This winter turned out fairly mild, to my great delight. (I'm not a tremendous fan of the cold, being more of a summer gal.) As I look back over the past few winters - all of which involved ice and plenty of snow - I came across some photos of the pear trees in my backyard.
It struck me that each branch - though sheathed in snow and ice - showed the promise of spring through the early buds forming on each branch. Nature has a way of working in her own time, as anyone knows who has patiently waited for a baby to enter the world, or prepared for a dear one to leave.
Birth and death, winter and spring. All seasons cycling through nature.
As we patiently wait for cold to warm, it helps to see the promise of spring held in the forming buds of a snow coated tree....
My friend Pamela sent me this picture of a tree in her yard. That morning, low clouds covered their area, but no snowfall occurred. You can imagine her surprise and delight when she looked out and saw this beautiful "snow covered" tree when there was no snow! It reminded her of the Christmas trees with flocking on them.
Turns out there is something called Rime ice, which coats trees with ice droplets from fog, often on a mountain ridge. A friend in Colorado told me about this phenomenon when I showed him this picture of Pamela's tree.
Rime ice occurs with fog, cold temperatures and high altitude. Hard rime is a white ice with a "comb like" appearance, and soft rime has a more feathery appearance. Meteorologists have a number of fine distinctions beyond these - mostly related to how the ice forms and under what conditions.
For the rest of us, here's to simply enjoying the beauty of a snowy tree in...
This year, my friend Allison and I headed to a barn in Edinburgh, Indiana to make holiday wreaths at the Historic Henry Breeding Farm. The name refers to the family, not the type of farm, as we found out.
The wreath making class is part of the "Heritage Arts" program. And talk about a fantastic deal! The $10 fee covered all materials and instruction.
We learned that red cedar is actually juniper, and juniper is actually part of the cypress family. While that part may be confusing, making the wreaths is simple. We wired two metal circle frames together. Then, we cut 6-8 small sprigs of juniper to create a "bunch. Wire the bunch to the frame, make a new bunch to overlap, and so on, until the you complete the circle.
Some people opted for thin wreaths, others for full and heavy wreaths. Allison and I both opted for the full wreaths. We added some ribbons and two types of pine cones...
First blackberries of the season!
They are starting to ripen! This week I picked the first blackberries from my vines here at Barb's Backyard. As with most "first pickins" of the season, these were on the tart side. That's an easy fix - I can use them as part of a smoothie with other fruit and vanilla flavored almond milk, or simply drizzle a nice orange blossom honey over them.
In about another week, plumper berries will present themselves, marking the first of prime blackberry picking season. My friends eagerly anticipate this time. : ) We grab the strainers and colanders and head back for the vines in the evenings. By dropping them into strainers and colanders, all we have to do is simply wash them off, and start eating!
The mockingbirds are helping themselves as well....
Much of the garden knowledge I've gained came from some wonderful books. Lots of people ask me about them, so I added a new section at barbsbackyard.com for these recommendations, cleverly titled Books, gadgets & great stuff.
The first book on my list is a classic. Carrots love tomatoes. First published in the 70's, I've been referring to it for about as long. What makes it so special? How easily it teaches the concept of companion planting. That means: certain plants, like good friends, when planted near each other, help each other. For example: planting carrots near leeks and onions helps repel the dreaded carrot fly, onion fly AND the leek moth! Good for both the carrot & the leek! Not to mention how much you will enjoy a delicious veggie soup with carrots & leeks come harvest time.
To be direct: most of them bring a small commission to me to help defray the costs of this blog. Just click...
I am now officially a farmer! Well, a back yard farmer, at least. Our town has an exciting group called 15Thousand Farmers, whose goal is "growing community through neighborhood-based, sustainable growing". Its a very cool idea. Here is their vision:
The Vision:
15Thousand Farmers helps create, empower, and inspire 15,000 new, sustainable, neighborhood backyard/front yard farmers in Louisville, KY to feed their families and themselves and to give away! How? By using simple and easy instructions, checklists and materials and ongoing support provided through local growers and resources that will provide everything needed to start growing food in our yards, on decks or in community gardens.
Since "Barb's Garden" this year scaled to an additional 28' by 16' in size, this organization crossed my path at a great time. I learned of the group through Art in the Arbor, a local art festival. Of course, I signed up immediately an got my official Dirt Card, which also gives me some cool discounts....
