Sweet Corn

This first sunflower (about 6 feet tall) always seems the prettiest.  The brown center is 8 inches across. Add the yellow petals and it is 12 inches across. It came up by itself among the tomatoes and peas.  It attracts bees to pollinate these and other nearby crops. The yellow petals are edible, and when…

I don’t usually post on Sunday, but feel I must say that we are safe from the terrible wind and rain storm we had today.  The wind felt more like a tornado than a thunderstorm.  We could see the cloud line coming — dark and roiling.  Worst I have ever seen.  The wind was horizontal…

Just noticed some random garlics that I failed to dig up last year. When the whole bulb is left in the ground like these, they produce tightly-bunched tiny bulbs. They are hard to peal and should not be planted as next year’s seeds. They are putting up scapes already. Scapes  are long, curled spikes with…

Some 6 plants came up from last year and we have been eating the new leaves.  Now I see that they are starting to bolt.  That means they are putting up flower stems from which I will get seeds for next year.  They are biennial producers i.e. first year leaves, second year seeds. They are…

Our backyard appears a sanctuary for birds.  We have all types – robin, cardinal, sparrow, purple finch, yellow finch, and bluebirds.  The babies are all off the nests; and moms and dads are frantically trying to teach them to find their own food and to stay safe.  So fun to see an adult bird fly…