering system for my vegetable garden on the first rainy day in weeks?

Wow! I had no idea they grew that large or lasted all year like that! I’ve still got seeds, I’ll put some out later.

Goodie! Thanks.

I pick up my twin sister today from Chicago, her first trip here (Portland OR) in 20 years. She is a widow now, and having an active life, as this is a week-long stopover before going on an Alaskan cruise. I have a nice place reserved in Manzanita on the coast, time to reflect and catch up and enjoy each other as only twins can. :-)

Any other twins in FDL this morning?

Oh good for you!
Too bad the weather isn’t cooperating right now but I hope you both have a wonderful time.

Looks as if the first part of the week will be better, but hey! It’s the Grand Floral Parade today and who in their right mind would expect anything else except drizzle?

Any weather is good for a sister and more so a twin…… no twins here… Manzanita is beautiful…. enjoy….

Rainy and cool then you can build a fire, sit on the sofas and share the years away……

The AK cruise…. are they docking at Seward or Whittier?

plums are just coming in our yard and I wish our farmers market was as sumptuous. but we do have strawberries and cherries there.
and I just put the kettle on with the ingredients for some lima bean soup with carrots, shallots, celery, leeks, tomatoes, bay leaf, white and red pepper and chile pepper and sherry–bay leaves, too.
UP sounds good and house the partners’ endorsement. see it on dvd in two months.
our pepper plants are tiny but there are peppers. having some trouble with some of the tomatoes, which dont like their soil.
a lovely day all around and in 40 minutes I will go out and see the peregrines fly. maybe the chicks will fledge.

I just hope they don’t throw them at the house. (I am really not worried)

am I the only one, or shouldnt we just defend sotomayor by saying roberts and alito and scalia and thomas are obviously making it up and being activist on the bench, now we get to pick an ivy trained scholar and practicing judge from our team. elections have consequences, and oh bytheway, screw you.

Have a wonderful time, Starbuck.

You too, Peterboy! My tomatoes are doing well, but now you’ve got me thinking about making soup.

And rhubarb pie…

Lol!
Good to see so many Oregonians this morning.
I grew up there but now live across the river in Washington.

‘Morning, everyone! I was running late. Had a rough night last night.

Heh. Words to live by — literally!

I love rhubarb pie. my favorite after cherry.

We have an oceanside house, up the hill a bit with a grand sweep of the seascape so we won’t be much bothered by weather.

I don’t know the ports of call in Alaska. All I know is she is picking up the ship in Vancouver B.C.

Yes.

I hope some great rhubarb recipes will magically appear here — or at least a link to them.

I hesitate to say, but it’s 70 – 85 here in Hawaii, as it always is. Rain, or more precisely lack of rain, is the big problem.

However, having been here now for a year, I have to say it’s BORING. “A great place to visit, but wouldn’t want to live there.”

Yesterday a pair of hummingbirds flew through the big door into my shop.
After exploring the interior, they attempted to exit through the skylight and wouldn’t give up their efforts to find a way through the glass. I tried to catch them with a landing net but they’re way too quick. Watching their futile efforts, I realized they would eventually exhaust themselves, so I borrowed my wife’s hummingbird feeder and placed it on the top step of a ladder directly under the skylight. They soon discovered the feeder and dropped down to refuel.
Then, over several hours, I gradually moved the feeder down the ladder to an elevation well below the top of the big door opening. It was a great feeling to watch them fuel up and zip out of the shop the way they came in.

how sweet and thoughtful of you to put so much effort into helping them get out.

i’ve still don’t have a fence so no vegetables for me yet. lots of deer and the second fawn in two weeks got born on my block two nights ago. i got to watch the first one nursing one night and lots of its beginning tentative steps in life.

i’m planning on having next week be my check out fencing week. i’ve been acquiring lots of plants lately. i must dig out some grass and create a few nice happy beds for them. some will go tomorrow to a friend for her birthday. i took cuttings of the hibiscus with 8 inch gorgeous blooms that i’m giving her and also the beauty berry.

and i’ve got some babies sprouting – century plants, sago palms, canna lilies and calla lilies, moon flowers – they bloom at night with hugh white trumpet flowers. it’s sooo exciting watching the babies succeed.

NE Wis is getting near to the prolonged cold spell of last year where we did not get a night-time temp above 50 degrees until June 18. Peas are coming along, hops are 5 feet up the 20 foot poles, 1400 garlic bulbs are 18 to 30 inches high and 7 to 9 leaves (depending on variety) about ready to start sending scapes (pesto-fantastic with these, 1 cup fresh scapes, 2-3 oz pine nuts, 4-5 oz Parmezan, olive oil to blend smoothly and your favorite additional fresh herbs). Some chard, spinach, volunteer cilantro and a couple of other herbs hardened off and transplanted. 5 pickup trucks of aged manure has a huge compost pile steaming. Plenty of asparagus and rhubarb. Noticed more transients scouting private property without permission for morels and asparagus this year. Ask permission folks, please.

Peace