Spring is Springing

 It continues to be a long, lush Spring around here.  Things are blooming and many fruits are forming, including mulberries, chokecherries, raspberries and more.  I made the collage above to juxtapose a collection of the textures that different plants are showing now as buds and flowers blanket limbs and branches.

 A week ago, I collaborated with 3 other families to resurrect my father's vegetable garden.  In years past, I had edged two of the three plots with a mix of perennials, shrubs and bulbs, but left the center square free for ever changing vegetable crops.  A mix of seedlings and seeds are finally installed!  Heavy on cole crops, and plenty of beans, peas, lettuce and much more to pick and use in due time.

 A trio of salmon pink oriental poppies have bloomed for me for many years now and I'm just fascinated with these flowers and with the striking seed pods they become when mature.  They are part of the "border" that surrounds two of the vegetable patches.

Finally, one of the best surprises so far this Spring:  a number of my tractor tire planters have self-seeded with snap dragons!!  I was so happy to just discover this, as I'd been searching in vain for seed starts for the larger, taller snapdragon plants.  I guess they aren't in fashion this year as I could find NONE at any of the numerous garden places I checked.  And then, a few days ago I finally took a closer look to see about weeding and preparing these planters that mark the road back into the campground.  Lo and behold, numerous, vigorous seedlings from plants here in years past had grown all on their own!  Good thing too, because I've never had much luck trying to start these from seeds, but good old Ma' Nature had no problem getting these guys started all by herself, no help needed.

So the past weekend, a good part of the transplanting, putting in seeds, general pruning and clearing weeds, etc. was all almost completed around WillOaks Farm and Campground.  Everything is happening so late this year but am hoping the "better late than never" holds true....to be continued!  Meanwhile, bone weary, long days, tons of work to do all in between running a campground that seems to get busier every week.  Yep, things are very busy around here!

And then? Flora and Fauna....

So yes, one can flounder after a life changing event, like losing a parent, a sibling, a loved one. Dad passed about 4 weeks ago. I just haven't had too much to say and so, poor blog, sits here on a long pause. I think it's the first "blog pause" I've had for such a long time. I'm sorry if you missed me, ha ha!
I don't have much to say, but I do have some interesting photos to share. Images of Spring in the Midwest, starting with the return of the Sandhill Cranes, which are easier to hear than to see around here. But I did catch a flock resting in a nearby field when they began to move in this Spring.

Rite of Spring - Mariah climbs a tree.

Other signs of Spring including flowers trying to grow, and getting smacked down by late snowfalls and frosts.

I channeled my dad the first week of April and planted onion sets, some cool weather seeds, pea pods, radishes. My dad and mom raised us all to work in their gardens and I do have very early memories of different tasks. So it felt good to dig in the dirt when the weather was friendly...lately, it's not friendly. Very cold and wet....

That's OK. I'm finally catching up on indoor studio work: back orders, commitments, creativity. It's all in there, somewhere, I just have to dig for it a bit. Campground will reopen in just about a week....Happy Easter Weekend to all.

Goodness from the Garden...&etc....

This may well be the first time I try to discuss a cooking project here at WillOaks Studio. A very special convergence yesterday made for a wonderful experiment...which makes a good little story. A delicious story, actually....and since I barely cook...well, bear with me.

Of course, it all starts at the asparagus patch and this is where Mariah spends a lot of time. Not because she likes asparagus, but because her catnip happens to be right next to it. The patch itself, you can see, is under a fresh new coat of wood chip mulch added this Spring.

Now did I bother to take a photo of the spears peeking their little heads out of the ground? Oops, no, I forgot. But here you can spy the buds of Coral Bells (Heuchera variety) and although they are red...it tickles me how they look a bit like tiny asparagus peeking up. (BTW, they will bloom soon and then the Hummingbirds will arrive!!)

But back to asparagus and what the heck I was up to here. You can see it was quite a bounty harvested today! Here the spears are all nicely washed and trimmed and are draining in the colander.
So the purpose of this cooking experiment? A dinner party for the girls. A dear friend of ours, Cathy, is just about to move to Canada. Our little girls group is going to miss her terribly...so before I gave this much thought, I was on the phone Monday morning with a "come on over for supper....I've got tons of fresh asparagus....and a new idea for how to cook them." My three friends were all game and this was our send-off for Cathy.....

Frankly, asparagus alone does not a meal make. Well, maybe if it's a cream soup, but not this meal. I happened to have a bag of frozen shrimp handy, and since I was aiming for an oven baked meal here, I decided we would up the ante and see what happened if we baked both the shrimp and the asparagus!
So both piles of food were washed and dried, and then, I made a mixture of half melted butter and half olive oil with just a touch of garlic, onion and fresh ground black pepper. I dipped each spear and each tail in that mixture, arranged them on the oiled sheets, and lightly sprinkled them with sea salt. The oven was high--425 F....

...and the spears went in first. Here's a peek through the oven window. About 15 minutes into it, the pan of shrimps was added for a grand total of perhaps 10 minutes more, then both pans were removed from the oven. I had a nice bowl of brown rice seasoned with a bit of wild rice on the side, and put a scoop of each of these three things on each plate to serve. Screwed up again because in my excitement to serve the supper, I totally forgot to take a photo of these pretty trays as they came out of the oven and the pretty plate arrangements....oh well....

....here's the dab of leftovers after everyone had their fill!! The thing about asparagus season is I truly get sick of the vegetable after just a couple times of steaming and eating them in the "normal way." This oven roasted version was amazing!! Much more interesting and a recipe I will surely repeat several more times as I harvest this season of asparagus from WillOaks Farm!!

Oh, and the girls all liked it very much, too!! I almost felt like a real chef...which was a very strange sensation! And just in case you get the wrong impression that we were only eating sort of healthy food? Linda brought a big Red Velvet cake for dessert!!

Bye bye, Cathy...we'll miss you!!

Wordless Wednesday (Italian Inspirations-Tuscan Gardens & Livestock)

Can't keep quiet. The photos here are Spannochia, but the topic is garden planning for WillOaks Farm and new livestock on the way for summer...all happening soon as Spring is springing!