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| Ornamental Strawberries Ground Cover |
My daughter sent me photos of some ground cover being grown in the 5th Floor roof garden in her office building where she usually eats her lunch. We've determined they are a species of strawberries, some with white flowers and some with yellow flowers, and small fruit, but, we don't know if they are ornamental strawberries being grown as a ground cover mostly for their flowers, or some sort of wild strawberry being grown as a ground cover and fruit for birds. This is the same roof garden where a mama duck had her ducklings, last year.
She also sent me a picture of what she thinks might be a blueberry bush in flower, but, I really can't tell from this photo:
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| Blueberry Bush (behind the lavender)? |
I told her to check it from time to time to see if it forms any berries.
Today, I had another fairly relaxed day; it felt a bit chilly in the morning, but, it warmed up nicely in the afternoon.
I checked the grocery ads for this week, but, I have not decided, yet, if I will order some groceries, yet. Store brand bacon is on sale for $3.99/lb., with a digital coupon, which is a good price, and ground turkey is also $3.99/lb. Ground beef is $5.99/lb. and there is a buy 1 get 1 free deal on chicken. Cherries are $4.99/lb. (they are $1.99/lb. at the ethnic store!) and strawberries, sold in 2 lb. packages, are $7.99/container, so almost $4.00/lb. I will not be buying any cherries or strawberries, this week! Cereal is on sale for $1.99/10-12 oz. box if you buy 5 participating items, which include name brand peanut butter for $1.99/1 lb. jar, smoked sausages at $3.49/14 oz. package, among other items (these are the items I might consider buying). As I've mentioned before, I buy what's on sale and then, base my meals on what I've bought.
On Saturday, although I had left the bag of food for the post office food drive in good time (the night before, actually), it was not picked up! I didn't have any mail and I suppose the letter carrier didn't notice the grocery bag kept by the mail box, with the food drive postcard stapled to it. No mail delivery on Sunday and yesterday (Monday), I didn't see the mail carrier. Today, however, I stood outside and waited for him, and told him that no one collected the bag of food and asked him if he would be able to accept it, today? He seemed surprised (I guess not too many people had complied with the request for food donations?), but, he accepted the bag of food. It wasn't much, but, I hope it helps someone!
Today, I did most of the tasks on my to do list:
- A working vacuum cleaner!
- Sunshine in the afternoon
- Online videos to watch
- Time to sew
- M tending to the garden
- Freezer inventory
Half of May, and half my holiday over too. We are going to Dundee to do the things we did not do on Sunday. I shall try not to fall over this time. We don't seem to have peach jam here in the UK - apricot jam is more common. I bought some ginger jam on Saturday as a treat for my breakfast toast, but currently I'm unable to chew toast!
ReplyDeleteWell, your holiday has been rather eventful, so far! I hope you have a safe time in Dundee and no additions falls! I've had a jar of Dundee marmalade gifted to me once; maybe you'll buy a souvenir jar of it to take home? The peach jam is what I had made with peaches from my tree - I made peach chutney, peach jam, and what I called peach topping (it was a batch of jam that did not set too well).
DeleteHow lovely for the office building o have a roof garden for your daughter to enjoy and how wonderful for a duck and her ducklings to use it too! We seem to have less and less mail delivered through the letter box these days as most companies send emails now. At least your food donation has been taken now and will help someone in need. Time is flying by for sure and yes it's hard to believe it is mid-May already.
ReplyDeleteIt really is lovely that there is a roof garden in the office building, Eileen, and my daughter likes to sit there when it is sunny to have her lunch (she still wears her mask when she's at the office and being in the roof garden allows her to remove the mask to eat) and, sometimes, if she finishes her lunch early (she takes a 30 minutes lunch break), then, she walks around a little bit.
DeleteI'm glad I was able to hand over the food donation to the mail carrier; I was disappointed that it didn't get collected on Saturday.
I'm hoping time will slow down a bit over summer so we can savor the warm days! Hope the weather is nice in your part of the world. :)
May is certainly moving along quickly. We had before 0 temperatures last night, my annuals have been spending their nights in the garage! I like the idea of an office roof top garden, every little bit helps bees, birds & butterflies. How kind of you to donate to the food drive; food banks are at an all time high of use ... yet I don't see anyone giving up their cell phones (cynical of me I know). Wednesday needs to include a few errands tendered to, along with a few household tasks.
