Wild strawberries still in the house

Tags

postaday2016, wild strawberries

I remember walking around the perimeter of our old fence twenty years ago with Marshall our black lab  and stumbling upon a few wild strawberry plants hidden away in the corner, the next day when I checked on the strawberries, they were gone, most likely eaten by squirrels or birds. Fast forward a few years, we put up a new fence, this time along the entire perimeter of the property, all thoughts of wild strawberries gone from my mind because I never saw them again or more accurately I never looked for them again, not until three or four years ago when I found a few in the corner of one of my gardens near the pool.

This year, the wild strawberry plants are everywhere, in the back and the front yard. What surprises me at this point is not only are they are still producing fruit this late in the strawberry season, but that the birds and the critters have left them alone for us to pick them.

What’s interesting is that this year, their proliferation could almost be compared to that of a weed, similar to my annual foe, the bishop’s weed. The wild strawberries are spreading themselves in and among my perennials like the lavender in the first two pictures, their saving grace however, lies in the shallow nature of their root system, very easy to dig up as opposed to the nightmare of the bishop’s weed root system, something I have to contend with big time next spring. My bishop’s weed also exploded on the scene this year, so my work is more than cut out for me, come next year, not looking forward to that I can promise you.

The wild strawberries are out

Tags

postaday2016, wild strawberries

This year my garden has seen an explosion of wild strawberries, they are everywhere, not only in my backyard, but also in the front in the side bed. I wonder who I have to thank for this development, the birds, the chipmunks, or the wind. What I particularly enjoy is the fact that all of the pretty white flowers hold the promise of a tasty red fruit afterwards. The plants themselves aren’t too picky about their home, they have proliferated in the stones right next to the pool, the clay rich soil of the other gardens in the back and rich soil in the front. I remember finding just a couple wild strawberries twenty years ago in the back corner and being so excited over the find, who knew that twenty years later, my gardens would be the home of so many wild strawberries.

I remember planting the “mother” rose bush off to the side of the backyard some fifteen years ago, not knowing that rose bushes give off shoots as their way of growing and expanding. I got the idea, about three years ago, of transplanting these shoots only after seeing them be mowed down because they were sprouting in the lawn. All it took to transplant these small shoots was to dig them up, they didn’t even have conventional roots with the white tendrils, just the root itself, I didn’t do anything other than dig a hole near the pool amongst the rocks and plant the shoot and three years later I have a young rose bush full of lovely, aromatic blooms, easy peasy. I did the same in the front, this time it was two years ago and I have two tiny rose bushes blooming in the front, very exciting in my opinion. Now if only every plant made it this easy lol.

Frittata is the treat of the day

Tags

broccoli, chives, frittata, postaday2013, potatoes, wild strawberries

I was outside today taking care of the pool and the water situation and for some unknown reason I felt compelled to check to see if I had any wild strawberries growing and lo and behold, this is so exciting, I had at least three wild strawberries growing. It doesn’t take much to get me excited about nature. I’m even allergic to strawberries, but it doesn’t matter, I have organic strawberries growing in my garden around the pool. How good is that?

After I was done with the pool and my picture taking, I decided to make a potato, chive and garlic frittata. I think that frittata has become one of my favorite things to make, it is so easy and so delicious with minimal ingredients. I diced up four medium potatoes and sautéed them until they were golden and took them out of the pan and onto a paper towel. I preheated the oven to 350 and minced garlic which got thrown into an oven proof pan with olive oil. While that was on the heat, I cracked and whisked seven eggs together , added salt and pepper and threw them into the pan with the garlic. I added sliced chives that I got from my garden and then I added the sautéed potatoes. When the eggs were set on the bottom, I put the pan in the oven for about five minutes and I inverted the frittata onto a plate.

I made broccoli for myself, sautéed with garlic and olive oil, salt and pepper. I love broccoli, it’s filling and delicious.