Tuesday evening

A milkweed beetle!! Very exciting! It’s sitting on a tepary bean though, silly friend.
Salvia greggii are doing amazing right now.
“landlocked gumbo” says the Chef. Okra, mini bell pepper, tam jalapeño pepper, and moss curled parsley all from garden.

Fancy, that’ll teach me (Wednesday dinner)

Course 1: garlic lemon aioli with rolled prosciutto, atop bacon fat flatbread, on a bed of radicchio, drizzled with goji tomatillo (garden) syrup, topped with Leonberger cheese, and garnished with a mini bell pepper slice (garden) and white currant tomatoes (garden).
Course 2: venison bone broth made with carrots, celery, parsley (garden), with chopped onions (last of garden) and pearled barley, garnished with mini bell peppers (garden) and served with the bacon fat flatbread.
Course 3: braised venison shoulder seasoned with rosemary (garden), shiitake mushroom, serrano peppers (a friend’s garden), and onion (garden). Plated with radicchio, garlic lemon aioli, sliced tomatoes (garden), and a sea of goji tomatillo (garden) syrup.
In lieu of pictures of course 4 (fresh vanilla bean frozen custard a la Paula), here is the dog hoping for course 3. We ate the ice cream and didn’t take a picture. 😎

Moving day

The two black swallowtail cats I moved to parsley from my carrots seem to be settling in after an hour.
So I moved the third. Here it is very angry still on carrots. Its orange “horns” are defense with a foul smelling liquid. Smelled sort of like a rotten orange to me but I have a bad sense of smell.

Assorted non-bee news (mostly)

Roundup is starting to take effect on Bermuda grass. I can’t plant the buffalograss until I get that nasty invader out.
A different bumblebee (or maybe robber fly mimic?? It flew different I thought) came to get water while I watered rainbow garden beds.
Saturday morning dog. She is four years old as of Friday!
Ironweed buds! Looking forward to the purple!
Briar helping me garden on her birthday. Buffalograss corner of prairie is a good laying spot!
I trimmed all the dying dill and cilantro out of the herb bed so I could see what’s going on with parsley, sage, and oregano better.

French onion soup

First we must get approval of herbs (moss curled parsley) from the sous chef.
The cooking begins.
French onion soup with a side of chicken. Onions and parsley from the garden.

Post-thunderstorm quick check

Parnsips up in a few clumps.
Based on location I believe a few moss curled parsley seedlings are up.  Cilantro was up too in other spots.
Green milkweed opening the seed leaves. Previously they were mostly rooting only.
Top soil for Rudbeckia fulgida washed away.
Top soil for evening primrose also washed away.  Both this and Rudbeckia were under rain barrel stands so I think that doesn’t provide enough shelter in a big rain like last night.  I think the blue flax seedlings all washed away sadly. Hopefully the ones I put in ground will make it. Hard to find those though once i planted them. The green milkweed were under the patio table and still got lots of good rain water.

Earwigs vs bunnies

Last night I took Briar out for her final business trip of the evening and noticed this big pile of earwigs feasting on fallen oak buds. Okay, I knew we had a lot of earwigs. I knew they nibbled on my purple potatoes last year. I have also suspected them of getting a few seedlings, like my coreopsis seedlings.

However, these earwigs chose an awfully suspicious place to dine. Right next to a denuded branch of moss-curled parsley.

Wes has just constructed me an anti-bunny defense screen for the front yard raised beds. So, soon we’ll find out… Are the bunnies really the culprits of the lost seedlings of mizuna, bok choy, and carrots? Did they, as suspected, eat all the leaves off my front yard parsley? Or am I going to have to find out if diatomaceous earth really works on earwigs?

Stay tuned.

The earwigs are above my finger and my finger points to the nibbled parsley.

More seeds

Put out beets, cilantro (I’d like it to become self-sustaining since it goes to seed so nicely), and moss-curled parsley in the raised beds.

Lunch time front yard raised beds garden check

This front yard cilantro survived while others didn’t. No idea why.  Unless it’s I’m wrong and it’s a parnsip. Mystery.
Walking onions in their usual winter state.
Sad garlic leaves.
Helper puts her face in my face as I lean over to look at plants.
I think the onion sets might make it.
Moss curled parsley might make it.  Backyard ones much happier right now.
Lettuce seems damaged but alive.
Spinach is fine.
Oregano may make it.
Goodbye, sugar snap peas.