Garden Update

The first strawberries were finally ripe yesterday!

When I looked back at last year's posts, it looks like we're about a week behind; not surprising considering how rainy it's been this spring.
Some major harvesting is just around the corner. The parents left today and Mom is worried about me being able to bend down to harvest the bounty that is coming. I'm hoping I have special "bending down" reserves if strawberries are the reward. Of course, Q is also awesome and usually willing to harvest.

The big project while Mom was here was getting the back yard a little more presentable and usable.Q mowed the lawn (such as it is) and built the chickens a big run for the summer. Hopefully, they'll destroy the grass that has infiltrated the Oregon grapes. Mom was with me and offered to put me in one of the pictures. I was surprised by how large I am.

Mom took it upon herself to move leaves, pull weeds, and generally work her tail off to get a corn bed prepared. It's 250 sq. feet, about 116' of row, and we planted about 360 kernels of Golden Bantam corn in it.
There was a crow hopping around looking a little too proprietary this afternoon so I covered it with some netting until the plants start coming up.

The front yard also got a lot of work. Grass has been trying to take over so Q found a guy to hire and do some work for us. Between his work and the hours Mom and I put in, the front yard is looking pretty good. I find it really difficult to acknowledge that I can't do everything myself right now but I am very appreciative of the results.Looking out from the front step toward the west...
Looking toward the east (six new tomatoes went in today!)...
I've still got to remove leaves from two more beds and last year's celery (the "bushes" visible toward the street) need to get taken out.

The squash and melon seedlings are hardening off in the shade before being planted.

The oats are coming along nicely and we just planted more oats yesterday in the currently bare patch just behind the gladioli. Probably about 200 sq. feet all together?
I love running my hands over the soft oat grass...
The popcorn is to the back of this picture and a small potato patch is hiding behind the lavender in the foreground.
The edamame we planted previously is growing nicely and we just planted more this morning, bringing the total up to about 100' of row.
Grape vines...
Baby grapes!

The blueberry bushes are loaded and maybe about 2 weeks from a few ripe berries.
The first iris open up yesterday.

The bachelor buttons have started. We currently only have one that is this amazing purple color instead of the more usual blue-violet and lavender shades.

Here's the "before" picture for the next project our yard helper is tackling tomorrow. The area behind the shed is completely overgrown and needs to be completely cleaned out. "Afters" to follow soon!