Gardening season is in full swing, and every spare minute I have is spent thinking about the garden, doing stuff in the garden, or recovering from doing stuff in the garden. It is a hectic time of year and I do not like the urgency and rush of trying to do everything in between working a full time job and all the other things that also need doing. The best spring garden season I ever had was 2020 when we were all in lockdown and I was working from home. Without a commute to work, I had time to spend in the garden in the morning and the afternoon. While I don’t wish for another pandemic lockdown, I do wish for the leisurely spring gardening that year.

James and I did not make it to the May Day Parade or Festival last weekend.  Saturday was spent at the bike shop buying a new bike (more on that later), and then indoors when it started raining. So Sunday was outdoors doing all the things we didn’t get to do Saturday because it was wet. But that’s ok.

This weekend was the big Friends School Plant Sale, our annual gardening extravaganza, and, I could say, our real May Day/ Beltane celebration. The garden is getting pretty packed, but I can somehow still make room for more plants. The sale last year was the final time we drove our car before we sold it a couple days later. This year, we biked to the sale.

In order to control the hoards of gardeners, they hand out wristbands for entry with a group number on them. In the past, this began at 7 a.m. (the sale opens at 9 a.m.) and we’d be there waiting in line at 6:30. This year, however, they started handing out wristbands at 6:30 a.m., which would mean we would need to leave the house on our bikes around 5 to get a good spot in line for an early group. In the past we would get our wristbands and then go out to breakfast and come back a little before 9. We’d be in the sale shopping for out plants by 9:15.

But, no way were we going to get up before 5 to bike over and stand in line. Not only is that ridiculous, but also, the place we used to go to for breakfast that opened at 7 a.m. had no direct bike route to it and we’d have to take a very long and circuitous route. The other breakfast option was only 4.5 miles away but didn’t open until 8 a.m. So we decided to not rush, knowing we’d end up in a later group. 

We got to the State Fairgrounds, where the sale is held, around 7:15. We got our wristbands, group 11. Then I checked the directions I had written down for how to get to Hard Times Cafe, our breakfast location. Away we went. Part of the route went through the University of Minnesota campus and we had to do a little backtracking after I took a wrong turn. But the campus was pretty much empty so it was not big deal. We made it to Hard Times at 7:50. Locked up our bikes and waited.

After we enjoyed a delicious and leisurely breakfast, we each picked a treat from the pastry case for later. Then it was back to the fairgrounds. We had to wait about 45 minutes before our group was called to go in. Not bad really. The weather was cloudy, cool and comfortable, we got to people watch, and I saw someone I knew and had a brief and excited garden chat.

Once we got into the sale, it all went pretty quickly. I had my list, I know the sale layout, we move with efficiency. We were disappointed that the perennial zinnias we wanted were all gone, and the wild sarsaparilla had a crop failure. Otherwise, I got everything on my list:

• Disco Marietta marigolds. These are yellow with dark red middles and will go nicely with the Hero marigolds I’ve been seed saving for years that are dark red with yellow middles.
• Black-rooted mullein. Butterflies and bees love the yellow flowers. I had one of these years ago and it sadly did not reseed. This time I will be sure to save seeds and not hope it reseeds itself.
• Black Elderberry. Yes I already have an elderberry and it’s doing fabulous after I gave it a severe early spring pruning. I decided a friend was needed—a youngerberry? Heh. We planted this one in the chicken garden about 6 feet away from the one already there.
• Badgersett hybrid hazelnut. These Minnesota breeders have been working for years to cross hazelnut varieties, breeding for hardiness and larger nuts. We planted Badger next to the native hazelnut we already have in the hopes that maybe with two we might actually beat the squirrels to some of the nuts.
• Sophia and Valentina ground cover raspberry. I had no idea there were low growing raspberries and they don’t even have thorns! I planted these as ground cover under a couple of honeyberries. 
• Victoria rhubarb. It’s just rhubarb. I have one well established plant already and I love rhubarb jam so much that I decided I needed another one. I know I could have divided the one I have, but I’ll save that for when I decide I need yet another rhubarb. 
• Lemon balm. Looking forward to adding some lemony flavor to tea and other things. This went into the herb spiral. It’s marginal here so it may or may not make it through the winter.
• Wild dotted blazing star. I already have a few liatris in my front yard prairie plantings. Can’t have too many though, the pollinators love them. This one looked to be kind of bushy. I planted it in one of the boulevard beds.
• Wild shooting star. A mid to late spring prairie perennial that likes shade. Planted this in a bare spot in partially shady bed in the front garden.
• Wild American bladdernut. A native understory shrub, which means it doesn’t mind shade. Planted it in a partly shady spot close to the house in the main garden. The seeds are edible and allegedly taste kind of like pistachios. 

