Good Eatin At Larrapin This Week!

These pics are from May 28th - Spring stuff to eat! The strawberries are Ozark Beauty. It's a great variety, but with all the pouring rain we had, they were a bit watered down... Strawberries like everything *just right* to be their best..



Broccoli and Oregon Sugar Pod peas. Sugar snap peas, our favorites, are so persnickity that I went with a different kind this year - and wow are they productive. It was nice that they were only about 2 foot high at max and just draped over a tiny garden fence instead of requiring real trellis.



Nice group portrait! You know you love your garden when you photograph your food!



Pak Choi (Joy Choi is the variety) grew so fast a lot of it went to the chickens b/c we couldn't eat it fast enough. I'll have to work out a more gradual planting on this. It was SO much faster than traditional cabbage and delicious in stir fry.

A little tribute to the garden on my way off to work...

Garden Walk - May 27th

I was blog-visitng over at My Wildlife Sanctuary and enjoyed how the writer described her daily photo walk in her garden. Thus inspired, I waited for a break in the rain (I think we're about 16 or so inches ahead of normal so far this year with total rainfall usually averaging only 46 inches!) to go out for a photo stroll in the yarden. These are some veggie garden snapshots:



Above, the Blue Lake bush beans are just at the stage the rabbits like them. (Got to get that little rabbit fencing up for them...)



This is the Kale & Snow Peas bed. The kales are Blue Curled Scottish and Ragged Jack (Red Russian - in top right of pic). Ragged Jack is a lot sweeter and next year it's my choice. We stir fry/saute our kale with just a bit of olive oil and garlic and it is so very delicious that way - and so wonderfully green. We've eaten bundles and bundles out of this bed already and it's still full.

The peas are Oregon Sugar Pods. Very productive! Not as sweet, nor as finicky as our favorites, Sugar Snaps.



Here's the former Pea & Spinach bed, cleared yesterday of the bolting spinach. The peas are still going strong. I'll put bush beans in now, since I have the handy leftover stick fence for rabbits...



I love beets! I never plant enough. These are in bad need of thinning & eating the thinnings!



This bed of broccoli (underplanted with a small romaine lettuce) is nearly done. It was so lovely. There are a few red cabbages in there, but they are looking a little puny. I need to whip up a tonic for them...



And in the midst of our bounty, here's a future bounty for butterflies, more of the Tropical Milkweed I so adored last year and wrote several posts about under the Butterfly label.




This bed has Swiss Chard (also in need of thinning -- Hello, my name is Leigh and I'm an over-planter....but wait, we almost always get to eat the thinnings too...or if we don't the chickens get to...) on the end, Chinese cabbage (Joy Choi) in the middle and some more broccoli toward the right. The Joy Choi is amazingly productive and quick to reach eating size. We had a big one last night stir fried with mushrooms and it was YUMMY. I may go chinese on my cabbage choices from now on...



My tater row. Or one of them. This one was planted late b/c the other row got hit hard by a late frost. But then the frost-hit row regrew -- or about every other one anyway, so the row has big empty places. Hmm, what could I plant there?

Thanks for joining me in the garden walkabout in late May. My garden is a bit behind a lot of my neighbors b/c I'm always slow to figure out when and where I want to plant things. But wow, we are doing some good eating out of this garden. More about that next post!

Bees in the Comfrey Flowers

One thing I've learned from my baby-steps study of permaculture concepts is the idea of planting "guilds." That is, grouping plants that benefit each other by being in proximity. A classic example seems to be grouping a tree with smaller plants such as nutrient accumulators/mulch producers like comfrey, then some plants that attract beneficial insects etc. So last year I planted this comfrey at the base of the Prarie Fire Crabapple, a tree I treasure for the spring blooms, but mostly for it's bird-food value. (Permaculture is much more oriented toward people-feeding trees, but I'm getting to those this year...) It also has some Sedum (attracts beneficials) at its base.

And by golly, both the tree and the comfrey look remarkably happy! Comfrey is one of those great multi-functional plants that accumulates nutrients from deep in the soil, is self-mulching and weed suppressing and pollinators LOVE it. (And of course it's medicinal.) Just don't let comfrey loose in rich garden soil, or you'll soon have a comfrey farm...

The bumble bees are busy adoring every pink bloom on the comfrey. There are loads of bees this spring (bumblebees -- but I'm seeing very very few wild honeybees) and they are loving the comfrey!


Bees are hard to photograph. They are, after all, very busy.



And very beautiful in their yellow and black velvet coats.



And he's off to another flower!

So, after this experience, I'm putting a start of comfrey at the base of every new tree I plant. (Don't worry, not even comfrey can become invasive in our natural clay/gravel...) I'll let you know how it goes.

