Strawberries, Blueberries and Huckleberries

Technically, the month for strawberries has passed in the garden - though there are a few lagging behind to ripen as the season continues.  If we're lucky, and the heat-wave subsides, these 'everbearing' plants will flower again (maybe two more times), and we will enjoy more fruit in the future.  For the time being, our attentions have turned to the blueberries which have been ripening since the beginning of July.  We try to pick the ripe berries at least once a day from our established bushes, to discourage predation by all of the birds looking for a tasty treat.  I just scared off several Stellar Jays having brunch... By the end of the season, we will be so tired of these daily pickings that the time will come to just let the birds have a little feast.  We still treat Nugget to a few of her favourite tidbits - our chicken loves her blueberries, and will jump to carefully nip them from between our fingers.

Yesterday morning, I went out to one of my favourite picking spots to hunt for wild huckleberries.  They're much harder to pick, averaging roughly 1/2 hour of picking for each 1/2 pint of jam that I make, but it's become a bit of a tradition for me.

 

Several times throughout the day, I checked on the hive to make sure that there was no sign of the robber bees - we physically moved the hive after the robbers returned the second day after they found the hive. The distance of a mere 10 feet and some tall plantings seems to have caused enough confusion to discourage predation. Two of the three entrance holes are blocked, and will stay that way in the near future.  I've observed guard bees pacing in and out of the remaining entrance, wary of intruders. We will do a hive inspection on Sunday to verify if our new queen is laying, and if the brood from Jen's hive has begun to emerge.  

 

In the garden, the barley, shallots and garlic are nearly ready for harvest. We had the last of our first -sown lettuce greens with dinner last night, and had blueberries with a bit of ice cream to top off our meal.  The tomatoes are in bloom, but I have yet to see any fruit development (very late this year). Cucumbers and zucchini are beginning to form, as well as the fruits on our winter squash vines.  The pole and bush beans have peaked in their growth, and are starting to set flowers for pollination. More pole beans are just breaking the ground to replace the pea plants I pulled on the weekend. Cilantro plants are busy flowering, so it looks like we will have a good crop of coriander seed - and I have successive plantings of the herb, so we are still enjoying fresh salsa, even if the tomatoes are from the store. The heat caused the oriental greens to bolt, and I've decided to let the planting essentially re-seed itself in place for the cooler months.  The first planting of basil is hitting a foot in height, and I should be harvesting this weekend to make basil/almond pesto (it keeps wonderfully in the freezer). Also on the to-do list is using up some of the parsley for home-made tabouli. 

 

While I was giving some of our plants a bit of extra water, this dragonfly fearlessly landed a foot away from me, and stayed to let me take pictures.