Before and after pictures with at least 1/4 of the bark still remaining after the work of the weekend.
And on a lighter note, the iris are blooming in our flower beds!
What's blooming in your yard?
(image from art in red wagons)
...is that spirit, energy, presence, inherent in every cell of the vegetative realm, and transmitted to the animal/human realms through the foods we eat, the flowers we smell, the trees we hug. He is Pan.
The plants are close to an east window in the garage, and seem to be doing fairly well after about six weeks in their winter home. I've been watering them about every three weeks. Some lovely geranium art pictures from Barbara's blog: Caroline Lord (American artist, 1860-1927) Woman with Geranium Aristide Maillol (French artist, 1861-1944) Portrait de Lucien 1896 Alfred Stevens (Belgian Painter, 1823-1906) Still Life with Geraniums 1889 Paul Cezanne (French artist, 1839-1906) The Flower Pots 1883-87 Nancy McCarroll, Oil |
The herb garden has gone wild from the heat and rain showers. It’s bursting with more herbs than I can handle or possibly use. It’s like an herb party with too many rowdy guest showing up. So now is exactly the time to start cutting them back and letting them dry for winter cooking. This will both begin the supply of dried herbs and also encourage more growth during the next weeks of summer. Herbs are roughly divided into two categories, “hard” and “soft.” The soft herbs are herbs with soft stems, such as parsley and tarragon. The soft herbs are best used fresh; they’re fine dried, but they lose their magic, all the beguiling qualities that make them so powerful.Looking at my "soft" herbs, I seized the day and picked tarragon and parsley to dry, simply washing off the leaves and spreading them on tea towels laid on the counter for drying. Ruhlman says to spread them out in bowls for drying, so that must work too.
Custards could be infused but they must drape the tongue briefly and evaporate, smooth and silky. Like a well cut skirt: scissors glide through the grain of the fabric, not against it. An aroma is an elusive sensory experience. We embrace those we have known and loved forever and are comforted because they still smell the same as we remember.And now for the basil and Making Pesto to Freeze:
...is that spirit, energy, presence, inherent in every cell of the vegetative realm, and transmitted to the animal/human realms through the foods we eat, the flowers we smell, the trees we hug. He is Pan.