We have had more storms here in central Oklahoma this past week. It has been such a rainy spring here. I had expected it to feel like summer this week but due to the rain it has been quite cool. Some of my plants have enjoyed all the rain while others are less than pleased with it. I have started a teddy bear sunflower and a cypress vine which are turning yellow from the extra water. My boyfriend and I both managed to get off on Friday afternoon and night so we went to the farm for a few hours. I mostly worked on removing the American hog peanut vines that were invading my herbs garden and crowding my herbs. The clover is still out of control but I hope to work on it on June 7th. We were able to get a few strawberries before the animals and insects did. We also saw some blackberries coming soon. Some flowers were blooming and I really enjoyed seeing my first morning glory in person. I got a photo just before it closed up. I think it is called Grandpa Ott morning glory. I also got a great photo of a mourning cloak butterfly. It was a fairly large butterfly and the first mourning cloak I have seen. The old rose bush was fully blooming and looked magnificent due to the rain. I saw the ornate box turtle from last year again by the barn. My cat is doing good and I saw her catch a lizard. Speaking of lizards, my sister sent me a cool lizard photo of a lizard called a green anole she saw at the park. She is also really into photography. My family sent me some drawings they made me in the mail. My sister also sent me some expired seeds again. These are from 1998! It is super interesting to see how the package has changed since then. I am not sure if my sister knows they expire but I will try to plant them anyway. They are gypsophila or baby’s breath seeds.The last ones she sent from 2002 were torch lilies. They were planted but they haven’t come up yet. I did put out a few more wildflower seeds on Friday. On June 7th, I will take some more plants to transplant. The pawpaw trees are doing good and so is the vitex. The hazelnut tree did not make it but I will replace it with a very small eastern redbud. The magnolias got eaten up a bit by something but I think they will survive. The dahlias are coming up and most of the veggies on the sunny hill are doing fine. I think I will need to get a few tomato cages after all. My peas are producing but only one was ready to harvest. I took more herbs and lettuce and kale. I put the herbs in some water and when I changed the water out I saw an earwig in there. Yikes! I also caught a killer bee sipping water from one of my pots on the balcony. This week, I made beef and broccoli and it was very good. I used this recipe: https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/beef-and-broccoli-stir-fry/ It was so good that my boyfriend requested that I cook it again next week. I think I will also make shrimp fajitas next week. We are also planning to try some of the new summer ice cream flavors at Braum’s soon. My boyfriend gave me a new book called Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual by Bill Mollison. I plan to start reading it once I finish my current book. I am very excited to learn more about these methods and continue to improve my garden over time.
Lisa Ledbetter 