Garden Haven

I know what you're thinking....

What's happening in the garden this year? 

Firstly, I finally realized that if I want to have any blueberries, I'll have to make sure that the birds don't take them all. That's hard to do when your blueberry bush is in a place you hardly ever go....but I did it!

And check out this bountiful harvest! That has to be like 3/4 a cup or something. Well worth the months of anticipation.

The shelling peas are a shining star this year. Look at those beauties! 

And a Maren Hufford first....broccoli!! The sight of those broccoli heads sparks true joy in my heart!

And in my belleh.

Aren't these cabbage actually darling? 

Hello, Mr. Onion! You are killing it.

Corn and sunflower bed on the left, bean bed on the right. This year is my last ditch effort at successful corn. I've made a fatal mistake each year.... picked too late, planted to close, planted two varieties...

If I can make 12 corn stalks produce a few delicious ears of corn this year, I'm moving on to something else...even though I will miss is tall cuteness.

The view from the east side...

If you look carefully, you can see the cucumber trellis leaning over the kale and lettuce bed. I had hoped that the cucumbers would lengthen the season for the spring greens, but I think I will still be too hot to save them by the time the cukes can really vine up and give coverage. 

A better view of the corn and sunflowers...

I planted Scarlet Runner Beans this year....man, can they climb. They are already 10 feet tall and too high for me to pick. But the coolness is totally worth it!

These are the Cape Gooseberry plants I started from some smashed fruit I got at Hyvee. They are doing awesome and I can't wait to see if I get a gooseberry crop! These are my replacement for the tomatillos I've done each year. Turns out, there is only so much you can do with hundreds of tomatillos...for this girl, anyway. At least with the gooseberries, I'll munch them. 

 Stay tuned! I'm bound to take more photos as things ripen and the harvest starts coming in!

Summer Smackdown begins.

3 weeks. 

That's how long it took before the fighting reached a fever pitch and I did, indeed, turn that car around. 

We were on our way to Science City and way too many of my daughters were going to war over loud breathing, water bottle ownership and seating arrangements. 

2 blocks from the house, I pulled a "U-ie" and proclaimed that I no longer wanted to spend any time with "you people".

We pulled into the garage at a frightening speed and I requested that they all kindly "get all their crap out of my van".

Then I went inside and finished off the first season of Severance while I patiently waited for them to knock and apologize one by one. 

It had to be done.

I let them stew for a few hours and then we set out for the Asian Market in search of unfamiliar snacks we could try. 

They were mostly not that great. But those strawberry jalapeno crisps we snagged at Trader Joes were a revelation. Everything else was about as good as one of those pink snowballs...except for the Mango and Cookies and Creme crisps. 

Yuck. 

They also chose some Taro Boba Tea to stew up later, and that was a hit. 

You win some and you lose some....we can suffer through Science City next week. 

Till then, you can find me in my closet with a box of those crisps and some cream cheese making my summer a little tastier.

Operation 50 dollar bunny and Moonlight Market

Thursday was shaping up to be pretty relaxing....

Laundry was getting done and I had intentions of taking of an epic nap. 

Then the boy called and wove the tragic tale of a bunny, siblings passed away of a mystery illness....mama bunny dead in the road. 

Would I come and get it? Would I nurse it back to health? Could it be a Hufford? 

No.

But I will drive it to Eudora with the price of gas at historic highs and pay the folks at Operation Wildlife 20 bucks for the privilege. 

Loath to drive all the way out to....somewhere.... and not make it worth it (yes, I realize we saved a bunny life...but there is a summer bucket list that needs doin), we decided to pop over to Pendletons farm before heading home and check out their shop. 

We spied this fabulous establishment on the way through downtown Eudora...so many questions. 

Pendletons is a working farm and I want to live there....but, my dears, it was hotter than Hades in that shop and even worse in the greenhouses. 

We stayed just long enough to gran a couple big tomatoes, a head of napa cabbage and a jar of salsa (ok, ok....and those terrible honey sticks)

Later, we ventured over to Shawnee's Moonlight Market to look at the different vendors and roam about searching for someone to give our money to. 

It was soooo hot. 

But we had fun and we bought watermelon and beeswax and tumbled rock earrings. I found a welded snail for my garden and we all left completely soaked in sweat and fervently grateful for the air conditioning. 

Powell Garden Rookies

We couldn't resist another run to Tous Les Jours for some French pastries and macarons. I don't thing we chose particularly well...Laney's was a donut filled with red bean paste and two of the buns tasted like very fluffy bread and butter...but there's just something fun about giving new things a try! Our macaron selections this year: Maren: raspberry, Laney: pistachio, Anna: hazelnut crunch and Everly: birthday cake. 

As we filled our bellies, we drove out to Powell Gardens. According to my weather app, this is the last coolish breezy day for a good long while. I've learned the importance of choosing our outdoor activities wisely so as to not die.

With map in hand, we set out to see what we could see!

Check out this cool fort! Made from planks and canvas.

Inside was a maze. I'm a total sucker for this natural looking stuff!

Next stop the Morel sculptures. 

Laney is looking pretty groovy!

A nearby Canadian Goose was doing some yoga...he was a true zen master. Or maybe his foot had fallen asleep?

Next to the splash fountain! I told the girls not to get to wet....

The cutest little moss roses surrounded the fountains

We explored up past the fountains and found two greenhouses with loads of succulents and artistic pieces!

We could see the barn and silo off in the distance and took a path through the butterfly meadow to get there. This was my favorite part of the whole garden!

We took a quick photo in the kids vegetable patch. Its a real winner!

Then up to the top of the silo! Check out the view!

By now my poor grandma feet were starting to hurt and I was most grateful that the guy in the big golf cart happened by to shuttle us to the far side of the garden.

Stunning views and air conditioning in the Powell Garden chapel! I once played in a quartet as a beautiful bride walked down the aisle here.  

Just to the left of the chapel, we followed the path into the woods and searched for fairy houses. These are the best kind...the ones that seem like we might turn around and discover that someone has closed their door...

There was so many beautiful vistas! Even better with a lookieloo through your sisters glasses!