Sad bear (I mean pear)

I guess our garden was running a little too smoothly this summer. Chalk this one up to gardeners' greed. When we came home from church on Sunday, a large branch of our Karl's Favorite pear tree had cracked off, taking a good chunk of the trunk with it. We salvaged the pears we thought were big enough to possibly ripen (count = 150) and composted those that weren't (count = 50). See what I mean about being greedy? :) The pears on this tree are supposed to get Mason jar size, so 200 on any one branch is a little ridiculous. But this is the first year it has blossomed and thus produced fruit, so we just couldn't help ourselves. I emailed a local tree expert to get his take on the best way to help the tree. Hopefully he has some good advice.

On a happier note, here are some pictures of our yard this summer. Each year it gets better and better, and each year I start making my plant shopping list for the following spring a little earlier (I already have a fairly substantial list for next year). Adam decided I'm officially a "garden geek." Since he also calls himself a geek in certain areas, I take this as a compliment.

Ok, so this next one wasn't taken in our yard, it was taken at Nelson Dewey State Park. But they did have a nice prairie. I can only dream of my own full-fledged prairie some day.