Red Oak House garden notes no. 29 and Pow Wow weekend in Bismarck

Something is puzzling me this year in the garden. In the front yard, the impatiens are insipid, but, in the back yard perennial beds, these bright shade annuals are robust.  What could possibly be the explanation?  My first instinct was the hot, dry weather and the lack of rain water, but this would be true both in front and back.  Naturally, I cannot remember if I bought these from two different suppliers, but that is possible.   I know this because I've compared photographs from last year to this year.

We finished a project we'd been talking about for awhile, the letters I purchased and stained, declaring to the world that this is Red Oak House, and I think we are both pleased with the result.  Now, we can only hope that our Red Oak, the oldest mature Red Oak in Bismarck, continues to thrive.  Soon enough its leaves will turn brown.  Yup, brown, not red.  I'm not really certain why it gets the name "red oak".  I guess I can research that on a slow day.  We know this factoid about our tree because the city forester told us.

The monarch butterflies and other pollinators are busily visiting our plants and the hummingbirds seem to have moved on.

For his birthday, Jim received the gift of a handmade gazing ball.  No doubt, we'll move it around in the perennial bed as it suits our fancy.

Reporting on my experiment with harvesting and planting seeds from my hosta: so far, a failure, but I've not given up hope.  Perhaps these will emerge in the spring?  Just in case, I've mapped the area of the garden, knowing that snowbanks will crush the flimsy plastic markers I've used.

The crab apple trees are full of fruit and my husband has a big smile on his face every day, coming in with armloads of tomatoes.  That and he is back in the boat catching walleyes on the Missouri River. His tomato count Saturday morning was 1,062 and he made six more jars of tomato juice, bringing his total count for the year to 65 quarts.  Can you say licopene?

As if this wasn't enough, his raspberry patch is producing fruit.  He says "if there could only be one fruit, raspberries it would be."

Friday night was what we call "Nothing From the Store" supper.  Walleye, beans, baked potatoes, and fresh tomatoes.

It was Pow Wow weekend in Bismarck and the time of the biggest rummage sale weekend of the year in these parts.  I partook on Friday and found some treasures, with the bonus of driving around river city and seeing how creative residents are in their decorating and landscaping.

It is also the weekend of the Sr. Kateri Festival at our church so, after Saturday mass, we attended the gathering, followed by a visit to the Pow Wow.

The United Tribes Technical College International Pow Wow is billed to be the largest in the world.  It is truly an exhilarating celebration of vibrant cultures, and it is impossible to capture on film or video.  We saw lots of friends there, including renowned Native American flutist Keith Bear.  As has been true for decades, the jingle dresses are my favorite.

If you go, try the cherry fried bread dessert.

If you've not experienced it in person, I urge you to attend.  It is one of the highlights of the North Dakota calendar.

Drum Circle Fort Peck Sioux tribe

Grand Entry September 9, 2017