Early May gardening...

It's been a bit of a roller coaster spring weather-wise.  I could be misremembering, but it seems like it was in the 80's in late March and parts of April.  And then April ended and May came in like the beginning of autumn.  We've had lots of rain and cool weather - for which I am truly thankful.  

The garden saw a planting in early April of radishes, kohlrabi and cabbage, and so far only the cabbage seems a lost cause.  The kohlrabi isn't looking great, but it has finally sprouted through the soil, so maybe there will be a few to harvest? And then, a few weeks ago, sugar snap peas were planted, and they are looking beautiful, but haven't grown much since it cooled down again.  I do see little vines, though, so hopefully they'll soon be climbing their trellises.  If I ever planted peas before, it's been too long ago for me to remember.  They feel like an experiment.  

Last year I enlarged the garden with cardboard, and after weeding the clover that overtook that new area during the warm early spring, I decided to try growing sweet corn in that space.

I only started to doubt the wisdom of that idea after I told Greg what I'd planted (thinking he'd be excited) and he proclaimed, "The raccoons are going to enjoy it!"

So, I've decided to consider sweet corn an experiment too.  

I'm just hoping the racoons don't humiliate me by taking the stalks down to the ground and creating a mess when they discover the tasty ears of corn.

While waiting for the garden to dry out again after several rains this week, I took stock of what else is growing that has needed little attention from me up to this point...

Cherries are coming on - I imagine we'll be enjoying a cherry cobbler in a few weeks.

And the garlic I planted in the full sun amongst the strawberry plants are looking glorious:

Another view (because I can't help myself):

And today I was shocked to discover ripening strawberries - just days away from picking:

It's only the first full week of May, right?  

Unfortunately, at least one bird has discovered the strawberries too.  I guess spikey garlic leaves waving overhead in the breeze isn't enough of a deterrent.

And this little guy (and his three siblings) interrupted my thistle pulling in the walking onion patch:

After recovering my composure (after screaming when the first bunny jumped out right at my feet), I went back to pulling weeds, and accidentally disturbed the nest:

I haven't seen the little things for a week now. They hadn't (and still haven't) disturbed my peas, so I'm wondering if they were even weaned yet.  I'm tempted to worry about them, but then I remember the rascals will be trying to eat the new green been plants that will soon be sprouting.

My neighbor, who grows flowers, hopes the bunnies survived.  As a vegetable grower, I'm ambivalent.

And that is spring here on our little near-acre plot.  I'm eager to plant more things, but the upcoming temperatures don't look like there's any reason to be in a hurry about it.

How is May coming on in your corner of the world?

Just birds...

Female Cardinal often feeds on fallen seeds under the birdfeeders

Male Cardinal watches from a distance.

Male Grosbeak and a male Cardinal hangin' out in the redbud tree

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - male

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - female

Red-winged Blackbird

Because you can't have too many pictures of a Pileated Woodpecker, can you?

Or too many of Baltimore Orioles?

Male Baltimore Oriole

Female Baltimore Oriole (I believe)

Can't wait to see who shows up next!

Spring is full of new things at our new house...

While some of the trees are budding, aside from bunches of white blossoming trees in our yard (and it seems every other neighbor's), and the grass greening up, spring seems to be taking its sweet time to burst onto the scene here.  But in spite of up and down weather, and more "brown" than I care for, the signs of spring are here. 

A few days ago, just looking out a window, I spotted this bunny camouflaged against the mulch under a rose bush:

And look at what I found yesterday:

Look closer:

Standing at my full height, I almost didn't see them, but bending down and looking really close, I found scattered in a small (maybe 5x5 ft) square of bare dirt, five random spears of asparagus peeking through.  

I was over the moon excited that we (evidently) didn't neglect into oblivion our little asparagus patch.  And now I can't wait to harvest them - and experience how good newly picked asparagus tastes. I've read it's sweeter tasting the closer to home you obtain it.  Can't get any closer than this!