Like Clockwork, He Arrived April 15th

For the three Springtimes we've spent at Larrapin, the hummers have arrived promptly on tax day, April 15th. This year was no different and as usual we were scrambling to get the feeders up as he was zooming around the spot where it usually hangs... It took me a while longer though, to get a proper welcome-back photo.

New Visitors to Larrapin

These two lovelies are like flying jewels. They are fans of the
mutton suet we've located at the Fayetteville Farmers Market. It's
incredible and the birds LOVE it even birds that aren't usually found on suet feeders.

(And it's nice that it's a sustainable local product.)

This cute redhead is a big fan.

And this red-all-over lovely (summer tanager?) is also a fan. I
didn't know they would go for suet but *everybody* loves this suet.
This photo is foggy because of the extreme zoom. He was sitting out in
the golden locust and made quite a colorful sight.

Here he is, smaller, but better focus.



And here, gobbling mutton suet...




Here is the tanager's lovely wife, who also has a taste for this amazing suet!
Welcome to the new summer visitors!

The Beauty of a Clothesline, Part II

When Is a Clothesline a Work of Art?, originally uploaded by Gardener At Larrapin.

I posted the pic above a few days ago, when the sun was shining enough to dry clothes in about an hour. Today it's raining and I want to add my promised addendum to the clothesline post. Thanks "Amanda" for your comment and agreement about the beauty of clothes hung out to dry -- and the silliness of communities that outlaw this simple way to save energy.

One group has gone even further to celebrate the clothesline:

Project Laundry List
Our Mission: Project Laundry List uses words, images, and advocacy to educate people about how simple lifestyle modifications, including air-drying one’s clothes, reduce our dependence on environmentally and culturally costly energy sources.

What fun! And why not get behind these simple things that can go a long way to reducing energy usage.

The main block to handing out clothes (as long as you don't live in a clotheslines-outlawed community) is lack of time. Then the question becomes: Do I want to have the kind of life where I don't even have time to stand out in my lovely back yard and hang up clothes while listening to the birds sing? That is the kind of question that has driven me to seek more simplicity and less consumerism. The less I buy and spend, the less I have to work outside the home, the more time I get to spend with the wind, the birds and my family. Now that's a good deal.

I'll end with this wonderfully poetic take on the beauty of clotheslines from poet Mendy Knott called "Instruments of Peace" from her blog A Creative Life. Here's a snippet:

"Looking out the window, hands in the kitchen sink
washing up the dishes gives a person time to think.
I see our colorful clothing fly,
this old Arkansas home’s prayer flags;
from t-shirts stitched with slogans to denims and dust rags.
The blessed sun shines down.
The breeze it blows and fills.
They sail and pull at pins
as if the billowing clothes
could keep this old world spinnin’
spinnin’ spinnin’ spinnin’ spinnin’
spinnin’ round."

(Read Mendy's whole poem here: Instruments of Peace)

First Harvest at Larrapin

First Harvest at Larrapin, originally uploaded by Gardener At Larrapin.

While we've nibbled out of the Spinach bed already, tonight we had
these two batches of greens to harvest before the big thunderstorms
that are coming. That's spinach on the right and Ragged Jack/Russian
kale on the left. We love to saute it with a little olive oil and
garlic in a big iron skillet (or wok). It stays very green and is
delicious.

When Is a Clothesline a Work of Art?

When Is a Clothesline a Work of Art?, originally uploaded by Gardener At Larrapin.

There's just everything right about a good clothesline: good for the
clothes, good for the environment and in my opinion they are often
lovely to look upon. More on clotheslines soon.

Spinach Fortress: Don't Laugh -- It worked!

Spinach Fortress: Don't Laugh -- It worked!, originally uploaded by Gardener At Larrapin.

The spinach seemed to draw the bunnies as well as the guinea hens (see "Guineas Under House Arrest" below...) so out of desperation one day I put up this stick fence around the spinach and pea bed. You can't see the peas because the guineas had munched them to the ground when the rabbits weren't doing the same. It worked! With the guineas secure in their pen, the fence keeps the bunnies at bay. I think it's kind of cute, so I left it.

We've had several spinach salads out of this bed already. It's spring planted so it's just now getting going really well. Year before last I planted fall spinach and overwintered it -- now THAT's the way to have big delicious spinach really really early! I hope to remember to do it again this fall.

New Grosbeak Visitor

New Grosbeak Visitor, originally uploaded by Gardener At Larrapin.

I mentioned that we've had lots more birds this year since we've put "backyard habitat" practices into place. This is a new visitor. Look at that cheeky posture and the rakish red scarf! Welcome to Larrapin Garden friend!

