Sunday, August 05, 2007

Soulful Sunday

Fall is here, in little glimmers. The weeping willow is starting her long descent towards winter with hints of yellow amongst her green leaves, and below, the grapes with just a few reddened leaves telling of the cool nights of late, and cooler nights yet to come...
Baby acorns...
Prune Plums will be the next to ripen...already these are much bluer than pictured here...
Apples...I have spent a great deal of time protecting the apples we do have...fingers crossed...the Gravenstein are almost ready...Pictured above, Wealthy Apple...Pictured below red raspberries...we have raspberries in abundance, many golden berries as well now long gone, until a small crop in the fall...Day Lily Show:


Yucca Plant...This hardy tropical ornamental is an amazing addition to the landscape. They take at least 7 years to come into flower, but what a show when they do! BlogLag update: This baby is in full bloom right now-stay tuned-
More Vista Magic...

Saturday, July 28, 2007

coolpix5000

The honey bees and bumblebees are at their peak right. Happy, happy. Above is an ecstatic honey bee on a Shasta daisy, which are great homestead perennials. This clump actually came in with a scattered cut flower mix several years ago...

Volunteer Sweet Pea (love 'em) and an immature garden spider...
The cloud activity has been notable...Day Lily Show Soon To Come...Day lily close up.....
The Santa Rosa Plum...Now completely done, but what a feast it was! The plums are truly coming on. What a banner year for stone fruit. A bountiful (perfect spring) year like this, happens only a couple times every decade...More Santa Rosa Plums...These are later, way meatier, and less juicy and tart. They are my favorite. This tree is young, and appears to have a more upright habit than my other SR plum, perhaps it is an improved version...
This Yellow Plum from Stark Brothers is the most amazing little tree! It is so catalog perfect in appearance, and the flavor is wonderful. They are mild, meaty and not acidic at all. Plus, their yellow color makes them less inviting to the birds. It is obviously early to bear too, as this tree has only been in the ground 2 winters...
Amazing California Poppies....Late sown poppies...rare white and red varieties...
Snoopy...
Pepper...
Grapes...Pinot Noir...
Coolpix5000 trial run...
Am I smarter than the camera? It sure helps if you read the book! I have been playing around with a new camera and the download had me stumped for a while...It is loaded with options but relatively easy to operate. It provides awesome close ups, and great design in terms of handling - EZ grip.

What a great time of year! The weather has been foggy and pretty much on the cool side for about a week. Makes for less pressure on the watering chores and lovely mornings after sweet cool nights. More later... Jj

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Untitled July Post


Wildflower...
Amazing Cloud Action...

Unknown Flowering Ornamental Shade Tree...From the Salmon Creek School Plant Fair ...I Picked this up several years ago...I do not know its name but it is a beautiful and hardy ornamental. The blossoms reminds me of snapdragons.....Does it have the word "monkey" in it's name? Maybe...you tell me...
Satsuma Plum...I have thinned and thinned, and this plum tree is still absolutely laden with fruit. They are already cracking open from the rain. So far, the Greengage, and Santa Rosa have shown no signs of splitting. We are eating lots of plums. More pics to come...
Poppy...
Wild, BlackCap Raspberry...
Apples...
Glads...
Lavender Soon Over...In the afternoon light....
Day Lily Show: Part 2....
I am loving the Sunflowers....and below, rare RED California Poppy, preparing to pop.
What can be said? The days are long and time is short. The weather has been cool and somewhat cloudy since our big rain on Wednesday. The sun tried to shine today but it was barely warm enough for shorts. I continue to water even though the ground is moist all over. The rain was sweet, but even though it rained hard enough to runoff, the ground is moistened only about 3"-4" down. Still, many of the cracks in the earth did swell some, and the garden feels fresh and moist. I am using these overcast days to deep water, and mulch. I am amazed at the beauty of the last week. Many flowers are coming out, the fruit is luscious and plentiful, and with the rain, everything is moist and inviting. We made a fantastic mulberry crisp today. It is one of my favorite quick, and EZ desserts, for when there is a bounty of fruit that needs to be consumed.

FRESH FRUIT CRISP:
Preheat the oven to about 350*. Line the bottom of your pan with fresh whole berries, thinly sliced apples, sliced pears, peaches or plums, or combination that you have in abundance, or seems appealing to you. Generously dot the fruit with margerine or butter (for low fat, simply omit) and top with 2-4 TBS sugar OR honey. (If using pears or apples, I always add cinnamon) In a separate bowl, combine equal amounts of margerine/butter OR oil, and sweetener, such as brown or white sugar, maple syrup or honey. Add to this, equal amounts of oats, flour, and finely chopped walnuts. This mixture should be crumbly, not wet. (APPRX> 1/2 cup oil, and1/2 cup sweetener, to about a 1 cup each, oats, flour, and nuts...) Bake your crisp until it is bubbly on the bottom, and a crispy golden brown on top. Cool. Enjoy! (Fresh fruit crisp is especially good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or dollop of Brown Cow (Cream on Top) yogurt!)
Have a bloomin' good weekend!

Jj