Hopefully they will all like their new home.

Apple trees are blooming. It is an off apple year so the blooms are not profuse and I don’t expect to have many apples, if any, come September. The new Cherry is lightly blooming. There will not likely be any fruit this year as the tree is still young. But Bush Cherries are blooming nicely, clearly recovered from being eaten down to nubs by Fat Rabbit winter before last. Clove Currant, who I welcomed to the garden last spring, has pretty bright yellow flowers and smells like cloves! Mmmm. Clove Currant is still small, and if fruit happens it will only be a handful. I don’t know if they will taste like regular black currants or have a different flavor. Honeyberries, Serviceberries, and Gooseberries are all flowering. Red Currant is looking concerningly bare. I love Red Currant and I am hoping they are just a little slow this year. I say encouraging words every time I walk by. 

And Professor Plum y’all is alive and well and putting out shoots and leaves! I cheer the Professor on everyday.

The shelling peas are several inches high. The snap peas never sprouted, the seed was leftover from last year so it should have been fine. Oh well. The first seeding of radishes are up and looking strong. I sowed more radish seeds this weekend. The potatoes are sprouting, both the ones I bought and the ones I saved from last year. Woo hoo! My original carrot sowing never came up, so I sowed more and hope these will decide to sprout. 

I planted out the onions I started from seeds. They are not very far along and I am not optimistic there will be onions this year. But I have learned how to better sow them indoors next year—earlier, denser, and in deeper pots. The ones this year might surprise me yet, but my expectations are low. 

James made me a small experimental raised bed in the front yard to plant winter squash in. I wasn’t expecting all the winter squash seeds I started indoors to do so well. Two varieties I saved came from a pie pumpkin and what I think is a sweet meat, both bought at the co-op. Squashes easily cross pollinate and since I already have different maxima and pepo varieties in the main garden, I’m trying these two in the front yard. I am not certain there will be quite enough sun, and if there is, then I will be doing lots of maneuvering of vines to keep them from burying all the prairie plants nearby. Potentially great fun and yummy squash ahead!

It’s reaching peak Dandelion season and part of the plan this weekend was to go forage flowers for jam. But it started raining Saturday afternoon and kept raining, a lovely soaking rain, all night and into this morning. Not only are Dandelions closed up because of the clouds, even if they were open it would be too wet to crawl around picking them. So Dandelion foraging is postponed until Tuesday evening.

The New Bike

I’ve gone on so much already with garden stuff, this post is already too long. But, I got new bike, a Brompton folding bike! I named her Origami. She is my new commuter and around town bike. The bike folds up and can be stashed in a closet, which means my house will look a little less like a garage or bike shop. At least it will soon.

I am sad to say that I will be selling Willa, my gravel bike. Willa has been my commuting and around town bike. She is meant for gravel roads and we have gone on many wonderful adventures together—over 10,000 miles/ 16,093.44 km worth! But, since I no longer have a car, it makes zero sense to rent a car for a day, drive it for 45 minutes only to park it all day so I can ride on gravel roads. I will be giving Willa a shine and tune and then take her to a bike shop to sell on consignment. I am hoping someone will fall in love with her and have great gravel adventures.

Reading

• Blog post: Mr. Money Mustache: Less Cars More Money: My Visit to the City of the Future. Cars cost a lot of money for individuals and for cities
• Article:  The Atlantic: There is No Stopping the Allergy Apocalypse. Climate change has made allergy seasons longer and all that extra carbon in the air encourages plants to produce even more pollen. People who have never had seasonal allergies before are now experiencing them, and for those of us who have lived their whole lives with seasonal allergies, they are getting even worse. This is about more than sneezing and sniffling.
• Book: Saving Time by Jenny Odell. It’s really good. And I am enjoying the irony of reading it on my lunch break at work when I have to watch the clock because I am an hourly employee and only get a 30 minute unpaid lunch.

Listening

• Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett. The reader of the audiobook we had access to from the library read so fast we couldn’t understand half of what he was saying. So James is reading it aloud instead. It is especially wonderful when he gets to laughing so hard he can’t read the next sentence, which, since I’m laughing too, only makes me laugh even harder. 

Watching

• Been too busy to watch anything lately.

Quote

Even if, from the sky, poison befalls all,
I’m still sweetness
wrapped in sweetness
wrapped in sweetness…

– Rumi (translation by Ari Honarvar) –