Pretty in pink

Rosa rugosa and Queen of the Prairie

Queen of the Prairie, also known as Meadowsweet

Daylily

And now it is summer!

 At 10:58 this morning in the eastern US, the sun entered Cancer and summer began!

We have had the slowest, wettest, coolest spring in ages! The trees opened and blossomed at the usual time, but the plants have just waited patiently, more patiently than I!, for sunshine. I have written my tale o' woe about our plants, and it continued. The second planting of tomato plants look awful after waiting to go into the ground. The cukes we planted are all dead. The squash is hanging on. A couple of planted tomatoes "might" make it. And the basil looks pretty sickly. Just too cool, with way too little sun. The past few days the sun has COME BACK, and the flowers are happy, happy. The local farmers, both vegetable and flower, have had a hard time. Everything's late, but all should be fine now. Picked up strawberries today. 

For supper I'll be making the first strawberry shortcake of the season.

Just before I wrote this post, I read the following in The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. Helene Hanff says:

"... every time I eat strawberries here [in England] I think of the English clergyman who remarked:

'Doubtless God could have made a better berry than the strawberry and doubtless God never did.' "

Chickens

I don't think I wrote about the chicks we got last spring. Because we still had quite a few from five years before that, we got only 10.  

Our chickens have always had daily free access to the outdoors from the barn, but until a few years ago, they never ventured outside the pasture fence. They started getting through that fence and coming across the lawn. I even put up a sign that said "chicken crossing". 

Here are a couple of them in mid-July 2020.

We never feared predators because none have ever been around; the very occasional coyote, but never near the barn.

This spring something got all but three chickens. There were no distress noises. There was no sign of attack anywhere. We just don't know whether the killer was from the sky or the earth. I am amazed that Nebby the donkey who is very protective didn't raise an alarm. Perhaps she was out further in the pasture. We'll never know. 

We decided to get some more because three chickens don't provide too many eggs. We've gotten from 1-3 a day since the disappearance. 

The Dominiques which we've always had were not available, so we got Speckled Sussex. While the Dominique is considered America's first breed, the Sussex has a long history in England and came to this country around 100 years ago. It was a Roman breed way back. 

They were born on Wednesday, and we picked them up at the Post Office yesterday!

And today

We ordered 15, but they always include some extras in case any die on the way, which happily we've never had happen, so our total is 18, and with the 3 in the barn, 21 chickens! So out of sadness, something good and joyful has come. They are so adorable. Sussex chickens are supposed to be quite docile and friendly with people. 

Tom has moved the original three into a stall that cannot be gotten into by predators, and is working on a new big, big stall for all of them. They will not be going out. They will have all the mod-cons, as the British say. Perhaps in another year, he will build a run outside their home covered completely so they will be safe. No more wandering chickens. 

Pruning Basil

 I think I've mentioned that I always pronounce basil in the English way because the first time I ever heard the word was on Fawlty Towers. Isn't that unbelievable? That show was in the 1970s. The only herb I'd heard of was parsley, the curly garnish that no one ever ate. How very far we have come.

Anyhow, my basil plants didn't make it this year, so I bought some starts at the Co-op from a local, organic farm. They have grown tremendously under the lights. I kept reading that I should prune them, but you all know how hard that is to do when your plants are big and healthy. I went to my favorite YouTube gardener, MIgardener. His name is Luke and he is the dearest person, as well as offering a ton of information. This is the video I watched. Afterward, I went right out to the kitchen, and did what I needed to do. Here are my before and after photographs.

They should really take off now and be nice and bushy rather than leggy. Quite a difference. And a side benefit is I used some of the cuttings to make the first pesto of the season! My recipe is here.