Flash mobs of summer

First we hear them, and then we see them:

The Flash Magpie Mobs of Summer.

 

Just last week the baby magpies were still hanging around their parents, their head feathers just a tad messy, and their movements still just a tad gawky.

Apparently they are now out of the nests for good, and have joined up with other young magpies to form a noisy gang that flies about the neighborhood, winging into one tree for a few minutes then lifting en mass to fly to another tree for no apparent reason.

I took these pictures a day ago; this morning I listened and watched as they took over our back yard for a bit.  Gee whiz those birds are loud!  Our kitties stare wide eyed out the window when they land on our deck rail.  I have noticed our scrub jays have been reluctant to land there to grab peanuts when the much bigger magpies soar in.

And then...off they go again.   I wonder if they "hang" with their nest mates, (up to seven babies are raised in each nest...and the nest takes 40 days to construct!) or if they are making new relationships with each perch.

All is quiet right now.  Wonder where they went this time?  I suspect they will be back in the neighborhood later today though.  We haven't seen the last of them yet.

Speaking of mobs:  Our garden has been quietly been producing modest harvests.   The berries are tart and our son (who has been amazing me with with his horticultural knowledge of late) informed me that he has just recently learned that some berries that remain tart are actually a berry used for baking rather than eating fresh.  He had planted a berry that had remained tart for two years and finally asked our local garden shop about it.  They broke the news that his berry vine was labeled as a cooking variety. 

Who knew? Not me...and our vine came with the house so we can only take a guess that ours is a cooking variety as well.

One small harvested handful won't go far in a pie.  Hmmm...any suggestions?

The beans were grown from a Disney seed pack which promised several varieties of colorful beans.  The purple beans are not coming on as fast as the yellow beans but they are, as promised, quite colorful.

We tried an experiment this summer:  We created a veggie/flower garden on the west side of our house, a side area that is mostly just a passage way between houses.

Beans, eggplant, iris, day lily and zinnias went in and are all doing quite well. 

We also planted a squash.  Neither of us can remember exactly what kind of squash though.  Right now the vine is taking over, as we expected it would, and the blossoms are gorgeous.

Squash blossoms are their own kind of "flash mob"...they bloom hugely in the morning and are shriveled up by nightfall.
We do see a few baby squash growing...it gives us hope for a later harvest.

Meanwhile another harvest has been made possible.
I snipped off what I *hope* were a few male flowers, brought them inside, snipped off the green end that was attached to the stamen, which I pulled free all in one piece.

Mixed up a batter of milk, flour, one egg, lemon pepper and ground Italian seasonings.

Mixed up a small bowlful of ricotta cheese, green onion, bell pepper slivers, garlic salt, pepper and a dash more of Italian seasoning.

Used a spoon to place a glob of the cheese mixture inside the blossom, then sealed the flower around the cheese mix by twisting the petals and end, and folding them over to make a packet form.

Placed the packet into the batter, then popped the packet into a skillet with hot olive oil, just about a half inch deep.

I made up my own recipe...I tend to do that with things that are to be cooked rather than baked.   Given enough blossoms I suppose I might try a Mexican spice or Indian spice version, or maybe try or add a different cheese.

They were absolutely delicious.

Flash mobs:  Some are good, some are interesting, some are horrible.
I still need to read Ann Coulter's monograph Demonic. It is about mobs.  She spent the last two years researching mob behavior throughout history and as she put it, was quite amazed to have her book published, then see the world entangled with mob action just two months later.
Trust me: the mobs have not read her book.  Don't you wonder why there is mob behavior in unlikely places like the traditionally proper UK and Vancouver Canada?

Will there be more mobs across the globe in the coming days?

Probably.  If they would just be magpies and squash blossom mobs I actually wouldn't mind.

(You might enjoy reading Ann Coulter's column about flash mobs HERE Only she could bring a chuckle to the gravity of the mob situation while bringing clarity as well.)

Salad Days!

The very last step in putting dinner on the table involves stepping outside the kitchen door, walking about five steps across the deck and then harvesting a salad for the meal.
I find having romaine, red sails, butter leaf and other leaf lettuce growing in a barrel to be the easiest way to manage lettuce growing. 
Slugs and snails don't bother the lettuce that way; I don't need to bend down far to snap off a few leaves, and the potting soil growth medium doesn't seem to get on the leaves as much as garden bed soil.
Usually I just pluck a handful of leaves and shake off the rain drops just before serving.

