Yard, Bunny, Cats, Dog, Claire, Flowers & Food Plants

Beautiful in so many ways, I had to post this.

Bunny (kids have named her Fern) has staked out her place with the other animals.  Once I explained to Piper that she was not to eat THIS bunny she quite lost interest in it, although the bunny does really like Piper, and often they end up cuddled together on the deck, because Piper doesn’t want to get up, and the bunny is not annoying her too much grooming her.

The bunny really has a thing for grooming the cats.  Puddy Man puts up with it the most, though he seldom reciprocates.  <shrug> I think though, considering the sheer number of bunnies he has caught and eaten, that we will forgive him that fault.

There is the pond.  A bit green, but the fish do not seem to mind.  The maple tree we cut down every year is sending up plenty of new stalks again.  Dragonflies are liking the new perches I put around the pond, but I am not fast enough with this camera to get a good shot of any of them yet.

There is one of my Thai Sun peppers.  I am completely out of pickled ones, so I have 9 potted up like this one.  Should give me a good couple of pints of pickled fire.

Found Claire’s cat Boy lounging between the Melon hills and the Garlic patch.  They have taken out a lot of the melon plants rolling in the dust of the hills.  <sigh> I will have to replant a lot of them, and then poke sticks into the hills to discourage their dust baths.  They have been doing mostly a great job of catching the rodents and lagomorphs that come to nibble.  Saves on commercial cat food as well.

This photo is for Rob.  Sorry it is not better, but wanted to show some size and contrast to the rest of the green.  This is the little cherry seedling you gave me.  Has really popped up this year, going from less than 2 feet tall to nearly 4, and still growing.  Maybe will flower next year.  The Nanking and North Star cherries both have set fruit we are looking forward to if the cats do a good job keeping the birds off of them.

This is the horseradish patch I planted with the crowns sent to me by a friend last fall.  They seem to have survived our winter just fine and Patti is quite excited about making and canning her own bloody mary mix this fall.  Lord knows we have the tomatoes, peppers, celery, and horseradish to do it now.

Here is the row of 4 Caspian Pinks that Michelle Grannes gave me.  They seem quite happy with where they are, and today they got a shot of water with highly diluted fertilizer.

Puddy Man had the good graces to give himself a dust bath in soil that has been turned, but not planted.

The Fireside apple tree I planted last year has a few nice fruit set on it.  I will not let it carry many to maturity because I want the tree to work more on its root system, but I do not have the heart to remove all of them.

The strawberries are doing better than my abilities at focusing on objects close to the camera.  We are looking forward to them.

I do not plant milkweed, but I do not weed it out of places if it is not infringing on food growing area.  Around the pond is a great place for it and when they start blooming they are incredibly fragrant, and do draw in the butterflies.

This photo is a reminder to myself that it is time to make the first big cutting of Oregano before it gets out of hand and woody stemmed.

French Thyme died last winter (as did everyone else’s that I know around here) but the Lemon Thyme is happy and flowering.  I took it upon myself to remove some sections of it and layer it into planters around the deck as well.  For years it has happily existed in a 10 gallon pot, but eventually, I figure, it is not going to be happy with where it is, and I would rather have clones of it by then.

Claire, for beauty and scale shows how high the Rumi Banjan plants are now.  They are one of three flowering tomatoes I have right now.

The chamomile did not overwinter again, but it did reseed itself quite thickly.

The plants not choking each other are flowering already.  Patti moved a few to fill in other spaces and they are cute.

Once again, Claire, and these are Siberian Galina, also flowering.  Due to how small the tomatoes are at maturity I am betting these are our first ripe ones.

Coldset tomatoes are also flowering well, though not nearly the height of the others, which is to be expected.  They will take all summer to grow up and through the tops of those cages, which cost a heck of a lot less than the 52 inch cages.

Peonies started to pop open just today.  I do so love how they smell.  Reminds me of my grampa Clay, who smelled like El Producto cigars, but grew peonies for competition.

Claire wanted to take a few photos as well.  This is one of the mustard plants.

And me, at the front of our yard looking like I am not besieged by pain or stoned, which reminds me I need to take a half pill so I don’t have issues tonight.