We had a rainstorm! It actually rain enough to get everything wet and make streams run down the gutters. Utah tends to have a pathetic amount of good summer thunderstorms. So I enjoyed this one. I went outside and got wet. And I threw my kids outside too. Not for long, just enough to lighten my mood and have a very happy day. The kids were a little less enthused about it. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t get some good pictures of them.
If it rains, the best thing to do is enjoy it.
PB kept covering his ears from the loud train whistle. But he enjoyed this day trip, and even got his Junior Ranger badge.
Many current garden trends involve pushing away from a firm dividing line between the ornamental and functional. So instead of having a dedicated kitchen garden separated from the formal front yard, plants are combined for maximum use. A front yard specimen tree can also bear fruit, annual flower beds contain a variety of vegetables and herbs, a shrub border provided habitat for birds and screening. I like this ideal. Mixing uses is more interesting, challenging and economical.
I’m working on an old project, a plant list spread sheet regarding plants in this area. I’m on the tree section, and one thing I’ve noticed is the division of ornamental and functional trees. Plant varieties have been commonly bred for only one purpose. For instance, plums are either bred for a specific fruit variety, or they are bred to not have fruit and look pretty. I can buy fruit that tastes great, or that have unique form or foliage, but hardly ever both. There are ornamental kale, peppers and herbs that blend the boundaries, but I would like to see more. How about a weeping apple tree, that still produces a good fall crop? Or grapes that are bred as much to be an ornamental vine as produce a good crop.
Do you know any good cross-purpose varieties, and what would you like to see?
The weeds, pests and I have reached a bit of a compromise in the garden. I am not longer to weed or treat (I’ve give up), but they also promise not to get any worse. Well, all except the zucchini are dying. Zucchini are not impenetrable. I’ve actually had quite a few die to wilt disease.
The kids love to play out there. I’ve lost my toddler as he sat in the back of the garden, picking unripe vegetables.
The giant sunflowers are a big hit. I’m still not sure if I’m actually going to harvest the seeds: I might leave the heads out as a natural bird feeder instead.
Right now, I’m getting plenty of cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, and cantaloupe. A few weeks back, I used a batch of cucs to make fermented dill pickles. They were doing great: smelled wonderful. But one day I opened up the bucket and discovered a foul smelling bacteria growing over everything. So the pickles ended up in the compost pile. I did try one: it was crisp and tasted amazing, except of the hint of foul bacteria growth. (I didn’t eat more than one, and I didn’t get sick off of it.) It give me motivation to try again, and I was pleasantly surprised the striped armenianas remained crisp. Next time, I’ll need to check them more, and probably can or refrigerator them earlier.
Here’s another shot of the sunflowers. I love them.
PB came up to me and asked me if there was a beehive in the tree. I said no, and he then proceeded to walk me over and show me this:
It still isn’t a beehive. It’s a bald face hornet nest. I think most regular people would take a step back, or maybe even some more dramatic freak out. I am too much a biologist. I got closer and investigated.
I’m still trying to decide what to do about it. Options include letting it be, spraying it, duct taping and dumping it, or calling the landlord. Right now, I’ve mostly just let it be. It might be a hazard for stings: when these hornets sting it hurts, and they can do it over and over again. But they also are not going to sting unprovoked. I can see a failed removal attempt causing a lot more damage than just letting it be.
I do want the nest. It could be both educational, and something to incorporate into the home decor. It is gorgeous. This link even has directions…
What would you do?
Update: I collected it in late fall.
PB likes to carry on long conversations that involve a lot of asking, “Why?” Sometimes I am hard pressed to answer.
And Mr. C likes to get into things. I tell him no and shake my finger at him…and he smiles and does it back to me. Today it made me laugh. But I am often exasperated because my wandering boy does not understand limits. I am sorry to my mom who had to deal with all my wanderings too. (One time I was following C and became curious as well…so I came along. We probably went where we weren’t supposed to be, but we did enjoy ourselves.)
My children remind me of Mindy from Animaniacs. At least they do call me Mom.
This post should contain a lot of pictures from the various fun outings we have. We went to a disc golf course, took an enjoyable bike ride on the Weber River Parkway, and waded in the river. All originated at the same parking lot, and we were done before lunch. PB has been practicing throwing a Frisbee and he’s pretty good. He can throw a good fifteen feet. We enjoy our wee-ride bike too, but I’m glad when I go with Joe and he rides it. It can be very heavy.
And now I don’t have any pictures because I left the camera battery at home. But check out the links if you are interested in some fun activities in Riverdale. This one has a map: we parked at the south trail head, where the disc golf course is located. The bike trail is pretty flat and does extend beyond this map. We made it off the map before turning around. This link has a more extensive map. We passed the kayak park, and it is an awesome place to go swimming/tubing. We need to go back there when the kids are a bit older.
It was soap and bubble time for school last week. Here are some of our projects.
If you are bored and randomly have a bar of ivory soap, microwave it. This was a big hit with Mr. C. PB was having after-nap-angst.
My brother in law talks about a slurry they use in his construction job. This is our version. It is soap, and I’m pretty such it looks and acts like nothing they are doing.
We also tried giant bubbles that only partway worked. (Dry climate? Hard water?) They only partway worked, so I don’t have pictures.
Picture time:
We went out to Willard Bay. It was fun. But we need some sort of boat to really enjoy it.
We went to Seven Peaks with my family, which was a blast. Mr. C loved about everything. PB loved the wave pool and lazy river. I convinced him to go down one slide. He wasn’t impressed. And it was too entertaining to take pictures.
I should be enjoying a bountiful harvest, planting out fall crops, loving the fruits of the labor in spring.
My harvest is decent, but not great. I’m skipping fall crops, minus the beans that I planted a month ago. And I feel like this garden has just been a battle against pests.
It hasn’t been used or maintained in years, and surrounded by feral waste places, my garden is a breeding ground for pests. This is the list so far:
Many of these pests focus on preventive control. Part of my problem is the furrow irrigation that I do not control. The garden gets pretty flooded at times. I’ve sprayed my plants off occasionlly with water, but otherwise, I haven’t done anything for my list of pests. And I’m not planning to. The cost of any control far exceeds the value of the produce.
But the giant sunflowers do look good. They are probably around 15′ tall.
Liz Braithwaite 