Speaking of Dandelions...

Our neighbors lawnmower broke, so his yard looks like this. All those yellow dandelions have gone to seed, and I assume will be blowing right into my garden (ugh). Yet, I still find the seed filled field beautiful, like a marshmallow field. And I couldn't help but think, if I dug all of those plants up and roasted the roots, that I'd have dandelion coffee for a year. But I doubt I'll get that energetic.

Back on the Water

After several days of steady rain, it was finally nice enough to get back on the water. I don't mind kayaking in a light drizzle, but in steady downpours? Not so much fun.

This am, besides ducks and geese of various sorts (those ducks I could not identify, by the way, are mixed breed escapee farm ducks, that explains that), anyway... I saw 2 Mink!

The first mink was strolling up the road this morning, apparently he knows little about traffic and could care less anyway, but no cars came by and he made it around the bend safely, and hopefully, to where ever his final destination was. Hubby says this is the time of year parents boot out the young males and send them packing, so I assume, this little dude was off to find his own pad and a chick to breed with.

The second mink was hanging about the creek bank when I paddled by. Like the one I saw this morning, neither scurried, both just went about their business and paid no attention to me.

In picture 2, you'll see our resident alligator. Of course we don't have alligators in PA, but every time I round the bend toward home, this log in the water looks to me like an alligator in waiting.

The Incredible Edible Dandelion

I don't know how often you go out to the lawn to pick dinner, but you could.

I have been reading "The Wild Food Trailguide" by Allen Hall and have found that we are surrounded by edible plants. We could, if you so chose, probably live off of the wild plants and 'weeds' in our yard.

While many people have their yard sprayed to kill these 'unsightly' weeds, having learned more about them I feel pretty good about having them around.

Every part of the dandelion can be used for food. In early spring the leaves can be eaten liked cooked spinach (though once they flower they're said to be way too bitter for most palates). The flowers are used to make dandelion wine and the roots? You can make coffee from them.

The book says Indians (and settlers I assume) would roast the white root until brown, grind up, make a coffee like drink. The roots can also be sliced and cooked like a turnip.

So I hope, like me, the next time you see pesky weeds in your garden you'll rethink their presence.

Weed Free Garden

Last year friends and neighbors raved about our beautiful garden. The biggest difference between our garden and theirs was not what we grew, or how we grew it, but that our garden was virtually free of weeds, offering a beautiful, as well as a bountiful, garden.

It's not that I work harder than those other gardeners, in fact I tend to be on the lazy side. The secret to a weed free garden is in the preparation. A little work in the spring saves hours and hours of weeding on your hands and knees, and eliminates the need for toxic chemicals and sprays.

In the top photo, our tomato plant is
started and planted, but after several days of record heat, then rain, then sunshine, you can see the little weeds are starting to sprout alongside the fruit.

This is the time I take that huge stack of newspaper I've been saving and spread it on top of the weeds (I don't pick them, just block precious sunlight from them). Then I top the newspaper off with a few handfulls of dirt to keep it from blowing about. After that I hose down the paper to make it wet, adding weight to it and making it stick together and to the ground.

Once the garden is covered with wet newspaper I cover that with some compost. Straw, wood chips, shredded paper or mulch do the same thing, but since we have compost we get for free, that's what we use.

Once the newspaper is topped off (picture 3) the garden is beautiful and weed free.

We continue to cover the top layer with grass cuttings (from our bagger mower). The newspaper, unlike plastic, will rot on it's own and add to the garden.

A few weeds will poke up here and there, but for the most part, we're weed free for the summer.

Now how easy was that?

Kayak in the Rain

Despite the rain, my neighbor and I braved the elements and went kayaking this morning (wild & crazy women that we are).

The ride reminded me of the last time it flooded and with banks swelled, the water was very swift. There was a group of ducks that would float downstream in what appeared to be a high speed duck race. They'd zoom down around the creek bend, then would fly back up stream and race one another again.

If you're reading this, oh dear neighbor, there was a better closeup of you and your reflection on the water, but the scowl on your face from my taking your picture did no justice to your major cuteness! Next time, smile, you're on Pooh Pooh's Candid Camera.