Rainy Day, Dream Away

If it seemed like this spring was rainier than normal, you are right. In Rhode Island we got a lot more rain than last year (but thankfully not the 500 year flood like last year). Temperatures were also much cooler. While we had several 70 degree days in April and May last year, and even one day in the 90s(!), this year we only have had a couple of 70 degree days and no days in the 80s.

As a result of the rain and cool temperatures, plant growth has been stunted. Last year I bragged about early lettuce and getting tomatoes three weeks ahead of schedule. On May 16th, 2010 I posted about Dianthus blooming. Today, it is barely budded out and won't bloom for at least another week. Last year, poppies were blooming at this time, today only a coupe of heads have formed.

But, the good news is that the weather has broken. Newport was foggy and rainy today. But as soon as I got over the Jamestown Bridge, the sun was out and the skies were blue! I got home and picked a salad of lettuce and radishes for dinner and enjoyed it with a glass of wine from Puglia (Italy). Best of all, I can share some of this bounty with the folks who shop at the Richmond Farmers Market. Although the harvest is small because of the cool weather, I will have lettuce micro greens and radishes at the market tomorrow. I hope you can be there.

Exploding Watermelons!

Need another reason to go organic? How about exploding watermelons? Farmers using chemicals to grow bigger watermelons instead found that the fruit exploded in their fields making watermelon bombs. Gallagher would be proud.

Rabbits

When we first moved to Hope Valley, there were a lot of rabbits all over this area. In 2006, a rabbit made a nest for her new babies in my lettuce planting. That was the peak of the population because soon after coyotes started moving into the area. Until last year, I rarely saw a rabbit and even then, no more than one at a time. Last fall, I started noticing more rabbits. This spring, there are even more rabbits and they are munching on grass and dandelions. I'm sure it won't be long before we start to hear the yelps of coyotes in the middle of the night, communicating with the others in the pack and tracking down their prey like the rabbits who have been flourishing over the last two years.

Lilacs

Two and a half years ago we moved our lilacs to their new home in the back of the house. Since then, they have done much better and have beautiful blooms every May. While our lilacs are only about 4-5' tall, about twelve to fourteen years ago I planted some of the same lilacs at Karen's mother's house. These lilacs are now ten feet tail and produce very nice blooms. Karen cut some at her mom's house earlier this week and put them in a vase in our kitchen.

One last note about lilacs. Many folks will tell you to prune the old growth from the plant in the fall. This is a mistake since lilacs bloom on old wood and set their blooms for the next year almost immediately after the current year's blooms fade. Here is a link to a good article with detail on getting the most from you lilac.

May blooms

One thing we try to be aware of is when plants bloom. Of course, the look of the blooms (color, size, texture) are important. But, we want to make sure that there is something blooming all season long. I posted about daffodils in early spring. The weeping cherry (check out how the canopy filled out since the hard pruning at the end of 2009) below bloomed a couple of weeks ago. Now we have creeping phlox (not one of my favorites, but lots of people like them) and baby's breath. Fruit trees are blooming as well and in the next week or so, dianthus will bloom. Then poppies and later in the season delphinium, lavender, hollyhock and russian sage. So, when you are putting in your new perennials this spring, keep in mind when they will be in full bloom in addition to how they look and smell when they are blooming.

Red Winged Blackbird

Enzo

"Enzo is crazy." That is a phrase that you hear at our house all the time. Enzo is a red winged blackbird that comes to our house every spring.

Three years ago, we started noticing some tapping at our front door. We'd open the door and no one was there. Again and again this happened. After a several days I noticed that when I opened the door a bird would be flying away. Then, I noticed a tapping at the back of the house.

So, I set up a stake out. I waited for the tapping at the front door and opened it. When the bird flew away I quickly went out the back door and saw the bird coming around the corner of the house. He spotted me and flew off.

Next time, I sat by the corner of the house and waited for the bird to come back. After a few minutes, he was back at the front door tapping on the kick plate underneath the front door. I knocked on the wall and he flew away to the back of the house. I peeked around the corner and the bird was tapping on the basement window.

At this point I realized he was tapping at his own reflection. He saw himself in the kickplate and saw himself in the window. This went on all spring and summer and then he was gone. It was during this time that Karen and I named the bird Enzo, it just seemed to fit. The tapping would start early, early in the morning (sometimes before 5am) and not end until late afternoon. "Enzo is crazy."

By late fall, Enzo was gone. We missed him and his tap, tap, tap at the door. But, he returned the next year and started up with his tapping routine.

I tried several times to take his picture, but he was always too quick. Always out of focus, far away or out of the frame I could never capture a picture. "Enzo is crazy."

Last summer, we painted the house and took out the kickplate. Enzo stopped knocking at the door, but we stil heard his song at the house and saw him hanging out in our pine trees and coming down to the water garden for a drink. The picture above is Enzo in a pine tree in our back yard.

This spring, Enzo returned with a girlfriend. Of course we had to come up with a name. I suggested Melita because I am currently reading "The Jukebox Queen of Malta." Karen suggested Mirella because we had just finished watching the Italian epic "The Best of Youth." "Enzo is getting lucky."

Micro greens

Radish Micro Greens

Believe it or not, there are veggies you can harvest this early in the season. Lettuce, Beets and Radishes all should be thinned to allow them to reach their full maturity. To do that, you pluck out some of the seedlings when they are very small (these radish thinnings are less than an inch tall). But, don't throw them out. Wash your thinnings well because the white and red parts were underground. Then, dress them with some oil and vinegar like a regular salad. The taste is a very, very mild radish flavor. You can do the same with beet seedlings, lettuce seedlings, basil seedlings and arugula seedlings. After you enjoy your salad of micro greens, check out the price of a container of micro greens at the grocery store. You'll never throw out your thinnings again!