Spring Flowers in White Rock

I have been to White Rock several times this spring to visit my sister-in-law.  This is the first spring she has lived there.  The weather is milder and wetter than we have and as a result they have a huge variety of blossoms. 

Here we see a daffodil.

?

Magnolia Tree 



 Rhododendron

Planter of tulips and pansies.

Gorgeous deep pink/purple tulips.

Mixed bed of orange and two-toned pink tulips.

Rhododendron

Rhododendron

Rhododendron

Fallen petals looking like pink snow.

Rhododendron

Rhododendron

?

? and Rhododendron

All photos taken in White Rock, BC.

Bagging Cherry Trees

When we bought our "little slice of heaven", we decided we did not want to use pesticides.  We wanted to grow healthy, organic fruit and vegetables.

The first spring we were here, we heard about the cherry fruit fly.  The adult emerges from the ground and lays its eggs on the cherries.  The maggots then live off the fruit until they turn into flies and winter in the ground to continue the cycle.

Many people around here just eat the cherries until the worms get too big and then the rest of the fruit is lost.  I thought "YUCK!"  I was not interested in eating worms of any size.

Spraying wasn't an option we wanted to use because we were told that it would be very costly since the flies can come over from the neighbouring trees and yards so we would have to spray repeatedly.  We also looked into organic sprays but none were found to be totally effective.

I did research on the internet and came across the following link that looked interesting. http://www.kootenaycovers.com/Kootenay_Covers_2010/Home.html   A bonus to me is that Kootenay Covers is a Canadian company right here is British Columbia.  (Yah! support local!)

We decided to order bags for our trees and have been using them to great success since then.  This is the third year we have used the bags and they are in as good shape as when we started.

They suggest that you install the bags when the fruit is just turning pink.  This year we covered the trees the long weekend in May because my hubby came home and we had help.  The fruit is just starting to form but the flowers have all been pollinated so it should be okay.

I wasn't able to get photos of the actual bagging process because I was helping.  Here we see a large bag on a very large tree.  It is getting easier each year because we have been pruning the tree smaller and shorter year by year.

Here the bag is being adjusted using long poles.  Last year, my son who is over six feet tall was here so we rolled up the bag and he climbed the tree and unrolled it.  I was on the ground with a long pole adjusting the bag.  Because the tree was so large, it actually worked better than trying to use the poles to get the bags over the tree.

After the bag is adjusted, you tie it to the trunk with bungee cords.  There are four side panels that are attached to the top square of the bag.  I pin these openings shut with safety pins so no bugs can work their way into the bag.

Here is the finished tree with all loose ends tucked in.  We keep the bags on until the cherries are ready to eat.  We then pick one tree completely before opening another bag.  We learned this the hard way the first year.  We uncovered a tree that was starting to get ripe and picked the ripe cherries.  We went on to other trees and when we came back to the first tree later, the cherries had worms.

The bags are a wonderful way to have tasty fruit without pesticides or "added protein".  The bag is made of a mesh material that allows sun and rain to penetrate.  They do not harm the trees at all.

We also found out that it is better to bag the trees earlier than later.  The first year we were here, we had bagged all the trees except one.  My hubby had to leave to help with a forest fire for a few days.  When he returned, we bagged the last tree.  But it was already too late, the flies had laid their eggs and the cherries were full of worms by the time we uncovered the tree and went to harvest the cherries.  How disappointing!  A whole tree of unusable fruit!

Placinta - Fried Dough

My mom would make these as a treat when we were young.  She would use dough leftover from making cinnamon buns.  I didn't know how to spell "Placinta" so I turned to Goggle.  It turns out, that Placinta is often stuffed with pumpkin or plums or some savory mixture.  We never had the stuffed ones, so I only have a recipe for the plain fried ones. According to recipes I found on the Internet, most stuffed Placinta are baked but some may be fried.

Placinta (a Romanian word) has many names around the world - fried dough, fry bread, elephant's ears, beaver's tails, doughboys, dough gobs and many more. 

They sometimes turn up at fairs and exhibitions and are covered with pie filling.  Most often they are sprinkled with sugar or a sugar/cinnamon mix.

I use the recipe from my Purity Cookbook for Basic Sweet Dough.

Ingredients

1 c milk

1/3 c plus 1 tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

1/3 c shortening

1/2 c lukewarm water

1 pkg yeast

1 egg

5 1/2 to 6 c flour

Scald milk and pour into a bowl with shortening (I use marg), salt and 1/3 c sugar.  Stir until shortening is melted and cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve 1 tsp sugar in 1/2 c lukewarm water.  Sprinkle on yeast and let stand 10 minutes.

