Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

I spotted this pretty little web blowing gentle in the morning breeze under our picnic table while we were camping this weekend. Andrea snapped the photo as I was making breakfast. I think she got a fantastic shot!

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

I keep seeing these around but I am not sure what they are. The bees seem to love them.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

“That we find a crystal or a poppy beautiful means that we are less alone, that we are more deeply inserted into existence than the course of a single life would lead us to believe.”
- John Berger

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Can you tell I have a favorite flower?

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Ground cherries are a ½ to ¾ inch fruit encased in a papery husk, kind of like a tomatillo. They are ripe when the husk dries and falls from the plant, inside of which is the fruit ranging from a pale green to deep golden color. While ground cherries are in the nightshade family, they are not as susceptible to diseases found in other nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, etc.) They also grow well in poor soils and in containers.

I am growing two varieties of ground cherry this year, Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry, a Polish heirloom and a mystery variety a friend gave me. They are both in the unamended brick bed (you can see the Aunt Molly’s in the corner here.) I started harvesting that one this week and I have to say it is… interesting.

The fruit smells a bit like a pineapple and has kind of a refreshingly acidic flavor. Apparently they store for 3-4 weeks in the husk so may try collect enough to make a small tart which apparently enhances their flavor. I think that this is one of those fruits that you either like or you don’t and I’m honestly not overwhelmingly impressed with them. They aren’t awful by any stretch of the imagination, they just taste too… clean? for me. They look gorgeous though and I might stick them in the dehydrator to dry up the fruit and use them for decorating.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

It’s official, as of today I like Frank Sinatra even more then before.

“Orange is the happiest color.”
- - Frank Sinatra

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

“Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps,
Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvest reaps.”
- - Amos Bronson Alcott

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What is a weed but a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

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“And we who listen to the stars, or walk the dusty grade
Or break the very atoms down to see how they are made,
Or study cells, or living things, seek truth with open hand.
The profoundest act of worship is to try to understand.”

– “The Word of God” by Catherine Faber

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“To mature is in part to realize that while complete intimacy and omniscience and power cannot be had, self-transcendence, growth, and closeness to others are nevertheless within one’s reach.”
- - Sissela Bok

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle by Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.