Plus the lettuce is just pretty and I enjoy having them where I can enjoy them on our deck.

Next to the lettuce in another barrel: Cilantro, which is probably my favorite herb.  I nibble it like celery!
(And did you know that Cilantro added to a traditional lime based Margarita makes for a really delicious drink?  Try it in either a regular or virgin Margarita and see what you think!)

In the same planter: Basil.
Never can have too much basil IMHO.
We love to slice a warm garden grown tomato, add a slice of mozzarella cheese, basil and a drizzle of olive oil to nibble on for a summer's evening no-cooking treat.
It also changes up a Margarita....it adds a very interesting flavor.
I also have a rosemary bush near by; I am not a fan of Rosemary in salads but a spear of Rosemary adds a great twist to lots of drinks too.  Gin and tonic sippers love the woodsy flavor added to the drink.  I have heard lemon verbena is another G&T enhancer if you have some.)

Golden oregano...I tend to plant several kinds of oregano and basil's over the summer.
The Golden variety adds a bit more zesty color to the barrel herb garden.



Down the deck stairs: a rambunctious patch of spearmint.
How could I manage summer without mint for my ice teas, lemonade and mojitos (virgin or otherwise)?
Or for garnishing melons, oranges, pineapple grapefruit etc etc in a fruit salad?
Still want to acquire chocolate mint again.  It blows my mind that mint can have a distinctive chocolate taste.

Lavender is the alternative herb for putting extra zing in a salad.
Also great for adding to an Arnold Palmer (half ice tea, half lemonaid) or any lemon based drinks.  Lemon-lavender sherbet: Yum!

Thyme got set loose in the lower garden area where it can spread out, be stepped on, and scent the air with any crushing.
It comes back every year...and each year I find yet another variety to try in the garden.
Just a flick of fresh thyme leaves into a salad pairs it well with chicken dishes.

Colorful carrots are still at first leaf stage in the vegetable garden proper.  I've planted the small ball shaped carrots which grow faster and sweeter here.
And this morning I planted radishes right next to the carrots.  I bought the seed package that has a multi color seed mix-pink, red, white, red with white tip, burgundy.  I like being surprised when I pull up a radish or two. 
Last year I spilled a package of radish seeds near our walk way.  Radishes sprouted in the most unlikely places, and I found that it was easier to just pull them up in sprout phase and enjoyed tossing those into the salad too.


The tomatoes are struggling.  They got frost bit one night, and now all the rain is getting them down. 
It might be a long time before we enjoy garden grown tomatoes this year.  :-(

Sugar snap peas are growing on the chain link fence.  I *try* to add them to salads; the truth is I tend to eat them as soon as I see them all by myself.


The chives have come back and are already in bloom.  The pretty purple flowers add beauty and flavor to a salad, plus every time I make a baked potato I know I have chives to go with the sour cream.


I grow several kinds of poppies...poppy seeds shaken into a salad add a nice crunch.  The Icelandic poppy seeds are pretty small, but I wanted to show the shape of their leaves....


Verses the California poppy leaves.
Can't imagine how anyone could mix those two up.
The Oriental poppies and Shirley Poppies and Corn Poppies will be along in the garden later.

(I should add that I have johnny-jump-ups in barrel planters on the deck and those blossoms get added to salads too. Later in summer my nasturtium blossoms and their peppery round leaves get added into the salad bowl too.)


Just for fun: this year I am growing some rutabagas.  They can be shredded and added to a salad or sliced and used for dipping.
Next to the rutabaga is one of several leek plants that over wintered and are beginning to thicken up nicely.


Strawberries seem to be welcomed in vegetable salads now too.
Occasionally a strawberry makes it into one of my veggie salads; usually they get plucked and eaten each morning just as soon as they are ripe.


Can you guess what this is?
Come late summer this leaf will likely shade a grape cluster.
Grapes work as another salad add-in in both fruit and veggie salads, and in Spanish Garlic Soup too.
Some year I want to try cooking with the grape leaves, just so I can say I did.

Last evening I "planted" another salad mainstay, peanuts, out on our deck.
While I love the addition of peanuts in salads, I enjoy the antics of peanut stealing Blue Jays (er, I mean Western Scrub Jays actually...) even more.

