Back in the garden: Flower power!

It has been a long, cold wait for the new season to arrive, and unlike 2013, I think I can safely predict that this year, spring will be a nice one. We've had lots of sunny days and mild weather ranging in temperatures from 14° to 22°C during the day and 12° at night. The swiss chard from last year lived through the winter and is sprouting new leaves that are already 8 inches tall, and the italian parsley is going gangbusters even after having had a layer of snow sitting on top of it.

Several runs to garden nurseries around town is, in my book, like xmas all over again. The multitude of potted spring blossoms beckon like eye candy, but this year I made it a point to select flowers that will do well in an alpine climate and hopefully come back again next year. The only flowers that I've started from seed are pink morning glory and nasturtium. I'm counting on the bleeding heart to take over a corner of the front yard.

Primroses are cheap and come in so many color varieties that we're working on including all of them in the back garden to compete with the dandelions and nettles.

I've never heard of blue daisies until last month. On a garden forum, it's been said that they will take over a spot if allowed (someone called them the "blue tanks"). The tiny flowers are delicate and don't last long, but that pop of blue color makes me smile in the morning.

We bought an asian pear tree (Nijisseiki) to complete the 3 fruit trees concept - persimmons, plums and pears - in the front yard. Fingers crossed tight that we won't get a late cold snap, but right now during these fine sunny days, the place for a short nap is under the mirabelle plum.

Today's high: 15°C

It's mirabelle plum time!

Apricot harvest: 1 pound. Plums from a couple weeks ago: 2 pounds too green.

Plums too soon and plums just right. We started picking them a couple of week ago and so far the total amounts to just under 19lbs (8.5 kilos). At first we did the shake-the-tree method, but unripened ones would also fall into the net. So we tried handpicking but that got too tedious since the fruit was ripening day by day. In the end I remembered the mango pickers that we had in Hawaii. Why not one for tiny plums? A small cloth sack was attached to one end of a bamboo pole and with a quick tug, plums were falling easily into a pouch.

We love our fruit but this is way too much, and we don't know of anyone nearby that would appreciate this particular plum. I've even gone so far as to throw the bruised ones into the forest for the squirrels.

Recent harvest, perfectly ripe.

Plum picking time: love those mirabelles

I suppose I could say that we plumb struck gold this year with our only plum tree. This is the first big harvest since we planted it 3 years ago, and so far is the only fruit tree that has done really well in our garden. Mirabelles are a major crop in the Lorraine region of France, so it was very fortunate to be able to source a nursery here. The tree itself has been very resistant to pests (unlike our cherry tree) and since we refrain from using pesticides, it's all organic. The fruit is popular in jams, desserts and liqueurs, but we like them fresh as a snack or chopped into a simple fruit salad.

Average daytime temperature: 24°C / 75°F

Mirabelles for a rainy day

There was no telling at 7:30 this morning, but by 11, the heavens parted to let the light shine through. The first thing I check each morning, almost to the point of becoming an obsession, is the weather forecast. Case in point: yesterday we picked mirabelle plums looked to be ripe enough, even if the color wasn't dark yellow color. I was already sick to my stomach at the thought of the plums getting hit with more hail, so I told my husband, it's plum pickin' time! Heck, I knew that it wouldn't be more than a couple of handfuls.

It was a celebratory event of sorts as we were told that it would be a wait of 2-3 years before the tree was ready to bear fruit. We purchased this Mirabelle de Nancy plum tree in 2007 (at a nursery in Milan) after having discovered them in Alsace one summer. They are very sweet and juicy, in the shape and size of a cherry, and I've read somewhere that the flavor is similiar to greengages.

Not supermarket perfect, but 100% organic nevertheless. The color is more chartreuse...probaby a few days shy from obtaining the deep yellow like we had seen in France. We tasted a few and they were so delicious even with a hint of tartness. The rest were pitted, quartered, and baked in a short pastry crust with sugar. With softly whipped cream they were simply sublime!

Yesterdays high: 29°C / 84°F
Today's average: 25°C / 77°F