Brief Stop at Mount Rushmore

 

This year's annual trip to Colorado was a little different. We're so used to driving 169 south to Nebraska but we've driven it so many times that we decided to drive through South Dakota and Wyoming instead. 

 

We enjoyed a very, very brief stop at Mount Rushmore on our way to Rapid City for the night. 

 

 

It's sort of a bucket list item and also not. Historically speaking, Mount Rushmore is a pretty big deal but modern times... we forget the history of America. The people who built this needed money and were hired to construct it... and also died. I found the environment and where it's located and the views to be incredible, it was so pretty to drive to and drive through. I would actually go back to stay to see more of the land and national park around it.

 

Also to note: you do not have to enter the park to see Mount Rushmore. There's a little pull off area on the highway. 

 

Fun Summer Herbs

 

 

 Red Rubin Basil is such a fun variety to grow. However, if you cook with it - it doesn't always look as appetizing as the green Basil. I have learned the hard way. LOL. It does taste good, but it does look like a wet, limp, rotting leaf by the time you serve a salad if you serve it dressed. Also, looks wet and limp and sad when served in place of green Basil in pasta dishes if you do not inform people of what it is. Again, I have learned the hard way, always tell people it's purple Basil. Grows the same as the other green varieties, and will bolt unless you keep it trimmed and well watered.

 

 

This is pineapple mint. In the school garden we plant mint every year because for whatever reason it doesn't actually survive. I KNOW. Usually it takes over everything and I happily planted oregano in certain spots to take over where invasives were starting to creep in. That worked, but oregano also takes over. This pineapple mint is not my exact favorite for eating but it does taste good in infused water and also over pancakes if cut extremely small with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. It's sweet and minty with (obviously) and hint of pineapple flavor. Smells divine!

 

First Lily to Bloom

 

 

I bought these YEARS ago. And they spread so much that I have split and replanted in multiple locations in my yard. These are not devoured by animals and I'm so happy about that. I have three other lilies that I need to fence and protect, it gets really old and annoying! 

 

 

A little underexposed but still pretty. 

 

 

I just love these so much. They bring so much joy to my June garden. 

 

June Storm at Soccer

My lovely child stopped playing soccer in the middle of his game to point and yell "TAKE A PICTURE, MOM!" I obliged because LOOK. He and his fellow defense player were waving their arms at us to turn in our seats to see the show. 

He subbed for a couple players that were out on a different team, it's a group of kids that are a grade year younger but still the same age. Q is in a higher playing team so he has SO MUCH FUN when he's asked to play these games. They won their game last night and it was a great boost in confidence.

As the clouds changed, we got to see lightning - I didn't capture it in a photo but the lightning was pretty consistent. I was worried we would get stuck in hail so we booked it out of the soccer fields pretty quickly. I have never seen athletics fields clear so fast before!

This is a great picture too where you can see the rain, the clouds, and then the sunshine behind. I'm so happy Q was yelling to take photos. He said this reminds him of the "upside down" from Stranger Things. 

 

Summer of Skate Parks

 

We have hit the age of skate parks. But on a scooter, not a skateboard. Yet? Maybe?? We have two skateboards in the basement and I'm not sure they'll be used, but the scooter gets picked daily.

Apparently this year, it's supposed to be a 90's summer. Let me tell you about 90's summer.

Parents were not invited. And we spent the day either watching talk shows, soap operas, and cartoons OR our parents sent us outside to not come back until dinner. I would call my mom to see if I could go to Valley Fair or somewhere else with friends (usually yes because... parents didn't want their kids at home) and she would be like "PLEASE GO"

And we would ride bikes to the gas station for snacks. We didn't live close to the rec pool so we did need rides for that or Bush Lake. 

I'm not sure 90's kids can really give up the individual freedom to their kids that we had, because we literally had zero supervision. Like, none. 

This summer for us, will be a summer filled with lessons about how to do things for ourselves, how to pay with Apple cash for snacks and ice cream, how to navigate our area of the city without Apple Maps, how to cook food, the rec center pool, and to read so much. 

Summer starts Wednesday and we are so excited!!!

This Year's Peonies

Last year I had pruned my peonies so that a few stems would have smaller blooms and some stems would have larger blooms. This year I was so busy that I didn't get around to it so they're all large blooms! I feel like my peonies won't bloom for as long this year, I think the heat started too quickly and it's been staying consistently above 80 degrees, even before June started. 

Once my peonies are finished blooming, I will trim them down so they stems are about 18 inches tall and they look like pretty green bushes or shrubs. It's an easy way to clean up the garden before fall and to keep your peonies all neat and tidy. I also am able to weed the stems a little easier without the huge blooms in the way. 

My goal is to get at least two more peonies for my boulevard. The dogs and pet owners seem to steer the animals clear of peeing on the peonies so I'm hopeful that continues! Each year I am determined to find a fern leaf peony and I can never find one until later in the year when they're a little more stressed to be planted. I think this year, if I find one, I'll just buy it! They're so pretty!

 

Arugula Went To Seed

I made a simple salad the other night and noticed that a lot of my arugula has matured to the point where it's about to make seeds. The leaves turned bitter! It doesn't take long for greens to start making seeds once the temperature turns warmer - for these plants, the warmer weather tells the plants that it's time to turn the energy from leaf-making into the energy for making seeds. Arugula usually gets really thick stems and they are HAIRY - then you can see the plant start to make the seed pod. As soon as that happens, I highly do not recommend eating the leaves. They truly don't taste very good anymore!