I don't begrudge my feather friend his favorite food.
His antics make us laugh...and laughter is the perfect kind of seasoning needed for total salad enjoyment.
We've got plenty of other things to make up our home grown salad bar anyway, don't you think?

Curly Top

Our acorns have curly tops right now.

Maybe they have curly tops every year at this time, but I have never noticed this phase in acorn development before.

Is this normal?

Is it a form of an oak "sport" ? (A sport is a genetic variation that spontaneously occurs in plants. When one is found in ivy, it can be named after the person who first finds it. I look at ivy all the time hoping to see a sport!)

Is curly acorn cap a sign of viral or pest issues?

Anybody out there seen something similar on the oak acorns in your area?

(Kinda cute isn't it? I do hope it is nothing to worry about!)

PS: Trying to find out about these things and saw this fun post with a great idea for making beeswax acorns. A bowl full would smell wonderful!

My favorite Woodcutter is at it again...

The backyard ash tree keeps trying to put crowding moves on to the backyard sequoia tree. The long lanky growth was making a tangle and prevented a clear view of the other tree from my kitchen window. Something (in my humble opinion)HAD to be done.

Enter my hero, armed with a chain saw on a stick!

How cool is that? Just stick the blade up to a branch overhead and have at it!

We rented the tool at 6 pm on Wednesday evening, and returned it at 9 pm after we finished the clean up of all the cut down branches.

(The shot above: an example of a branch that needed to be removed so I could get a good view of the sky!)

Once a year the SLC county parks dumpsters at every other house for people to use for yard and garage clean up.

A whole lotta tree trimming goes on just prior to the dumpster's one day placement, and it is a race to get your stuff into the dumpster before it fills up. Bernie climbed in the one we were using to stomp down some of our branches. The pine tree that we cut down earlier also went in to the container. Plus several lawn bags from other neighbors...

I was pleased with how the tree trimming turned out. Hart had to check it our for himself.

Yup...it still works fine as a scratching post.

No complaints here.

Whoo hoo!

Bernie got to use a chain saw on a stick!

Just ask any male you come across if they would like to have a go with such a thing.

I'll bet they will say yes...

Woodman (don't) Spare That Tree!

My view from the deck yesterday. I've only been glaring at that leggy pine hogging visual space for the past six months.

As B. and I sat sipping a cool drink as evening fell, I commented one more time how much I was looking forward to that tree being GONE.

No time like the present right?

The scent of pine sap mingled with the scent of fresh rushing melted snow water...

...and fragrant blossoms in the humid air.

He is cutting the tree up high because he wants to have the stump tall enough for hammock post usage.

The bow saw was up to the task; B. had talked to our neighbor about borrowing a chain saw, but somehow it just seemed more rugged to do it with manly muscle power.

Which isn't to say it wasn't hard work: that tree was full of sap that stuck hard to the saw blade with each stroke. At one point he switched to a small ax, and "beat the heck" out of the tree!

The mighty woodman had felled the tree!

I did catch the fall on video; for some reason I can't get Picasa to upload the new HD format though. Otherwise, I'd let you see the big "TIMBER!" moment.

"I can not tell a lie...I did it with my little hatchet..."

The hand ax belonged to Bernie's grandfather.

Grandpa's initials are on the leather ax sheath.

Notice the sheath has slashes that would allow the ax to be carried on a belt if desired.

Pretty handy, huh?

Before

After.

As we retired back to the deck the air thickened and a few raindrops fell. With the tree gone, we could clearly see a rainbow against the mountainside. God's note of approval?

(I think that would be going a bit too far...but fun to suggest to each other anyway.)

By the by...here's the robin's nest with one of the babies.

No wonder the poor robins have been gathering worms frantically the last few days.

Those babies are almost as big as their parents!

Also: Thursday evening there was no water running at the end of our property. Bernie went to lock the doors at bedtime and came to tell me that the snow melt was starting. It had been a day that flirted with the 80 degree mark; and our neighbor had mentioned that the water always began to run the first week in June.

Boy was he ever right!

The rushing water is so loud we keep thinking someone has left the bath tub water running or something. We find the sound actually unsettling and a bit disruptive.

Eventually we will get used to the sound...but by then the seasonal runoff will come to an end.

Meanwhile it is great to be able to just chuck weeds and small clippings over the fence and have it be rushed away by the water.