my fingernails is related to a sawmill on my mother's side
It seems that I am immune to poison ivy, for which I can thank my mom for giving me her lucky genes. I feel like I've just discovered that I have a superpower--one that allows me to wear shorts in the summer.
Earlier this week, G and the girls tracked the guinea hens in the afternoon until they discovered a nest with 9 eggs. She gave two each to me and X. Guinea eggs are a little smaller than chicken eggs, with light brown, thick shells. I had mine fried, on toast, for dinner. I'm not sure how to describe the flavor. It wasn't anything weird; it was like a chicken egg only better than any chicken egg I've ever had. The yolk was a beautiful orange globe (full of protein from the guineas eating ticks and other bugs around the farm).
The weather is heating up now--yesterday was around 90. A lot of the winter greens have decided that it's time to reproduce, so they're bolting and blooming. It's really interesting to me how plants within a family can look so different during the majority of their lifespan, but at the beginning and end of their lives, they closely resemble their relatives. The broccoli, cabbage, kale, collard greens, kohlrabi, pak choi, tat soi, mizuna, cress, arugula, and several weeds are all members of the Brassica family. As seedlings, they are easy to identify because their seed leaves are heart-shaped. And again, at the end of their lives, the family resemblance is clear; they all elongate and get four-petaled yellow flowers (except for arugula, which has white flowers). The flowering red russian kale is particularly striking right now, with dark purple stems contrasting with the bright yellow flowers.
I love discovering all of the pleasant surprises that the area around the corn crib offers as the seasons change. First it was wild onions and daffodils, then some spearmint and catnip that returned to the garden on its own, in addition to a plant that looks like mint but smells like lemons. Now, the wisteria is blooming. I had no idea that there was any wisteria at all until last weekend, and now when I open the door I see a huge, spreading purple haze that floats over sheds and through the trees on both sides of the driveway. The smell is unbelievable.
When I was last at a used bookstore in DC, I picked up a book on American folklore, and have been reading a little over breakfast every morning. Overall the book is not that great, but it does have some choice examples of old style boasting. My favorite so far is "my fingernails is related to a sawmill on my mother's side," which X commented sounds like it could be a lyric in a Tom Waits song.
Earlier this week, G and the girls tracked the guinea hens in the afternoon until they discovered a nest with 9 eggs. She gave two each to me and X. Guinea eggs are a little smaller than chicken eggs, with light brown, thick shells. I had mine fried, on toast, for dinner. I'm not sure how to describe the flavor. It wasn't anything weird; it was like a chicken egg only better than any chicken egg I've ever had. The yolk was a beautiful orange globe (full of protein from the guineas eating ticks and other bugs around the farm).
The weather is heating up now--yesterday was around 90. A lot of the winter greens have decided that it's time to reproduce, so they're bolting and blooming. It's really interesting to me how plants within a family can look so different during the majority of their lifespan, but at the beginning and end of their lives, they closely resemble their relatives. The broccoli, cabbage, kale, collard greens, kohlrabi, pak choi, tat soi, mizuna, cress, arugula, and several weeds are all members of the Brassica family. As seedlings, they are easy to identify because their seed leaves are heart-shaped. And again, at the end of their lives, the family resemblance is clear; they all elongate and get four-petaled yellow flowers (except for arugula, which has white flowers). The flowering red russian kale is particularly striking right now, with dark purple stems contrasting with the bright yellow flowers.
I love discovering all of the pleasant surprises that the area around the corn crib offers as the seasons change. First it was wild onions and daffodils, then some spearmint and catnip that returned to the garden on its own, in addition to a plant that looks like mint but smells like lemons. Now, the wisteria is blooming. I had no idea that there was any wisteria at all until last weekend, and now when I open the door I see a huge, spreading purple haze that floats over sheds and through the trees on both sides of the driveway. The smell is unbelievable.
When I was last at a used bookstore in DC, I picked up a book on American folklore, and have been reading a little over breakfast every morning. Overall the book is not that great, but it does have some choice examples of old style boasting. My favorite so far is "my fingernails is related to a sawmill on my mother's side," which X commented sounds like it could be a lyric in a Tom Waits song.
Comments
Lemon balm? We let our lemon balm go to seed last year, and now it's *everywhere*. :(