Gardening part 3- Ready, set, swat, GO

You can just about hear the commentary-


ANDTHEY'REOFF-

AND they took off from the gate fast, the peas and onions are in the ground- but look- here comes the rain and the gardeners are falling a few lengths behind.  Rounding the curve towards summertime, gardeners are starting to catch up by putting out their beets, potatoes, carrots and greens, but wait, here comes the flock of mosquitos that will drive them into the house early.  But the gardeners won't be defeated, armed with OFF and heavy clothing, they are out there in the back stretch putting in their beans and tomatoes. Rounding the final turn, the cukes and squash are being put in before the rains stop and the deer flys begin!!  It is a race to the finish- the crowd is going wild!!!  It is the gardeners winning by a glove!!

Can you tell I watched the Belmont yesterday??  HAHA

Anyway, it is a race to get the garden in right now, as it seems - finger crossed- that perhaps it won't get so cold as to kill off the plant-life.  We shall see.  Every night, the MA gets out to the garden and plants a little more stuff- tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, greens, beets, carrots, etc etc.  I will be joining the party to do a little volunteering when it comes to weeding, but I am trying to get a handle on the flower gardens.

 

Things have grown like crazy with the  warm temps and the water that has fallen.  The flower beds have gotten so big, and so have the weeds.  But that is the way it goes!

So for the garden update, ready set GO and plant it all!!   The only limitations is the weather, your available time and your tolerance to mosquitos**.  The weather looks like nice and warm (not hot!) for the days and coolish evenings, which is really awesome for us here and relatively nice for the garden plants.  Occasional rain rounds out a fairly nice outlook for the next 10 days.

Enjoy your summer!!  I know I will!!

**Side note - I read today that because it got warm all of a sudden, ALL OF THE MOSQUITOS hatched at once.  With all the standing water, this was quite a crop. This same article also stated that this should be an average year for mosquitos.  I'll believe it when I see it!

Berry picking!

The raspberries this year are simply amazing!!  The mosquito population must agree, because we are quite popular when there are berries to be picked!  There are so many it is ridiculous.

  

We have an area on our land that was logged a few years ago, if you live in the northwoods, or maybe elsewhere, you know that wild raspberries frequently show up a couple years after this type of event.  

So we have a bumper crop this year.  And it seems such a shame not to pick them!  

The Mad-Accountant  and I revisit childhood at this time of the year.  Memories of Grandpa Bruch abound and some of the adventures they had together.  I recall the berry picking and raspberries and cream that Grandma Oberley provided up in Walker, MN.  It is a precious time to remember for both of us.  AND the berries ROCK!!!!  

*****  NOTE:  these pix were taken with the iPhone and are not the best as lighting was a little lacking.  So the blur and lack of details is something I apologize for!

I walked out there but here is the berry picking "yoda"

And there are so many more to come!

Just an hour of picking and mosquito swatting produced this last week

The black berries are on fire, too!  The first picture you really can't see the berries, but the second one, you can see the branches laden with unripe fruit.  I don't like blackberries all that much, but a few are fine.

There is an awesome picture here, I just have to drag my camera out there and take a good one!

A JOY of summer time!!

**** Are you freaked out by the fact I posted while in MN????  HAHAHA  I have my ways!!!