Since our cold frame is currently disassembled (meaning non-existent), I decided to just sow some lettuce in the one available, clear area that I knew would not get messed with. It could sort of act like mulch for the asparagus also. I will sow the rest of this row in about a week so I can stagger my lettuce harvest a bit. It is about worthless in my opinion to buy loose leaf lettuce at the grocery. It's expensive, it always goes bad before I can eat it all, plus, it's incredibly easy to grow yourself (and cheap), even with a teeny bit of space and it just sits there until you are ready to harvest a salad amount at a time. Of course, it will eventually bolt but in cooler weather that takes awhile and you can get many servings before that happens.
Here is a few examples of the shrub starts that I did from prunings. You can see in front, with the teeny yellow buds, is one forsythia shrub and to the right and behind is 2 blueberry bushes. Just prune them off and stick 'em in the ground. Of course, not all take but many do and it's free. And yes, they are very small at first, just kinda like sticks, but they grow pretty fast, especially if you keep them in rich soil. Since I know these are rooted well now I'll transfer them soon.
And one of the most wonderful surprises of this week!!! The morels are starting!!! I am officially hooked on these things now.
I found enough for a nice supper and we pigged out. We celebrated their annual return again with a bit of steak and wine but I stuffed myself so on these that I honestly didn't end up eating much steak. Oh well. It makes a good breakfast. Hopefully, I caught these at the beginning of the season here, so I'm hoping to find more in the next couple of weeks. The Earth has a bounty if you know where to look!
Oh, and I meant to show ya'll these in the last post and forgot! When we were up at my Mom's for Easter and were outside taking those photos, I noticed a small flock of birds that settled in a great big oak tree right by us. My brother did not appear to notice but I knew immediately that there was something different about these birds.
Their soft, muted colors and just the way they landed all around us seemed foreign somehow. Upon closer inspection with my telephoto lens I then knew that I had never seen these before! Unfortunately, I did not have my most powerful lens (I figured I wouldn't need it! ha!) and so I could not get real close or detailed shots but these are enough that I'm pretty certain that these are Cedar Waxwings. I was just mesmerized by them. I would guess there were about 20-25 in this group.
They sat around preening and just enjoying the sun. Didn't seem bothered by us at all. Which made me happy. It was fantastic to get to observe them so such a long time.
I wish a group would come by the house so I could get a better shot (maybe) but I'm ecstatic to have seen them and gotten these. I really had no idea that Waxwings ever came down here, so it was a real surprise for me.
10 comments:
That's how it starts. You find your first mess of mushrooms and get hooked. The following year you are out in the woods a bit earlier and search more places than the previous year trying to find more of them. Eventually you end up like me where I disappear for a month at a time, driving hundreds of miles to this spot or that, walking tens of miles here and there trying to get my next Morel fix. I collect them by the pound and try all sorts of ways to eat them from breading and frying to sauteing to simply injecting them directly in the veins between my toes so the needle marks aren't obvious!
I love waxwings! Once you learn their soft trill you will be able to find them more easily.
Hey Ed! haha! Yep...Jack and I were just discussing where some other possible morel sites around the state would be. :D
Hey Mya! I don't remember hearing them, oddly enough. Maybe I will see them again.
I've seen such a flock of cedar waxwings at Roundrock only once, and they didn't seem bothered by us or the dogs far below them either.
Morels. We found some at Roundrock once too and brought them home to eat. I was not captivated by them. Since then, we've never found them again, and I suspect some local is out foraging my woods. I don't suppose I mind too much.
Hey Pablo! I would bet someone is foraging them too! You are one of the few people I've known that said you did not care for morels; most people goes nuts over them. Different strokes and all that! I have to say I love the "meaty" flavor of them.
Nice beginnings to the garden and the birds are so beautiful, I have never seen anything like them before
Wonderful seasonal happenings post Annie. What really made me swoon was the Cedar Waxwings. One of my favorites. The first time I saw them I was reading a book at the dining room table. I looked up just as a flock of magical birds swooped in and landed in the trees.
Hey Erin! Wow! great story! they made me swoon too! I SO wish I had had my better camera lens.
Love the cedar waxwings. I know they love holly berries and cedar berries of course. I first saw them in Middle Ga. I've seen them in Spanish Ft.Al. I saw a scissor tail fly catcher @ Ft. Morgan in March. INdigo buntings are here, I saw a female painted a few days ago @ my feeder, and a male painted bunting late in the day. I love seeing the migrating birds. I have even seen sandhill cranes down here in Lower Al. Never knew there was such diversity here. tammy
Annie, I love visiting here. The forsythia is lovely, and who knew you could simply stick a blueberry trimming in the ground? The cedar waxwings are a thrill! Of course, I never see the in Fla.
You sound as though you are feeling better--and that is the best part of all.
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