Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! This frosty photo was taken after the fog lifted a while back. This year isn't a white Christmas (a trace of snow on the ground), but with a snow storm on the way, I hope to use my snow shoes soon. 

Happy Holidays!

Please, have a piece of fudge to celebrate your holiday. Happy National Cookie Day! (Oops, that was yesterday.) Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Year! This is Sally's Candy Addiction Birthday Cake Fudge made with Christmas sprinkles. It looks better in her book, but it does taste delicious. 

Black Carrot Cake

I suppose this is one day too late to be spooky. (Happy belated Halloween!) This cake was made with black carrots, no dyes or enhancements of any kind. I included a pear (store-bought) in the photo for color comparison. The carrots aren't as tasty as other varieties, but they're fun as a novelty.

October Light

Perhaps because the days are shortening, October mornings are luminous.

S-noooooo-w

This is the view from my bedroom window. Snow and cold are unusually early this year. I still have garden work to do, and the leaves have yet to fall. It should warm up next week...at least I hope so. 

Freeze Warning Tonight

It will (!) freeze tonight. I've harvested everything (including these carrots) and brought in the house plants. I'm going to try to cover some flowers, but it might be too cold even for that. It's the official end of the growing season. Trying to find an emoji for "bittersweet"...

Fall is not the end of the garden

I planted these flowers from seed in spring, and they're looking good. It's true that they took all summer to grow, but I'm working on cleaning out the garden beds now, so they add lots of color! The broccolini below is also from seed planted in spring. 

The next three photos are native wildflowers: two asters and one goldenrod. All of these are important sources of food for bees and hummingbirds and butterflies. Nature has this timed pretty well. And she makes them look good, too.

Garden Update

Ah, harvest time. I've got lovely grape tomatoes, Slenderette green beans, and lots of basil (pesto tonight!). Below is my collection of basils. The purple one isn't really basil. It's shiso, used in Japanese cooking. 

Here's a close up. The purple leaves are beautifully glossy. 

And the garden isn't just about eating. Below are State Fair zinnias, Wave petunia, and some kind of marigold. What grew is not what the package said. But that's okay. They're pretty, and my garden is full of color! 

I didn't plan this...

I didn't plan this mushroom sprouting in my geranium, but maybe the garden gnomes did?

Monarch Munching

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth? This monarch butterfly caterpillar happily munches on milkweed in my garden. 

Joyful Gardening

To pick a sun-warmed pea pod directly from the vine and crunch into it is a delight. What's not so fun is avoiding the clouds of mosquitoes that search for any bit of flesh to bite and the nasty flies that swarm my head. To get this bowl of vegetables, I've had to prepare the soil (sometimes in spring, sometimes in fall), plant the seeds, water the seeds and plants, weed as consistently as I can, and maintain the tricks that keep the critters away. Since I garden organically, I make homemade potions and I compost year round. This is a lot of work for some vegetables. And some pain (I have a fly bite on my hand). I'm not telling you this to discourage you from gardening. Despite all these difficulties, gardening is worth it--being outside, eating fresh veggies, getting my hands in the dirt, and, with nature's help, creating something good. It's joyful gardening.

Heat Wave

We're in another heat wave. I'm such a Minnesotan, so uncomfortable in these high dew points (77 from one source, 74 from another). Thank goodness for air conditioning! (I hope you have a cool place to hide from the heat as well.) The garden hasn't suffered. The cherries look good, as do the grape tomatoes.

The green beans should be ready soon.

I tried to re-take this morning's photo of pea pods. My camera lens fogged up. It's about 75 in the house (proof the dew point is up there!).

I found this fun guy (wink, wink) hanging out in the woods.

Juneberries

The juneberries grow so abundantly that they fall from the trees. I usually can't get to them quickly enough to get my yearly taste (those clever critters!). This year I made mini muffins. June berries are mild, similar to blueberries but with more seeds. Yum!

Happy First Day of Summer!

Good morning...and welcome to summer! 

My garden gnomes welcome you. My bellflowers welcome you. We Minnesotans endure harsh winters, so now I delight in the beauty around me. 

Perfectly Imperfect

This bumble bee doesn't care if there are weeds in my garden.

This year's experiment is tomatoes interplanted with volunteer chamomile. I didn't have time to weed, plant, and mulch, so I plopped the plants in the "mess." So far, the normal critter digging and eating has been averted.

The radishes need thinning.

Is there a time lottery? I'd weed my lettuce and garlic bed. Even though it's messy, I'll take my perfectly imperfect garden any day. 

Delightful Spring Walk

Because spring is late, I think I appreciate it more. I've tried to capture my delightful walks around the yard and woods these past few days. 

Siberian squill

Fritillaria

Anemone (wild)

Violets (wild)

Plum (wild)

Starwberries (wild)

Serviceberry (wild)

Lilac

Tulip

Bloodroot

A Late Spring

These daffodils reach for the sun. The squill are blooming (yay!), but everything is late this year. The reason why? Our lovely late winter storm. Here's what it looked like on Friday, April 13. (Yes, Nature has a devilish sense of humor.)

Happy April Fool's Day

Hello, my name is Nature, and I'm the guest writer today. Take a look at that snow! Take a look at the temperature! Even though I see their dreams of  poplars leafing out and daffodils blooming, I know that my friends in Minnesota could handle my joke today. Don't worry; it'll wear off in a couple weeks.

Welcome Spring?!?

Spring has officially arrived. Yet it's snowing. The birds are active at our feeders because it's migration time. I saw two snow geese flying overhead. I've heard the constant honking of Canada geese, the occasional trill from cranes, and the background chatter from the smaller birds. We're all ready for some warmer weather.