Gardens One and Two

It's been a late, cool spring -- but now, let the gardening begin.

At right is my patio garden, much like the one I had last year. This year I am planting only varieties that were described as suitable for container gardening. I have four patio-type tomatoes, a small pepper plant, a container-suitable cucumber (though actually I had good luck with my standard cucumbers last year), and some lettuce and chard. I made sure to fill the pots about as full as I could get them with a combination of potting soil and mixed compost and manure. Last year some of my pots were only about 3/4 full, which led to quicker drying-out and probably to higher than ideal soil temperatures, as my patio gets good sun all afternoon.

Below is my other garden, which I haven't planted for several years, at my ex-husband's house. He doesn't garden and is happy for me to use the space, so this year Dave and I are going to do that. The back of the 30-foot bed is planted with perennials -- day lilies, phlox, black-eyed susans, joe-pye weed, spiderwort, rhubarb and more. Last weekend Dave borrowed a tiller and we (well, mostly he) really got the front portion of the bed in good shape. I've never used a tiller before; all my digging has been done with the garden fork. That's good exercise, but back-breaking when the ground is hard and overgrown with grass, so I usually don't get the whole area dug. This year will be different -- it's now nice and loose all the way along.
I've got several tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers, lettuce, zinnias and down at the far end planted seeds for a couple of giant Cinderella pumpkins. We are contemplating tilling up some of the nearby lawn as well so we have room for squash. (Ex is always happy to have less grass to mow.) The neighbors at the back are in the process of moving their garden to a sunnier location; you can see where they have been cutting up sod. As trees mature, shade patterns change and a space that once worked well for a vegetable garden no longer gets enough sun.

A Luxuriance of Lilacs

Sign of the season: This week whole neighborhoods are fragrant with spring's lilac perfume, and where Nevada Street bends at Ninth and becomes Maple, these lush blossoms almost overwhelm a street sign.

Asparagus and Lorence's Berry Farm

I've had some superb asparagus from Lorence's Berry Farm in the past week or so. I stopped at the stand as I drove home down Cedar from an event in Lakeville the weekend before last, and bought more from Just Food co-op a few days ago. I saw it was also available at Econofoods, though at a higher price than at the co-op. I haven't happened to buy asparagus directly from the farm before, though I do try to pick strawberries there at least every couple of years. Doing so has added to the quality of life we've experienced as Northfielders for the past 18 years. I've had some wonderful strawberry shortcakes and done all the jam-making I've ever done from Lorence's berries. One of my daughters gave me a flat of Lorence's berries for my birthday last year, and I made a batch of my favorite low-sugar strawberry jam, which is deeply flavorful and tastes like a very distillation of summer.

I was distressed to learn the fate that may be in store for Lorence's if a proposed project for straightening out the Cedar T-intersection is carried out. The Northfield News recently reported on this story, quoting David Lorence as feeling sick to his stomach since receiving word in April that the relocated road could go right through his house. I'd feel sick to my stomach, too. It's hard to believe that an appealing and viable local produce farm that so adds to the quality of life for area residents must be sacrificed so that more people can drive between the southern suburbs and the northern edges of Northfield without having to stop at a stop sign.

Wasp's Nest

While I was working in the garden yesterday, my eyes were drawn to what I thought was probably a plastic bag caught in the branches of a large shrub. On closer inspection it turned out to be an empty wasp's nest, about a foot long. I hadn't seen one so close before, and was fascinated by both the cell structure and the tissue-paper wrapping around it, which wasps apparently make by chewing wood fibers and mixing them with saliva until they become a pulp. More information on wasps (including how to tell them from bees) and control measures, if they are close enough to pose a hazard, is available from the University of Minnesota extension service. An empty nest like this one will not be used by wasps again, though other insects can sometimes take up residence in old wasp's nests.

Growing Goslings

This beautiful afternoon three families of goslings were busy along the east bank of the river by the Water Street parking lot. The family above was, I suspect, a newer set than those I saw last week, while the ones below, which probably are one of the families I photographed last week, are already looking more goose-like. However, the apparent difference between the two groups may lie merely in the fact that in the photo below you can see how long their legs are. Click on either photo for a much larger version; you can really appreciate the texture of their silky-fluffy down.