June 02, 2018
The poppies are ablaze in the garden and the red hot pokers look like fire. The yellow, red and orange poker spears attract humming birds that don't seem to be able to share. The blue love in a mist flowers are a bit shy and scarce this time of year but the snap dragons are flagrantly colorful. The hollyhocks are not flowering yet but when they start they will continue all summer long. The asparagus spears have grown three feet tall and look like defoliated pine trees..
This is their akward stage when they remind you of the aftermath of a forest fire. The creeping jenny is beginning to produce bright yellow flowers making me not hate it so much. I'll be picking zucchini in a few days so summer has begun..
June 03, 2018
Straw mulch can have a bit too much glare for us grandpa gardeners. We like our summer gardens to be a utopia of shade, with cool breezes and oasis like tranquility. Our winter gardens are preferably a warm and sunny retreat. That's why so many of us become snow birds. Using a pitchfork to flip over the windrows cut down on the glare significantly. The underside of the hay is dull and tan. No need for sunglasses anymore..
Half the garlic got dug up today. It was looking so good last week that I didn't want to harvest it. I cut the water to it, like you're supposed to do, and it dried out and got ugly looking. That made it easier to remove. It will be in one of my shade spots in the garden for a couple of weeks, and it looks much better laying on the drying table, as oposed to standing in the parched earth..
June 04, 2018
I took the cordless weed eater for a tour of the garden yesterday evening after dinner. It's a good time for summer gardening because the shadows are long and cool. It was sweet. I always hated weedeaters because they are loud and heavy and take fuel mixing and pull starting. You have to keep bumping the head to advance the string and get worn out carrying it. Not this jewel. Just pull the trigger and walk. Down the pathways I went, swinging it side to side..
I discovered that along with a creeping jenny problem I also have a mint problem. Everywhere I had cut it down before came back with a vengeance. The volunteer garlic came back too and I realized that I really prefer it gone. I let some native grass varieties grow because the seed stalks blowing in the wind are calming. They tend to crowd the pathways sometimes, but I found that as I pass by them with the weed eater I can just turn it sideways and trim them up. Sweet..
