Pots of Herbs

Pots of Herbs
Originally uploaded by linfrye

Daily Practice
Journal

Thank you all for your kind comments yesterday. I spent a fair amount of time outdoors in our cooler morning temps trimming some of the plants that have responded so well to the spring rains ... actually, some of them looked like they could fit easily into a jungle scene! LOL And though I won my first battle with those blister beetles, the war rages on ... I found them on my basil and tomatoes and hit them again with insecticides. Geez!

But it has been an incredible year for our fruit production -- we collected over a quart of blueberries yesterday, after collecting the same quantity last week ... and there's about the same remaining. I'm so glad they don't ripen all at once! We have four small bushes of blueberries - not too many in the scheme of things - but with the spring rains we've had, the water seems to have given our fruit trees and shrubs a huge boost. We had mulberries for the first time on our young tree - enough to make jam, our early apples are coming in - enough to make apple sauce, and now all the blueberries. My fingers are crossed the figs will be as productive!

The small scene I sketched is from a photo I took in Italy, but it could have been anywhere, actually, including my front steps. Herbs, my own included, have also been doing well, except for the spring basil that seemed to drown in all the rain the fruit trees enjoyed! Lavender, rosemary, sage .... my mint has been harvested twice already and dried for winter use.

I've noted that the honey is ready from a bee keeper down the road, so we'll provision our stores with some of the smoothest honey around ... and we're off to the farmer's market for more corn and beans. We pulled off our first 'cherry' tomatoes yesterday - finally red (3 weeks behind the Arboretum's tomatoes!) -- and I would love to send each of you one of the patty pan squash I keep plucking! For one single squash plant, we've collected over 20 squash! No, truly, it is not a green thumb per se since I am gone so much to take care of these generous plants. I do believe they're responding to the good soil we added, a bit of fertilizer and water at the proper time. With the high heat of summer coming on, we're grateful for this early production because it won't last much longer!

Off to the market -- have a great day!