While doing a little clean up outside, it occurred to me that some of you might have some words of wisdom to share about this little crop of onions:

At least I think these are onions.   Ignore the wire cage - Hub just stuck it there last fall and left it.  I didn't even notice it until I saw the picture.

These plants were small things last autumn when we moved into our new place, but we left them alone (there were just too many other things to do) figuring they would die out in the winter.  But now it appears that even more have grown, and the tops are looking really vibrant.

When I dig up some, this is what they look like:

They look like onions, but I've never actually grown onions and have never seen onions with pink-ish stalks like this.  Do they look familiar to anyone?  Do you think they're okay to eat after sitting in the soil all winter?  I don't know why I feel hesitant to try them, but I have been.  Let me know if you know what kind of onion these are.  And go ahead and tell me if I'm just being weird not being sure I want to eat something I didn't plant myself, or watch grow (like the asparagus).

Then while digging up some weeds in the garden, I came upon this and I wondered if it's actually something edible:

I'm guessing it's a weed, but it didn't look like the other weeds I dug out, and it kind of looks like stuff I find in bagged salad.  Don't laugh.  Anyway, I thought I'd ask if anyone recognizes it (weed or not).

And while I'm waiting for some other spring flowers to bloom, I'm treated every time I look out the laundry room window to these soft yellow daffodils and a sweetly-pink flowering shrub of some sort:

It's coming on slowly, but spring is making itself known here in central Indiana!

 

One new thing...

 ... or maybe a couple of new things.

This "new thing" challenge is kind of surprising me.   In a week that didn't amount to much  - it was terribly cold and except for one outing early in the week (I'll share in a moment), I only poked my nose out the door a couple of times.  And yet, new things showed up!  It's actually been really nice to not have anything much to do - especially when it snowed yesterday and I spent hours enjoying winter nature from inside a cozy den.

This week's first new thing is actually something I've done twice now, but this week it occurred to me that it counts as a new thing in this new year.

My friend, Dory (she and her husband are our small group leaders at church) has opened her home the last few weeks (and I'm thinking the open invitation is indefinite) to come by during a set time on a set day to craft, work on a puzzle, or just sit and chat I'm guessing because that's what we mostly did the first time I came by.  It was fun, and a sweet time to get to know a friend better.  

This past week, the time was just as sweet, and two other people came (our associate pastor and his wife).  We spent several hours pouring over a jigsaw puzzle and felt such satisfaction finishing it.

But the greater satisfaction was getting to know one another better.  Sweet hearts all around the table, being honest and vulnerable, and I hope building real friendship.  It's such a simple, yet wonderful idea, and I'm thankful that Dory has opened herself and her home up to whoever shows up for this time.  I hope to enjoy many more times around her table (literally or figuratively, depending on how large the gathering grows).

Dory is also a wonderful wordsmith, deeply spiritual, and is open and honest about challenges in her life.  I'll let her tell you about it.  I have an updating link in my sidebar, but here's a link to make it super easy for you to check out her blog.  I've only recently become acquainted with her blog, but I'm now soaking it up for all it's worth.  I consider it priceless.  

Okay, I've given you the link.  Why are you still here?!?

~~~~~

Hoping you'll come back (or maybe you're going to check out Dory's blog later), let me share some pictures of the other new thing - our first accumulating snowfall at our new home.   It's so tempting for me to pick the photos apart.  While there are a couple I'm super pleased with, I'm thinking some are a bit overexposed because they looked much better against a dark background on my computer.  And there's "fuzzy" happening too often.   I can only blame my injured hand for so much, but it is challenging to hold even a cell phone camera still for minutes on end, and one-handedly turning the focus ring on the heavy DSLR camera - I probably did myself no favors doing that.   

With my excuses out of the way, I hope there is something to enjoy below.  I'll mostly let the pictures speak for themselves...

That hump in the center of the picture and in front of those evergreens 

is a pile of leaves waiting to be burned.  

Hopefully, this will be a garden this summer.

Is it just me, or does that bird look angry?

In case, you're unacquainted, above is Mrs. Downy 
and below is Mr. Downy.

And that's 7 new things in 2022!