Pic Today 4/30/16

 

SOON

VERY SOON

It won't be much longer.

And it's always worth the wait.

(There's nothing like the taste

of home-grown strawberries.)

Be still my heart!

Pic Today 4/29/16

 

 

 

FIRST PICKINGS

My daugher, Maggie, and I

plant a rented garden space at the "Y"

 each growing season.

This year we planted carrots, chard,

kale, celery, spinach, radishes,

bush beans, arugula . . . and

now that the weather is warm enough,

tomatoes, peppers and egg plant.

How exciting to harvest our

"first pickings" this week:

crisp radishes, leaf lettuce

and tender sweet spinach.

What a treat! 

Pic Today 4/28/16

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFTER THE RAINS

. . . and the storms, and the winds,

look what "survived" our terrible storms.

I think the flowers "needed that."

(Such is the cycle of Spring.) 

Pic Today 4/27/16

 

GREEN SKIES GIVE WARNING

When skies turn green,

you can be certain

bad weather is on the way.

It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon,

and suddenly the sky was dark

with an eerie green glow

above City Hall.

We knew it was time to head

for shelter.

(10 minutes later, strong winds

and hail pelted the city.)

Luckily, no tornadoes.

Pic Today 4/26/16

 

 

HOW DO THEY DO IT?

It seems impossible

how plants (flowers, ferns, trees)

can sprout and grow

in a solid, massive limestone bluff!

But they do.

(Nature is amazing.)

Pic Today 4/25/16

 

 

 

THESE STEPS

These old stone steps

still lead to Richart Spring.

 

Clean, cold, gurgling,

year round,

over 1-million gallons a day.

One of the many feeder streams

into the Meramec River.

We are blessed in Missouri

with our free-flowing, spring-fed

rivers and streams.

Clean water.

More precious than oil.

Pic Today 4/24/16

 

 

 

BEE'S KNEES

Zoey loves showing off

her new tattoos.

Her latest addition are

literally the "bees knees."

As my barista at Kaldi's Coffee,

Zoey also creates her own art

with floral lattes.

Pic Today 4/23/16

 

 

 

BIRTHDAY CAKES

TRANSFORMED

At La Patisserie Chouquette

(Tower Grove in St. Louis)

cakes and pastries are created

as unique works-of-art.

A Spring flower collection,

stack of pancakes with butter & syrup,

   chrysanthemums and roses . . . 

each is handcrafted 100% cake,

adorned with colored butter frosting,

and absolutely delicious.

Pastry chef and owner, Simone Faure,

hailed to St. Louis from the 7th Ward

of New Orleans, following an exit

from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. 

She has gained local and national fame

at her exquisite, custom designed cakes.

(You should see her wedding cakes!)

 

Pic Today 4/22/16

 

 

 

SPRING SCENES AT

MO BOTANICAL GARDEN 

Azaleas, rhododendrons,

 and single late tulips

create spectacular views

this month at

Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Pic Today 4/21/16

 

 

 

DOGWOODS IN THE RAIN

Dogwood trees are on show now.

Whether pink or white,

and even in the rain ...

each one soft perfection! 

Pic Today 4/20/16

 

 

TWO AZALEAS

  Admittedly two beauties . . . 

Azaleas (the flower) are in bloom now,

and definite show-stoppers.

And Iggy Azalea,

Australian rapper, song writer and model,

currently on tour (but not in home gardens).

(Each stunning beauties,

but the floral version much easier

to call your own!)

 

Pic Today 4/19/16

 

BLEEDING HEARTS

IN THE GARDEN

A nostalgic, romantic favorite

in the Spring shade garden.

"Some of you may remember

in my early days,

I was sort of a 'bleeding heart liberal.'

Then I became a man

and put away my childish ways."

  

-- Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. President

(It's a shame that we grow up, you know?)

 

Pic Today 4/18/16

 

SPECTACULAR SHOW

I will certainly miss this

Spectacular Spring

when the show concludes!

Pic Today 4/17/16

 

 

 

 

 

 

FARMERS MARKET

OPENING DAY

Grand opening day

at Tower Grove Farmers Market.

It was so good to see local growers

showing and selling their

fresh produce and foods.

To enjoy the health and taste

of organic, local, same-day fresh.

Wow, what a difference!

Beautiful food is so beautiful.

Food is art.

Pic Today 4/16/16

 

MISSOURI PASTURE LAND

We're blessed with abundant

fertile pasture lands

here in eastern Missouri.

In fact, according to current USDA

Agriculture Statistic Services,

Missouri ranks #2 in the U.S.

for the number of small farms.

Not mega-farms under corporate control,

but small family farms,

100,000 in all

(average size 287-acres).

Crop farms, horse farms, livestock farms.

More young families are choosing this

way of life, living off the land.

(It's a good sign, I say.

A healthy way of life.)

Pic Today 4/15/16

 

 

 

 

 

PROPAGATING MORELS

After collecting fresh morel mushrooms,

I've decided to attempt growing

my own crop of these rare morels.

The recipe and technique is complicated,

but this season I'm giving it a try.

Collecting fresh morels, mixing their spores

with rice and rye berries, and wood chips;

letting the spores feed and grow

(in the refrigerator);

then straining the slurry into spring water,

mixing in molasses, and aerating the mixture.

By now, this liquid is full of millions of new spores,

which I pour in a shaded moist area,

preferably around an ash tree or decayed stump.

(See above.)

Then soak the spore liquid deep in the soil.

And then (with luck), next Spring season.

Voila!

 

  (Wish me luck.)

Pic Today 4/14/16

 

 

 

 

PINK OF THE WOODS

No trouble picking out the native

Eastern Redbud tree

throughout the Missouri woods and forests.

It's a favorite low lying tree

throughout the tall timber,

especially near rivers and streams.

It's the last colorful flowering tree

before leaves cover the branches

of our many hardwoods.

Love that pink!