June 17, 2012

June Blooms and Harvests


The weather has definitely turned summery.  It almost is summer so that's good! ChloĆ© is officially finished exams and is on a 4-day end-of-year school trip to Tadoussac to see whales among other things. She's never been away for more than one night so it feels quite strange and the house is definitely quiet without her. Emma still has two exams to write.  It's only two weeks now until she graduates from high school.

This week, ChloĆ© and I took Meeko for a walk where we knew there was a patch of wild strawberries growing.  We picked quite a few (Meeko too) and just in time.  The huge municipal lawn mowers appeared on the horizon just as we were getting up to leave.  There was talk of making custard tarts topped with the wild berries but, with exams, there wasn't really time to make elaborate recipes.  We ate them on cereal and mixed into yogurt instead. I particularly love their sweet smell.

Proof of my strawberry picking time (the hole was already there)
My square-foot vegetable garden is doing beautifully.  

The above photo was taken the day the vegetables were planted.  Here it is four weeks later:

Yesterday I picked some lovely French breakfast radishes and ate them. Delicious. The mesclun is beautiful right now and ready for a lovely salad tonight.

Yesterday afternoon, I thinned out the beets, swiss chard and turnips, planting the seedlings I removed in some squares I had left empty.  I also fed the tomatoes some organic fertilizer.

In our front yard, the 'Royal Wedding' Oriental poppies have just bloomed.  I showed them to Emma yesterday and she said 'You show them to me every year.' Imagine how boring I am to live with. :)

And finally, here's a photo I took this morning of some tangled shadows.  I love this.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend. Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there!


9 comments:

  1. Ah, berries..! Love every berry I know during this season, it´s like eatable gold! :-)

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    1. Me too! We are waiting for our serviceberries to ripen, and they are close judging from the bird activity around them. They are my favourite berries of all.

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  2. your garden looks amazing
    all your hard work has been rewarded

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    1. Thanks Margie. Gardens are wonderfully rewarding.

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  3. Everything looks delicious- even the flowers. And I LOVE your old zinc watercing can - what a great subject for a painting!

    Father's Day here is quite a while away - not till our Springtime. Hope yours is a good one!

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    1. My sister gave me that watering can. I love it. It's a little leaky because I made the mistake of leaving it out this past winter but I think I can fix it with some silicone. You're right. It would be lovely to paint!

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  4. Everythings blooming lovely there Kathleen! I'm hoping to get in the garden tomorrow, sun might shine for a couple of days at least, then back to rain :( All green things have gone mad with all the rain we've had! What are serviceberries? I'm waiting for my raspberries, they are there, but not ripe yet, need MORE sun!!!What happens after high school for your oldest girl? My son will be doing his final year at Uni come Sept, house will be very quiet again.

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    1. Hi Julie-Rain is good, as long as you get some sunshine too! We had too many rainy days in a row a week or so ago but it has been lovely the past few days. Serviceberries have all sorts of names. Their botanical name is amelanchier. I have them in bush and tree form here--seven in all. We'll be lucky to get a handful of berries though as the bird traffic has been incredible the past two days. The berries taste like blueberries but even better if you can imagine.

      Emma goes to CEGEP next year. That is a two-year college program in between high school and university here in Quebec. The one she has chosen is close by.

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  5. Waaaaaah you make me crave a garden so hard ;( ... I would love to make my food grow ! What a difference 4 weeks make in the garden, that's pretty amazing, right ?!
    I wish you a bountiful garden all through summer my friend ! Enjoy !! oxox

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Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog and to leave me a comment. I love reading them. -- Kathleen

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