Nanking Cherry Bushes

When I got home today, I noticed small red berries all over the nanking cherry bushes. I purchased them from Gurney's when we first moved here about 3 years ago. This is the first year they have fruited. The fruit are suprisingly good. The first few fruits that showed up last week were damaged by a fruit maggot and as you can imagine I was pretty grossed out.

Today the fruits today were much better, no maggots for one and very plump. They were also suprising sweet, but not as sweet as a "sweet cherry". They are about the size of a dime and extremely prolific. I can't wait to have nanking cherry wine in the upcoming years.

More laundry Soap

Well..we are out of laundry soap again. The good news is I don't have to wait for the next annoying trip to the store (hate shopping) where i get to lug 2 or 3 large gallon containers. Instead, I just go under the sink and pull out a trusty bar of Fels Naptha. It is getting to the point where making laundry soap is only taking me about 15-20 minutes and most of that is just waiting for the soap to melt.
For those who haven't seen the recipe it is easy as pie and literally so cheap.

1 bar Fels naptha
2 Cups of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda ( not Baking soda!!)
2 Cups of Borax
All you do is chop the soap into small pieces. I used to be very fancy with this and use a cheese grater and even my food processor one time, but really I am lazy now and just use a steak knife. I find if you just shave the bar into pieces it is just as effective and the knife is easy to clean.
You add the soap pieces to hot/boiling water on the stove. I just use maybe a half a gallon in a large saucepan. The amount doesn't matter just leave head room in the pot as it will boil over if you boil the water to hard. Stir the hot soapy water on occasion and once melted pour the mixture into the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket (with a lid..drowning hazard for little ones). Add the Washing Soda and Borax. The fill the bucket quantity sufficient to within an inch or so of the top of the bucket. Stir the mix well. About every few hours I take my hand to the bottom of the bucket to mix up the solids that like to settle out. Once it starts to cool it will start to gel, this can take up to 24 hours, but i find using the extra dry ingredients (original recipe was for 1 cup and 1 cup) it seems to set up faster and have a better consistency.
I use about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup in our top loader and my mom uses no more then 1/4 cup in a front loading high efficiency. It costs pennies a load! and works great.

The summer Fruit is Coming In

We have strawberries. And not just a few, but are picking about a gallon a day!! I mean my entire intent when I planted these beds three years ago was to have more strawberries then I needed, but I didn't actually think I could accomplish this. Gardening observations: Honeoye--small, flavorful berry, cookie cutter shape and freezing. In all fairness to the honeoye plant they are extremely crowded in the bed and I should have thinned the plants. Second bed has Allstar plants. They produce well with good size berries, more irregular shapes, but they are also spaced more appropriately. The problem is when they are spaced accordingly the berries can be seen at a distance and then the peacocks help themselves to the patch. It would be one thing if they ate a few berries, but they just pick at the berries and damage the fruit. If they weren't so beautiful I would be mad. I love that the junebearing are so productive and I am giving berries away as well as freezing them. And let's not forget that Calysta eats her body weight in strawberries each day. I would like to plant a bed of everbearing so in July and August when i am hungry for fresh berries...they will be there.

Nanking Cherry Bushes...planted 3 about 3 years ago. They are covered in little crimson delights. They cherries are smaller then a regular cherry with a slightly tart flavor. The first berries to ripen seemed affected by some little maggot. Gross! But the berries ripening the last few days are not. I think they berries started to ripen faster then the fruit maggot could eat em! Overall, very happy with how these plants are coming along. I bought them from either Gurney or Henry Field (same difference in my mind)

Today, Calysta picked the first red raspberry. Apparently, they are also coming soon!!!!