our maine home – zone 5b
It’s exciting to see little baby fruits formed in the orchard. There is a long hazardous road between now and eating the harvest, but we can have hope looking at these babies. The pears and tart cherries are most photogenic, although there may be others.
A big day in the garden! Sam set up the cattle panels and planted the tomatoes. 40 in that row and 19 in the row against the fenceline. Plus four cherry tomatoes in the sandbox near the house, for a total of 63 seedlings planted. The rows in the garden have drip irrigation this year, a new innovation. And they are planted 16 inches apart rather than a foot. Trying out wider spacing this year.
While I was harvesting rhubarb, Jeff and Roberta were out foraging oyster mushrooms. Quite a combination of spring foods! We grilled the oysters, which were pristine. They apparently found the rain over Memorial Day weekend enough to encourage them to flush.
The lupines are stunning. Fields of them surround us. It’s hard to feel I’m enjoying them enough. Today I took a walk down to the cove to see this field. It was cloudy, but still beautiful.
Just hanging out in the driveway next to the Prius.
A rainy, chilly weekend. But the side yard looked like a blueberry jungle emerging out of a light mist. The kiwi vine on the arbor is very robust this year too.
As usual, the tomato seedling operation is a major effort. We have them in tubs which facilitates bringing up outside regularly to get adequate sunshine and some hardening off. This morning, I found their shadows attractive enough to snap a photo or two.
I was so surprised to see this rhodora at our camp property on Donnell’s Pond. As soon as I read about them, I wanted to see one and I always thought I’d have to do some major exploration far afield to come across the fabulous blooms. I was wandering around outside looking vaguely at the boggy area near the lakeshore, when I spotted a flash of pinkish magenta. Upon closer investigation, I realized it was a rhodora! Fantastic sight.
And here’s a view of camp from across the road, peeking shyly out from the forest.
Our first trip back to Connecticut in a long time. We ended up in a new location for lunch. The original Flatbread Pizza! In Amesbury, Massachusetts. We felt safe being both fully vaccinated and visiting people who were vaccinated, with the exception of one holdout and the children.
Our trip went great overall. We did a lot in only four days away. Visited my side of the family and Sam’s side of the family, as well as friends on both sides. And didn’t feel rushed! But the traffic and hectic nature of Connecticut and New York is bothersome after getting used to downeast Maine.