We live in a magical place where nature delights us on a regular basis. It’s a non-stop show, but from time to time, Mother Nature simply outdoes herself.

Three male deer have deftly meandered into my immediate proximity three times this week. Finally, I was able to quietly get the correct camera lens on and click away without the noise spooking them. Standing at my kitchen sink, I watched as they nibbled on trees, eviscerated the strawberry plants that weren’t moved to the garden and sampled the perennial flowers in the beds. Confirmation endorphins for my silly ten foot posts I insisted on to keep them on the outside of the fortress garden fence. :-)

As I have previously shared, our kiwi failed to bloom this year. I attributed it to a late cold snap. Those thousands of tiny flowers just never opened. Having consoled myself over a week ago, “there’s always next year,” yesterday we made a remarkable discovery. The kiwi are now blooming. They simply had a delayed reaction. Or perhaps in the prior year they blossomed quite early? Whichever the case, we can expect a banner crop in September/October.

It appears we are going to have the best berry year yet. I have done recon and located four decent sized wild blackberry patches, more than enough for the both Teddy (our resident black bear) and us. In addition, the blueberry bushes (trees) are packed with more berries ripening than I knew could be produced from a few plants.

In another wonderful surprise, the irises have again divided and multiplied on their own. It seems the science of natural reproduction is not inhibited by my lack of knowledge or ability to care for certain flowers. And around the iris patch, next month’s day lilies are coming in with full gusto.

The garden is holding up quite well considering the extremely dry Spring we are having. My first ever bug problem in the garden has appeared along with my first ever potato crop. Google tells me they are flea beetles. Small black bugs on the leaves, they seem to only prefer potatoes and eggplants, as all other crops are unaffected. Some organic approved Neem Oil mixed with water seems to do the job. I’ve had to reapply it periodically.

The missing purple asparagus has sent its representative to peek out and get a lay of the land. The first stalk, late but healthy has appeared. Maybe they were talking to the kiwi and decided to rewrite their own timetable. Whatever the case, I am grateful to know they are strong enough to endure despite the directions that came with them. There is a lesson there I think.

To round out last week's excellent Spring program, Mother Nature has sent what I consider perfect temperatures. They are the days when the warm sunshine is drenching me, then a cloud comes by and for five minutes, it almost becomes chilly again with a breeze. Then the cloud passes by and the warm sun breaks out again. With the contrast I can appreciate its warmth all over again, as if it was the first time. Life in the real world… you can’t beat it!