A couple of days ago, before the rain arrived, I took a stroll around Our Little Piece of Paradise to see what I could see. It amazes me how fast a piece of fallow land can go from “manageable” to “well, maybe next year.” Seemingly over night, the earth explodes with growth. The slope in front of Our Humble Little Cottage went from accessible to a tangled snarl of honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, blackberries, and wild roses in less than a week.

On the plus side, the wild flowers are starting to bloom and the creek banks are fragrant with mint. Also, we’re still finding new patches of wild asparagus.

ox-eye daisy

For the last two years, I’ve been moving the asparagus from the tangled slope to a more manageable bed next to the house. However, once that is done, it will take three years before the transplants will again produce those fat tasty stalks. This year, I’m leaving the wild stuff where it’s growing and just cultivating around it. I guess the big story flower-wise are the iris. We’ve got them coming up all over the place…wild, cultivated and a lot that are somewhere in between. The familiar wild yellow irises are dotting Galena Creek from its headwaters to the New River. The previous owner planted iris bulbs all over the hillsides in hopes that they would grow as densely as the day lilies do, choking out weeds and preventing soil erosion. Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case. As a result, we’re constantly digging and transplanting the delicate-looking flowers into areas that are more hospitable.

We’re almost through planting the vegetable garden, and I’m headed out later today to purchase some apple trees. Last night, we had an arugula salad from the garden and fresh strawberries. If you haven’t planted arugula before, I highly recommend it. It has nutty flavor with a slight peppery aftertaste. I tossed it with my own Caesar dressing, some homemade garlic croutons, freshly ground black pepper, and shaved, imported parmesan-reggiano cheese.

Iris Photographs

===============================================================

Palin Watch

America’s leading retard is at it again. Sarah Palin declared yesterday, “It’s time for Americans across this great country to stand up and say, ‘We’re all Arizonans now!”  She’s thrown her support behind Arizona’s appalling immigration law that is so flawed that even the Arizona Association of Police Chiefs doesn’t support it.  Palin seems determined to become the Al Sharpton of the Nut Case Right.  My 2012 Republican dream ticket would be Palin and Virginia Attorney General Ken “The Coochie” Cuccinelli. That would gives us voters the opportunity to tell both of them, “Shut up and go away!“