Cherry Blossoms Falling Beautifully

Cherry Blossoms Falling Beautifully, originally uploaded by Gardener At Larrapin.

This was from a week or so ago - an ornamental cherry that drops its blossoms in sheets of pink. They are even lovely on the ground.

What was particularly funny (though impossible to photograph) was the sight of the young male roadrunner dashing about with a fat cherry blossom in his beak instead of his usual stick (he's building nests everywhere) or dead lizard!

Here's a happy veggie tale

Here's a happy veggie tale
Originally uploaded by larrapin67.





Lesson learned: Kale seeds last a long time! Story tomorrow.

Glimmer the Golden Locust

We had a golden locust back in NC and Mendy adored it, so I got her one in November 2005 for her Arkansas yard. The color in this photo is unretouched -- it really glows like that, particularly with dark evergreens behind. She named it Glimmer. (Mendy also names the roadrunners, woodpeckers, etc) Of course this photo was taken before the freeze. Those golden locks are now dangling like weary streamers... But they'll come back, I hope. In the WNC mountains, the locust loved full sun. Here in AR it enjoys morning sun and seems to enjoy plenty of added water, at least in the these first two years. Those are daffodils, with a couple of faded, remaining blooms planted around the locust.

Seedlings: Before and After Mouse

Seedling trays, before the mouse. (Remove all traces of green and you'll have the "after" picture.)

Strawberries Survived thanks to straw and goat contributions!

The strawberry bed, prior to the freeze. This may be the one bed that survived. I packed it thick and covered it with stable straw (yes, including those warming goat pellets...) and then covered it with a tarp. As of last night, the blooms were still warm and cozy. We'll see...

In fairness..

Matilda complained for equal airtime on the blog, so here she is grazing on that same (now-lost) warm day.

Petunia asks: Where did all the springtime go??

This green, green photo with Petunia on her tie-out rope getting some springtime grazing in, is history. After three nights of temps in the mid-teens, we've been zapped back into time by what feels like three weeks or so. Cherry blooms, blueberry blooms, peony buds, rose leaves -- all zapped.

To add insult to injury, the four flats of heirloom seedlings I put in the heated workshop for safety were nearly all eaten to the soil by a mouse (?) last night. Preferred mouse grazing apparently includes nasturtiums, cilantro, parsley, basil, heirloom zapotec and ananas noir tomoatoes, and coneflower seedlings. They were all so tiny, that it didn't take much to leave me with nothing more than seed-starter potting mix lined up in trays.

Alas, such is gardening. Perhaps by tomorrow I will have regained my mojo. Right now I just feel sad. Those kinds of seedlings, needless to say, can't be bought down at the garden center, and even if I had the heart to replant today, I'd be far behind the season. So, this years summer garden may be built more from the local garden center and farmers co-op seedling selections. Thank goodness for those.

As for Petunia and Matilda, they slept through most of the cold in the deep straw of their house, cuddled up together like puppies. Ahh, the life of a yard goat.

First Butterfly of the Season

Followed this beauty all over the yard to get a portrait! These are the little blue flowers which are everywhere this year ...still don't know the name.

Mid-March Daffodils

After a week of balmy springtime, it's cloudy and cool today. This photo is from a week or so ago, when new daffodils I planted last fall were beginning to bloom. I found a big bag a hundred bulbs at a local store for $14 and decided to plant them as a surprise for Mendy. That new, very bare tree in the photo is the Golden Locust I gave her in November 2005. I'll post pictures of the amazing green-gold leaves as soon as the tree has some this year! The bluish cast on the foreground are tiny blue wildflowers whose name I don't know yet...

Now that the daffodils have started, I hope to plant a hundred every autumn, all down the gentle slope that is the backyard. That's the view out the kitchen window while washing dishes -- one of the most important vistas of the garden design in our opinions.

Digging a little hole even big enough for a daffodil is a challenge in this incredibly rocky soil. I cheated on these and used the soft dirt around the new tree, which I busted up already. Under the sycamore there are huge roots -- real danger for the riding mower, so I cheated by planting the bulb nearly on top of the ground, then covered with a few inches of top soil from my dwinding pile (purchased from a "dirt farm" in Prairie Grove, AR) then topped it all off with shredded leaves for the winter. Judging from the results, this works! More on my favorite leaf shredders in the next post!

Bluebirds Shopping for Real Estate?

I was so hopeful when these two spent a few days fluttering around the birdhouse. But I'm not sure if the closing went through because I haven't seen them on it lately and when I peeked today, there's no nest building going on in there. Hmmm.