My how time flies. It is June.

Unbelievable. Today is the first day in the 6th month of 2014. Half the year nearly gone. Because of our long and harsh winter some things are late this year. The plants think it is Spring when Summer is just around the corner. One of our apple trees is only now beginning to bloom. I have two more, but they are of a different variety and always a bit later. (Goodland). I don’t even see any flower buds on them. The only tree in full bloom is our choke cherry tree. It is our pride and joy. Most choke cherry trees in Winnipeg and surrounding areas are sick. They have the Black Knot disease, a virus, which means there are long, black knots on the branches, as the word says. Our tree is no exception, but I’ve been taking care of it. Twice a year I remove the diseased branches. Sometimes I have to cut off a nice, thick branch, that hurts, but so far we have been lucky. The tree comes back with blooms every year. I spray with an oil/sulfur emulsion once in a while and that help a little. If the knots are not removed from the tree, eventually the tree will die, beside looking ugly when the leaves are gone.

Here is a picture of our choke cherry tree.

I’m almost done with my garden. All the seeds are in, already for a few days now. In fact, the lettuce is already sprouting. Yesterday I worked from early morning till about 6 p.m. to get my vegetables planted. Some I bought and some I grew myself from seeds. I planted Kohlrabi, Parsley, Corn, and cucumbers; also 22 tomato plants. We have 4 cherry tomatoes, 6 Super Fantastic, and 12 Roma. I’ve cut down this year. Last year I had nearly 50 tomato plants. Way too many. I took quite a few tomatoes to the Soup kitchen.

I managed to plant 62 Pepper plants, but I still have a whole bunch more to go. Hopefully, that will happen tomorrow. If the weather cooperates. The weather is always the problem. Yesterday was hot and humid but cloudy. A perfect day to transplant stuff into the garden. If you’re wondering why so many peppers? We love peppers. We fry them up, we eat them raw, we eat them stuffed. We make salsa and Pfeffersosse (Pepper sauce). Lots of it. Wonderful fare in the winter. And our winter is long.

#Gardening is a lot of work and tiring. I dug all the wholes by hand with a small shovel. That is hard on the hand. Last night my hand cramped up and my back hurt, but I’m not complaining. In the end it will all be worth it. Nothing better than fresh, home-grown vegetables out of your own garden. Very satisfying.

My wife, of course, was also busy planting her flowers and finishing up all the flowerpots she has. Everything looks nice now. We have to enjoy it. Our Summer here in Manitoba is short. So far, we've had to fight off only a few mosquitoes, but those little pests will be out in full force soon.