The big surprise this week was a single prairie smoke in bloom. I wasn’t expecting anything from them this year, and it’s awfully late in the season for it, but I’ll enjoy it all the same. Unlike other Geums, the real show with this plant is the seeds, not the flowers. So hopefully I’ll have …
This week was a slow week on the homestead. I was mostly out of commission, focusing on work and a series of headaches. My biggest asset in this entire enterprise is my capacity to work. My time, energy, grit, and physical resilience require management. Towards that end, I’m taking the fact that I’m feeling burnt …
I’m posting a bit late this week. I spent the weekend dealing with family business two states away and I spent most of the time driving. Because of that, nobody finished much yard work this weekend. Dave managed to cut back and resmother the evil rose bush by the garage, but the rest is up …
Things are still sparse on the homestead this week. The shining peony from last week has already faded. There’s no sign of blooms on the second peony. It might not be getting enough light. I’m looking at adding more June flowers next year, that’s top of my priorities. The bright spot has been vegetables blooming. …
Progress Update It’s been another mostly aquatic week on the homestead. Pumpkinseed launched into phase 1 fully with the arrival of several new strains. I’ve also started thinking about some dry goods to add as well when I’m ready for e-commerce. Around the rest of the Homestead, most of the effort flits between weeding, attempting …
The side garden, despite some epic weeds is the star this week. The first peony has opened in an intense magenta that matches the blooming mountain laurel that arches over from next door. Front Garden Update In the front bed, the bleeding hearts threw out another spray. But the columbine from last week are no …
There’s a lot of chaos this weekend, It’s countrywide, but today it hit my ordinarily quiet corner of Chicago. Racial unrest isn’t a regular topic for this blog, but I feel a need to express sympathy for everyone suffering both from historical mistreatment and recent events. The sirens tonight are a minor inconvenience for me, …
What’s Blooming When Laika and I walked out the door this morning, I didn’t have the highest hopes that I’d have anything worth photographing on the homestead. I figured I might find some violets or creeping charlie if I got lucky. Right in the center of the front bed was a sole bleeding heart blossom …
The big story this week was the flooding and cleaning up from the flooding. The basement took on several inches of water when the city shut down the sewers as an emergency measure during heavy rains. It bubbled up through the floor drains. This setback made it difficult for me to do anything with the …
Neighborhood Blooms Not much in bloom on the homestead grounds this week. A few straggly tulips and the bleeding hearts. But yarrow, dogwoods and Johnny jump ups are blooming in the neighborhood. Blooming Inside The House Much more interesting are all the blooms in the house. Violets started from seed have erupted in bloom, anthuriums …