Saturday, June 07, 2014

Slow Saturday




A bouquet of radishes for you. From the second planting. A quick rinse and they are ready to eat, crunchy and peppery. Do you eat the green tops? Last year I added them to soups and salads. 
 

It's not that I don't have things to do. But this Bolero Rose, the first of the season, called out for a photo. So I answered, and then did a quick little tour of the garden. Isn't this just a wonderful time of the year when everything is green, green, green, reaching toward the sun, stretching, growing to beat the band? It fills me with energy.
 

Ashley and Owen gave us a fig tree in a pot almost four years ago (as a wedding thank you). Last summer I found space for it in the garden and I'm being rewarded with a half-dozen figs. I'll have to research when to pick them because I don't have a clue. The tree is still small, but growing quickly. 
 

Farewell to the peonies until next spring. But delphiniums and roses and lavender and anemones and, and, and... will undertake to provide colour in the garden. 
 
My Saturday is proceeding slowly. I'm not in a big hurry to accomplish the things on my list. They will get done. But in the garden, one plant rushes upon another in a flurry of growth. "Hurry, hurry," the garden says, "reach, stretch, grow to the light." Do you sense that dizzying pace of nature, too?

27 comments:

  1. Me and hubby were discussing how fast everything is growing this year, we can't keep up. Our fig has now grown as high as our garage and produces masses of fruits each year. We tend to pick when they are brown and squashy (that's the best I can describe them as). It's been very rainy over here and my rose shots have been filled with rain drops. Have a wonderful rest of weekend, how ever slow you want to take it. xx

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  2. I think I know what you mean. Our peonies left too quickly. And we are on our second blooming of the knockout roses, anxiously awaiting the hydrangeas. The cycle of life! I enjoyed your previous post also and remember well those popsicle forms!

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  3. Yes, nature is in a hurry for sure. It calls to come and walk in the garden and see what is new today.
    We were given a fig tree as a house warming gift 12 years ago, but those pesky squirrels like them too,
    so I think I have had only one or two to eat. The tree was slow to grow, but with pruning the past couple years it is beginning to flourish. Happy strolling through the garden.

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  4. Lovely radishes! ours were eaten before we knew they were up even- darn flea beetles!

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  5. Our peonies haven't even opened yet, another few days perhaps. I've eaten beet tops but not the greens from radishes which look delicious, by the way.

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  6. I love fresh figs and these look so good. They will almost fall off when you touch them, when they are ripe. My Aunt had a big tree and had to cover it will gauze to keep the birds away....but oh the fruit is so sweet and flavorful! Happy weekend!

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  7. Perhaps I should have squeezed in some radishes somewhere; they look delicious and the oblong shape is different from the round ones I usually see. I imagine you have plans for those figs!

    Enjoy the rest of the your weekend, Lorrie.

    Karen

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  8. Love your first photo--those radishes are gorgeous! I agree--it seems like spring went by way too quickly this year and that, garden wise, summer is already here.. And now your fig picture reminds me that I forgot to check ours--it's a Desert King fig that we planted quite a long time ago.
    Blessings,
    Aimee

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  9. I often want your posts to go on...perhaps I am waiting for you to answer the questions you raise.

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  10. Beautiful post. How true about the garden and it must be constantly cleaned. xo Jenny

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  11. I did not know that radish tops were edible. My mother always used to put radishes in salads, but I usually don't...although I'm not sure why because I do like them. I get in ruts, I think.

    Right now, I am waiting for my yellow yarrow to bloom. They are almost there. Yes, it all comes and goes so quickly!

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  12. I can't wait to have a big garden and grow radishes. Those look amazing! Hope the rest of your day was wonderful!

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  13. Those radishes look about as beautiful as radishes can! And I would love to have a fig tree. I have a vague memory of eating figs in Uruguay, and I'd love to try them again. I do use dried figs, but I'm now hungry to try a real one.

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  14. Spring is rushing about - busy painting everything beautiful. This has been such a glorious spring. Today we spent the whole day on Guemes Island (off the coast near Anacortes) and tomorrow is our slow day - a little transplanting of some new flowers - a few seeds to sew - some quiet time on the deck enjoying the sounds and smells of spring. Your garden is fabulous!!!!

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  15. Your garden is beautiful! I did not know that the tops of radishes were eatable. That's something new to try :) I have never tasted a fresh fig either . . . sounds delicious, but isn't everything better when it is fresh from the picking :)

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  16. Your radishes made me very sad! Ours have been an utter failure this year, although we have sown two lots. It wasn't just the slugs, but poor growth as well.
    In our French garden we had two huge fig trees and picked when the fruit was soft.

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  17. Here in Bordeaux, we've been working our way through a bunch of radishes as well (yum! With butter! And salt!) and I was contemplating that very question about the leaves. I did a bit of research and have resolved to get better about using them in salads, soups, and will probably even make up a pesto with them when I get back home to my blender. Meanwhile, happy to think of us both enjoying Les radis across this distance.

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  18. The figs look good, something I have always wanted to grow.I don't know how to harvest them either but think they would be tasty.

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  19. My how your garden does grow! My great grandmother had a fig tree on the side of her house when I was growing up, I used to sit under its sheltering leaves and eat them fresh picked and warmed from the sun. Thanks for the memory.

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  20. Those radishes look amazing. I get so happy when summer arrives. Love the color, warmth and the smell of cut grass and things in bloom. Right now it's gardenias and magnolias.

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  21. Very dizzy! Just when I haven't fully gotten to enjoy my tulips, my lilacs are blooming, then my roses are starting to bloom! Been a great spring tho. Lovely days. :) Kit

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  22. Great pictures! I never eat radishes!!! Never!! They are a little spicy! I was in Zurich a few weeks ago and we stopped at a little cafe for a drink and they brought a bowl of radishes to our table! So I ate some. Never have seen that before. My friend that lives there says it's not the norm. But I did feel an urge to sketch them. hahaha!

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  23. I was gone for just over a week and when I came home, didn't recognize the garden or the surrounding forest for all the growing and flowering that had occurred. Amazing the transformation in such a short period of time. And thanks for the tip on using the radish tops in salads, never would have thought to do that for some silly reason! Hope you had a lovely relaxing weekend, Deb

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  24. Well of course our season is the opposite to yours but Winter is the time a lot of native plants flower so it will soon be time for wattle and grevillea plants to be full of blooms. Ours are in full bud so it won't be long.

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  25. My peonies are almost finished too, until next spring. This year they were amazing! So many flowers! Lots of joy to my heart!

    I will end up with a lull in blooms this year, as my hydrangea is not dead but is not going to flower this year. I am so sad. Well, the echinecea and black eyed susans, and day lilies and daisies will have to get going soon! And my roses!

    Busy but beautiful time in the garden!

    Deanna

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  26. Yes, like you I find energy in green growing things. It's fun, exciting, a little adventure every time I step outside. Radish tops. I didn't know you could eat them.

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  27. Here in the city I am always on the hunt for radish leaves that are not too wilted, torn and dirt to eat. They are always so battered by the time they get to the supermarket.
    I am so excited that the little fig tree is giving you fruit this year! They should be ready in about August, when they are plump and a little squishy to touch. Delicious!

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