Stir briskly and add to milk mixture along with beaten egg.  Stir well.

Beat in flour until able to turn onto floured board and knead for 5 minutes.  (I use my Cuisinart and add flour bit at a time until the dough forms a ball and doesn't stick to the sides.  I then let it knead for 5 minutes.) 

Shape into a smooth ball.

Place dough in greased bowl.  Cover and let rise until double in a warm place.  (I put mine bowl in the oven with the oven light on - it stays warm and is out of drafts.)

Cut off a small chunk of dough and roll it into a flattened circle.  You don't have to be exact.

I roll mine all out before I start frying them so the grease doesn't smoke too much.  I get 9 pieces from the above recipe.

In a deep frying pan melt 1/2 c of lard and keep it at a high heat.  The amount of lard depends on your size of fry pan as you want it halfway up the side of your Placinta when you are frying them.

Do not leave the pan for a second.  These take less than a minute a side.  Be careful when you turn them so you don't splash yourself with the hot grease.

  

Continue frying and flipping them until they are all cooked.  You can see how the shapes are different so perfect circles don't matter.

Drain them on paper towels to remove excess grease.

Sprinkle them with sugar or sugar and cinnamon and eat warm.

As I mentioned at the beginning, some places serve them topped with pie filling.

I like mine with sugar.  Some people also eat them with jam or honey. 

Try some Placinta, Elephant Ears, Doughboys or whatever you want to call them.  Enjoy! ;)

Hide and Seek with Lulu

Lulu likes to play hide and seek.  Since she doesn't move too fast it is the perfect game for her.

I went into the back garden to see what was happening and came across Lulu laying in the garlic bed.

Since she had snuggled down in the hay she had some shelter from the wind but still was able to get enough sun to be warm and toasty.

"What you looking at?" asks Lulu, "I'm not eating them.  I just like laying here - the hay is nice and cushiony and the sun is warm on my back."

Lulu hiding under the cedars.  I think she figures that if she can't see you, you can't see her.  Now we all know the story about the ostrich with its head in the sand?  Well we have Lulu with her head in the bushes.

"Shh, I think I found a great hiding place," whispers Lulu.  "No one will find me here.  Plus these trees block that nasty wind."

Lulu hiding in the rhubarb.  If she would have moved either to the right or the left I would have been looking for hours unless she decided to stick up her head so I could see her or made soft clucking noises when I got near so I would notice her.

"Ooh, this is a GREAT hiding place!" exclaimed Lulu, "Mom will never find me.  Oh-oh!  Hi Mom!"



Fruit Trees in Bloom

Here's what's blooming in our yard right now.  The apples blossoms are opening.  The buds are dark pink but when the blossoms open they are so pale, they are almost white.



We have a number of varieties of apple - some early and some late but they all seem to bloom at the same time.

On sunny days, (which we have had few of this spring) the bees are buzzing in and amongst the blossoms.

Here we can see one busy bee making the rounds.

The saskatoon bushes are full of blooms as well.  We were given the bushes last year and they had a few blossoms but did not amount to much.

If you are from Saskatchewan, as I am, one of your favorite pies is saskatoon berry pie.



The blossoms are quite a bit smaller and scragglier than the fruit trees but I'm looking forward to harvesting them if I can get them before the birds do.

Here we can see the apricots forming where just recently there were masses of flowers.

The pear tree has never been so full of flowers since we moved here.  I guess the pruning is paying off.

You can see that the pear blooms are white and the petals are longer and farther apart than the apple blossoms.

If even half of the blossoms set fruit, we will have to thin the fruit dramatically.

Personally, I think that peach blossoms are the prettiest.  They have already finished blooming and will hopefully set fruit.  They are the touchiest trees we have.  The first year here, there was a late frost and it damaged the peach blossoms so no one in the area had any peaches.

We have several peach trees and the blooms are all different shades of pink.

This is my favorite tree as the blossoms look so rich.  Our peach trees are not all doing well.  One of them split last year from poor pruning and high winds.  With others we have had to prune away dead branches.

This tree has much paler pink blossoms than the above trees. 

Here are two peach trees with quite different shades of blossoms.  You can see that the first tree has been pruned severely because of dead and broken branches.  Hopefully it will survive.