Summer Bounty

Summer in Iowa has fully arrived, and with it lots of things blooming and growing.  It's a busy time, with many fruits and vegetables coming on and needing picking.
First for the bees, though.  We had quite a blow come through last night with a strong cold front bringing 70 mile per hour winds and heavy rain.  Needless to say, I was quite happy to see the hives still standing erect after the storm. Bees early this morning were not very active, but at least one hardy worker was busy gathering pollen from the spiderwort.

Other prairie plants are blooming as well.  We did not do a burn of the prairie segments this year, and with the late arrival of spring it has taken awhile for the new plants to break through the dead growth but now they are looking lush.  The butterfly milkweed is certainly doing its job.

Blueberries are now ripening, about two weeks later than normal for the early varieties.  Winter damage has taken its toll and we will probably only see about half our normal crop.  Red raspberries are beginning to ripen, helped along by the honeybees which really enjoyed the blooms.  Black raspberries are ripe and we will be picking about every other day for a week or so.

Kathy's vegetable garden is looking great.  We have enjoyed some very good early lettuce, onions, radishes, cabbage and peas among other things.  She's disappointed we won't have ripe tomatoes for the fourth of July, but we will eventually have a great crop. 

The vineyard likewise is doing well.  With all the rain, some are completely splitting open.  Otherwise, we should have a fairly decent harvest.  It's a fun time of year, with changes in the yard taking place every day.