Salute to the Spring Ephemeral

Spring                                                  Waxing Bee Hiving Moon We have hundreds of daffodils just about ready to bloom.  A few scylla have popped up in the front and crocus, too.  Tulips have also broken through.  It’s an exciting time for a perennial lover, especially if you are, like me, a lover of the spring ephemerals, those hardy flowers […]

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On Defining Maturity

Fall                                            Full Harvest Moon Three lily beds planted, topped with a serving of tiny yellow daffodil bulbs.  I realized today that planting bulbs in the metaphoric equivalent of maturity.  Putting lily corms in the ground in autumn to produce flowers in June, July and August of 2011 defines delayed gratification.  So.  There.  In spite of […]

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Making Jam, Eating Greens

Summer                                     Full Strawberry Moon Global warming, how fast can it happen?  I don’t know, but my lilies have begun to open 2-3 weeks ahead of time.  That’s a remarkable fact.  The garden overall seems about 2 weeks ahead, at least that stuff that I got in the ground at temperature, but not date, appropriate times.  […]

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Fitter

Spring                                                       Waxing Flower Moon Kate called from the Northstar.  She arrives in Anoka at 5:52.  She took the light rail to Target Field and caught the train home from there.  Feels like living in Connecticut.  I’m glad to have her home.  This is a two-person house and needs both of us to make it run […]

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Pictures

Summer                       Waxing Summer Moon From top to bottom: Western half of orchard + three oaks Cathedral at Seed Savers Exchange Southern half of our vegetable garden Lilies, Bees and Beans Carrots Vega the Wonder Dog Vega (right) and Rigel (left)

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Photographs. Records of Moments.

Summer                        Waning Summer Moon A few pictures from the near past: Ruth at the Zoo The Playhouse in the Woods The Orchard:  July, 2009 Our Fruit:  July, 2009 Suntrap with Tomatoes:  July, 2009 Leftover Lilies:  July, 2009

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The Moon of Full Flower

Beltane                     Full Flower Moon The full flower moon rises tonight on beds full of daffodils, tulips, snowdrops and small blue flowers whose name I don’t recall.  The furled hosta leaves that come up in a tightly packed spiral have begun to uncurl.  Dicentra have full leaves now, though no flowers yet.   A few iris have […]

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Senescence

60  bar rises 30.07  2mph N  dew-point 59  sunrise 7:06  set 7:00  Autumn Waning Crescent of the Harvest Moon  rise 5:12  set 6:05 Today and tomorrow will be full gardening days.  There are bulbs to plant: daffodils, hyacinths, snow drops, many tulips and garlic.  Sprinkler heads need coaxing.  Mulch sits over at the Anoka County […]

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The Bulb Came On

84  bar falls 29.97  0mph  NEE  dew-point 50  sunrise 6:33 sunset 7:53  Lughnasa New (Harvest) Moon When I began to plan the beds for the transplanted lilies and iris, I realized it would be good to dig in daffodils, too.  Daffodils, then Iris, then Lilies. But nobody sells daffodil bulbs in August.  They come out […]

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Garden Chess

81  bar falls 29.88 1mph NNE dew-point 65  sunrise 6:22  sunset 8:09  Lughnasa Waning Gibbous Corn Moon Moving daylilies today.  At last.  Moved several large clumps of daylilies to new beds where they will provide a barrier between wild vegetation on the hill below seven oaks and the more domesticated garden to the southwest.  This […]

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