ReplyDeleteOh, those are low temperatures for this time of the year, aren't they? I remember one year, when I was in Wisconsin, when it snowed in May! I, too, like the idea of a roof top garden and my daughter goes to the one in her office building to have her lunch as she feels it is OK to take off her mask up there.
DeleteI have given to the post office's food drive for years now and yes, I know what you mean about people still keeping their cell phones, etc. I know what frugal measures I'd take if I were in dire financial needs, myself. But, I give what I can unconditionally, without making any judgements. More as a thanksgiving for having enough, myself, than anything else. The fact that I grocery shop very frugally in order to have enough is a different matter. :)
Sounds like you've a busy Wednesday! I hope you were able to accomplish it all. :)
Im sure you surprised your mail carrier! Good for you on making sure he picked it up. I've been busy finishing up grades for the semester, and catching up on blogs now. Your voodoo plant is very impressive! I've never seen one. Now that I'm off for the summer, I'm starting to focus a little on the garden. I want to get the flower beds ready for seeding today. I've decided on sunflowers this year. A working vacuum is a wonderful thing! It's very sweet of your daughter to give you one. That's the type of gift I would also appreciate. I hope your blood test goes well.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie; I wasn't going to let the mail carrier deny me the opportunity to make a bit of a contribution to the community! I had everything bundled up and the postcard they handed out stapled to it and everything; I didn't want to undo the bundle and put everything back in the pantry!
DeleteEnd of semester is a busy time with grading, etc., isn't it? But, I am sure you are glad to begin your summer and gardening, etc. Sunflowers will be lovely - I have the seeds I collected from the sunflowers I grew last year; need to remind M about planting them! The voodoo plant is a novelty plant, isn't it? It's a joy to vacuum with the new vacuum! I like practical gifts that will be used. My friend laughed when I told her that I wanted a spatula one year for Christmas, but, she got me, not one but two spatulas and I use them all the time!
Thank you for the well wishes on the blood test, Celie.
Those strawberries look like the wild ones I have here that takeover beds and are difficult to control. But if you look at it another way, they are pretty.
ReplyDeleteI've picked wild strawberries when I was in Wisconsin and they were delicious! I made jam with them. I think the ones my daughter photographed is mock strawberry, also known as Indian strawberry (Duchesnea indica). Technically, they are edible (both fruit and leaves which can be made into a tea) but they are considered inedible because they have such a mild taste that they are considered tasteless. I haven't eaten one, so I can't be sure how tasty they are or not. If your plants have yellow flowers and the fruit grows upright on the stems rather than hang down, then, most probably, that's what they are - mock strawberries. :)
DeleteThose strawberries look similar to the wild ones we see around us. I don't know if there are any varieties that are grown for ground cover that wouldn't be edible. Our miniature berries are deliciously sweet but I tend not to pick more than one or two, as they seem to attract voracious black flies or mosquitos who like to attack busy people who are foraging. That certainly looks like a blueberry plant. How nice to have a roof garden to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteYesterday DH and I had our 6th Covid booster shots and the nurse was so gentle we hardly felt the needle. It's really cold here today with another frost warning for tonight. We have had the wood furnace going to take the chill off the house.
I have identified the strawberry plants in my daughter's pictures as mock strawberry, also known as Indian strawberry (Duchesnea indica). It is technically edible, but, apparently, doesn't have much of a taste. It is different from wild strawberries, which I recall as being quite delicious (I used to pick them when I was in Wisconsin; there was a sort of neglected orchard area on campus with some apple trees, some purple grape vines, and wild strawberries).
DeleteGlad you got your Covid boosters, Bushlady, and the nurse was gentle. Hope you are not feeling any side effects, today. I need to call and schedule my booster. Sorry to hear that it has turned cold, again; hope it warms up, soon.
Would this be your first grocery store shop for May? I don't recall.
ReplyDeleteNo, not many real sale prices are there?
Aldi's had strawberries for $1.99 so I got those on Sunday but I didn't see much else worth buying last week.
I made some tuna macaroni salad yesterday that was good.
Yes, it's the first grocery shopping for May and I did it a couple of days later. It might very well be the only grocery shopping I do in May! I'm wondering if the time is right for me to start shopping in person at the ethnic store - they have salmon steaks for $6.49/lb. this week; 3 years ago, I would not have considered that a good price, but, now, with salmon on sale for $9.99/lb. (for fillets) at the regular grocery store, it sounds like a good bargain! I have macaroni and cheese with tuna or ham in my meal plan for this week! :)
DeleteYou found a good price on the strawberries.