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The hens are enjoying some late coming summer weather. They're searching out new sand baths, warmed by the sun. There are fewer eggs, especially since our best layer, Billie Jo, is broody and not laying. She's in a nest almost full time, making herself large whenever someone walks in the coop. She growls (like a chicken growls) and grudgingly lets us collect the eggs she's been laying on for the last twenty four hours.
This summer we've had a bumper crop of thimbleberries - Rubus odoratus. I think it is because of the long wet cool summer. Usually these berries are dry and seedy without much flavor. This year they are plump and full of wonderful tart juice that is very unique - different than raspberries or blackberries.
Even with a "bumper crop" its hard (at least in my yard) to gather enough berries to do anything with them. If I could I would try a jelly - which I read is delicious and a delicacy. One part berries to one part sugar. Boil for two minutes and jar. I've also read that Thimbleberry wine is wonderful. And in the spring the shoots (that are just starting leaves) are great in a salad once you peel the outer skin and discard the leaves. I wonder if these shoots would be good pickled?
In the potager these plants can make a great hedge and look best in natural settings. The plants can reach 8 feet and enjoy moist soil and part to full sun. Thimbleberries can be propagated by splitting thier dormant rhizomes, by seeds, or by stem cuttings.
The Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla) - These little guys are one of my favorite things about the pacific northwest. They start singing mid-February and are among the first harbingers of spring. Usually elusive, this little one was enjoying the warm afternoon sun, eating ants, on a rhubarb leaf. She (?) is the size of a quarter. I love the contrast of how tiny she is and how large the leaf.
