Thursday, May 10, 2012

Spring has Sprung

Spring time has come to Rockwell Avenue in full force. It actually came over a month ago, but it was not until the last week She really took hold here.

 The beds out front are all filling in from their Winter hibernation.   
 The Dutch iris that came with the house, which came with the previous owners purchase from the previous owners purchase are in full bloom. They smell like "purple" to Beth.
 The strawberries over wintered in the shed. 
The Mock Orange is in full glory. The scent from this bush comes into the house all day and night for about two weeks. I wish I could bottle it, but then I have 50 weeks to look forward to it's bloom again.
 The garlic we got from Baker's Acres of Chenango is absolutely bumping. This is the second year of this strain being planted here in Maryland. I selected the 10 largest heads for this crop. I will do the same for next years crop too. This garlic will be harvested on the Summer Solstice. 
 We have tomatoes in the ground now too. These are our cooking and canning tomatoes. We plan to put up a good deal of sauce this year.
 The chard is bumping too. A first picking is coming soon. Last time we planted chard it lasted a year and a half before we dug it up. 
 Here is the sandwich tomatoes. BTW, all our tomatoes are heirloom varieties. My favorite tomato, German Stripped is in the mix. We have a tomatillo too. The lettuce... if you want some, come by. We have too much and have had a salad every night for a few weeks now. We could use some help with eating it all.
 The chives. This clump refuses to die. I have tried very hard to kill it but it just flourishes. The flowers are an excellent addition to the salad. Very delicate flavor and nice visual contrast in the bowl.


 Beets, we got em too...

 The King of my garden. What can I say about my favorite grass.