With this known - now you can time your greens a little better for your summer and fall salads and greens. I like to plant this again in late July/early August in a very shady part of the garden. Next year I will aim to plant greens at least two weeks sooner than what I planted this year - I would like to have another week or two of fresh lettuces and greens so I'm not spending money on those large containers at the store. 

Today I pulled all the arugula plants and in the place of the arugula I planted bush green beans. Last year our family ate almost every single green bean on about 30 plants. I planted about 50 seeds, tucking them closer to my spinach and radish. I will have to pull the spinach in the next week or two as well and compost those plants - and I will plant tall peas in that space. I'm a little late planting peas but I think I can get a few harvests from it before fall. 

 

Getting Ready for Summer

 Bllleeeep bbbblllooooooopppp. I'm slowly getting prepared for the summer with an outgoing 8th grader and an outgoing 4th grader. They're at wildly different stages in their childhood but I'm lucky that both kids like each other and we all like to hang out so we can do lots of activities together all summer long.

So far I've bought pool passes to the rec center; I purchased the summer camp series of the CrunchLabs activity boxes for my 4th grader; planning on getting some type of art activity for my 8th grader - I was thinking a couple of small weaving activities and at least one paint-by-number should fill up a lot of time along with some book money. I just started requesting "how to draw" books for both kids and will grab a few different sizes of drawing books. I realized that neither child has an opinion on sharing sketch books and they will happily sketch in the same book until it's filled. 

And then lots of time at the library and lakes. We also have RC cars to run, bikes to ride, hikes to walk, and outdoor activities like mountain biking and soccer. Plus who knows what friend will show up on our doorstep!

I'm really excited to turn off the alarms and enjoy the summer this year. The children are growing and at some point soon will have lives of their own where we're not together all the time, so I'm happy to share this time with them!

Happy summer planning!

Flower Mix Seed Packets

 

As an experienced gardener, I have a love/hate relationship with flower mix seed packets. I received this for Christmas from my children and of course I'm happy and elated about anything gardening-related that I receive. On the picture, there's everything pictured that I LOVE - sunflowers, poppies, marigolds, basil, dill, and more. These are mostly annual flowers in my growing Zone, so straight from the get-go it looks like this will be a great mix for one of my flower beds.

However, sometimes expectations of these seed mix packets can be high and I've been disappointed in the past of a lot of these mixes. I don't mind bringing the huge mix packets from Burpee to the school garden every year - they're mostly annuals and not hardy through our winters so my expectations are pretty low, plus there's no irrigation so it's all hand watering, the general public doesn't know the difference between an invasive or an annual (in fact, two years ago one facility maintenance worker suggested planting Crown Vetch to spread, and let me tell you... I WAS HAPPY TO STOP PULLING THE THISTLE IMMEDIATELY, like oh hell no, you have zero clue of what you're doing, y'all deserve to be poked in the ankles by a thistle). 

But let me get back to the seed packet mix instead of being distracted by invasives. Let's take a closer look at the back of this packet so we can investigate and decipher a little bit more about what's actually in the packet so we're not deceived by the pretty picture.

So there's only 2 grams of seeds in this packet. I didn't take a picture because I only thought of posting this AFTER I tossed the seeds into my front garden bed so I'm a little disappointed in myself. But let's get to it. 

So many factors go into planting flowers - some need cool vernalization, which is what this packet is recommending - why I know this is because it states that these should be planted 2-4 WEEKS BEFORE the average last frost. This means that these seeds need a couple of freeze/thaw cycles to soften the seeds so the seeds can actually germinate. Do average gardeners do this or expect to do this? Er, as a Master Gardener, I have learned that people don't usually read the seed packets. 

The packets also states that it plants 20 seeds per square foot and will cover 20 square feet. The amount of seeds in the seed packet didn't even take up a whole tablespoon. It barely made a mound in my hand. Disappointing? Yes. The majority of the seeds were Basil seeds which are TINY. And there were maybe 5 sunflower seeds. There should have been 400 seeds in the packet and there definitely were not. So right off the bat, my expectations have been lowered. We'll see what comes up.

Next, let's look at the seeds in the mix: it contains mostly borage, sunflowers, bachelor's button, and calendula. And then the fine print - it contains the amount of seeds BY WEIGHT not by amount of seeds so by that, my expectations definitely don't include it covering a 20ft x 20ft space. Luckily, borage is pretty, calendula smells good, and I like everything in this mix. 

I sprinkled everything over a 3ft x4ft area and I'm on Day 5 waiting for the little seeds to germinate. Obviously I didn't follow the seed packet directions of planting BEFORE the last frost - but this went into the bed that contained the wasp nest last year. I will not plant edibles in this bed so it will only be flowers for the next several years.

I have zero expectations of what will come up, I'll try to remember to update and take photos when I can. Happy planting!

Sunset Progression on Sunday

I was lucky enough to see the amazing sunset on Sunday. It was GORGEOUS. The reds were beautiful. I was facing west, obviously, but I heard that facing east towards St Paul was a beautiful red rainbow.