Memories: One Hot Garden!! I always wanted a garden, and when I bought my first home, I made a small garden of about 8×8 feet. The dirt was adobe and harder than a rock. I thought to myself, “Self, get some steer manure to loosen up the soil.”
I went to the lumber yard and picked up eight bags of steer manure. I dug those bags into the garden until the soil was soft all the time, humming the tune, “Whistle While You Work.”
I planted watermelons and a few tomatoes.
When the watermelons became ripe, I rushed one into the house, but my eyes watered when I cut into it. What was going on?
I cut up a few slices and provided them to our little family. OMG, they could not spit it out fast enough, and all I saw was their tiny rear ends heading for the bathroom.
Sissies, I raised sissies. I bit into the melon, and it was like a jalapeno. OMG, it was so hot, I spit it out with such vigor, the mouthful went over the neighbor’s fence and probably killed their grass.
Next time I will read the directions. I should have used one bag, maybe two, for the entire garden!
Burn baby, burn!
The day started wet but got better as the day progressed. On the way to Mary’s PT, the visibility was about two blocks, with drizzle and fog obliterating our ability to see. Naturally, I drove slower than usual, and Mary was OK with that until a snail passed us by!
Her PT sessions are working out as her broken arm is now 80% recovered, enough to dance.
We stayed home all day watching TV and cooking. Mary loves the kitchen, and several potatoes had to sacrifice themselves for an a’ potato gratin.
The garden needed a visitor, so I strolled outside in the light rain and said hollow to everyone.
Mary’s sweetpeas are finally blooming.
The fava beans are going wild.
Did You Know? Vicia faba, commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption and as a cover crop. Varieties with smaller, harder seeds that are fed to horses or other animals are called field beans, tic bean or tick bean. Horse bean, Vicia faba var. equina Pers., is a variety recognized as an accepted name.
Broad beans are still often grown as a cover crop to prevent erosion because they can overwinter, and, as a legume, they fix nitrogen in the soil. The broad bean has high plant hardiness; it can withstand harsh and cold climates. Unlike most legumes, the broad bean can be grown in soils with high salinity and clay soil. However, it prefers rich loams.
We have a load of fava beans.
It is a very bushy plant and grows three feet tall!
While waltzing through Home Depot, we spotted a strange-looking plant called a Gooseberry. Gooseberries are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked as an ingredient in desserts, such as pies, fools, and crumbles.
Early pickings are generally sour and more appropriate for culinary use. This includes most supermarket gooseberries, often picked before fully ripe for increasing shelf life. Gooseberries are also used to flavor beverages such as sodas, flavored waters, or milk and can be made into fruit wines and teas.
Gooseberries can be preserved in jams, dried fruit, as the primary or a secondary ingredient in pickling, or stored in sugar syrup.
When we saw the gooseberries, we had to try them!
While picking up strangers, we also spotted a Honeyberry, which requires a male and a female (sorry for you liberal gender-crazy folks). Honeyberries are the fruit of forms of the honeysuckle Lonicera caerulea, also known as blue honeysuckle or edible honeysuckle.
The fruits are similar to blueberries in taste and looks and can be eaten raw or used in jams and jellies. Like blueberries, they are high in antioxidants and vitamin C and make an exciting addition to your fruit collection.
Honeyberries come in pairs, a Mr. and a Mrs.
Honeysuckle berry garden summer spring
It was getting cold, and there was some mist, so I returned inside. We watched several movies, and Mary made a beautiful dinner for us. We also finished our turkey miniburgers, fresh carrots, and pears from the garden. She made au gratin potatoes, a wonderful addition to dinner on this cold night!
Bedtime, so I walked outside and adjusted the lights to be Easter-like. The edge of the house is yellow, and the inside is purple. They need some tuning, but they will look great. Tomorrow the Easter Flag gets raised.
Sort of Easter.
I worked on the Starlighter’s Dance website before crashing for the night.
