Mother's Day

An early gift from my husband. I hope the birds love it as much as I do.

Royal Anne

Cherries!

Our poor old Royal Anne cherry tree is putting on quite a show this year. Today was the warmest day we have had since spring really got going and the blooms were very happy to see it! This tree is really two trees. The original tree is a "wild" cherry with little dark fruits hardly bigger than the pit. My aunt grafted the Royal Anne to it, probably 25 years or more ago. The Royal Anne is losing the battle for dominance though. Every year the wild cherry gains a few feet of canopy over the Royal Anne. We need a tree surgeon...but for now, it is all glorious!

An Insult to Spring

Proof that April is the cruelest month. Awoke this morning to snow. Good grief.

Sunday in the Garden

As you may have noticed, I am adopting ideas from other book blogs for routine postings. "It's Tuesday, Where Are You?", and "Wordless Wednesday", for example. While someone else in the blogosphere may be doing this already, I am going to attempt a weekly "Sunday in the Garden" posting. Today's premiere entry epitomizes spring in western Oregon. The picture was taken at the end of a raging hailstorm. As I write this post, 20 minutes later, the sun is out and la la la la la.

Weed Free (For Now)

At last! A mild off and on sunny day, a back on the mend...time to weed the asparagus bed. As you can see, it is finished, and am I ever glad. The path to the car meanders right by the asparagus bed, so every day I saw those awful weeds. I got them out just in time too. The bitter cress was in bloom and had already set a few seeds. I accidentally raked out a white asparagus tip, so things are already working down there. The soil was surprisingly friable for this early. We are pretty far behind our normal winter rainfall and it shows in the garden.

Monsieur Milbert would shake his head and remind me that I am a month late getting this done...but at least it is FINALLY finished.

Now, C will work a few buckets of compost into the soil. Then, we wait.

Monsieur Milbert, Asparagus Bed, and Bitter Cress

Monsieur Milbert, the crusty old gardener profiled in Amanda Hesser's wonderful book, The Cook and the Gardener is my gardening conscience. When he is preparing his asparagus beds in January, I feel guilty if I am not out in the garden doing the same. For several years I have used this book as my kitchen garden calendar. The climate in Western Oregon is very similar to that of Burgundy, so it works. Earlier last week, when I looked ahead to this weekend's weather forecast, I was hopeful. But, yesterday we didn't break 40 degrees. Today, the sun came out, and the temps came up, but so did the northeast breeze, bringing in the wind chill factor. Since I am a lazy gardener, I decided to take pictures and then post on my blog instead. Maybe next weekend, Monsieur Milbert...

Not only is the asparagus bed a mess, but those little "poppy" weeds are sprouting up EVERYWHERE. A few years ago we noticed an ever-increasing plague of these pretty little weeds. They are edible but with two Scottie dogs in the yard, we prefer to toss them into the weed bucket. "Bitter cress" is the common name. We call them "poppy" weeds because if they set seeds, they "pop" everywhere when touched. A friend told us that the Forest Service planted bitter cress for erosion control and now everybody has them in their garden. Whether or not this is true, it sounds possible. Anyway...we hate bitter cress.