Happy May Day! It's hard to believe that May is here already with the long winter that Wisconsin endured this year, but I think everyone is especially grateful for the warm weather and growth that it brings.
Aside from volunteer seedlings, the plants that are growing best in my garden are perennials. I've been putting more effort into planning edible perennials in my garden so I can "work smarter, not harder." Which is something my dad always said to me as I would do yardwork as a kid (which I hated..now look at me!)
The rhubarb above came from an old co-teacher of mine. She and her husband have a farm a half hour outside of Madison, and they originally brought this rhubarb from her husband's ancestral farm in Iowa. This will be the first year that I will be able to harvest any rhubarb from the crowns, since you cannot harvest any the first year it is planted.
I only have two raised beds on my property, and one of them is where I keep any plants that are not edible. I have some spring ephemerals planted there, and rhubarb since only the stalks are edible. The tubers and leaves of rhubarb are poisonous, and they can look similar to rainbow chard to a young child or to someone who might not know exactly what they are looking at. So rhubarb stays up and out of the way for safety. It's also not a picky plant, so it doesn't mind the mostly shade that this bed has, or that the soil isn't perfect.
I bought three every-bearing strawberry plants from the Willy Street Co-op two summers ago when they were on sale at the end of strawberry season. As they have been growing I have been able to split them in early spring, and now I have nine plants! I planted them along the pathway to my front door since my kids love to pick them when they walk by, and I like that sometimes that means they get to enjoy them before the birds and squirrels do.
And lastly, last year I planted a lilac bush, which is a member of the olive family (I KNOW!) and is edible (I KNOW!) Some lilacs are very floral in flavor, which compliment desserts, and others taste more like leafy greens, which can be added to a salad or really anything that you would add leafy greens to. I bought it for myself for Mother's Day, and planted it last year the day before Jason's (my husband) grandfather died (which was on Mother's Day.) When we got home from Missouri/Oklahoma the lilacs were pretty much done flowering. I'm looking forward to watching them flower and using them this year, although they have some tenderness attached to them now too.
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