He managed to get the yard mowed and plants carried back into the greenhouse in between showers. After moderate temps at night, we are back to 30s for a couple of days. So all the more tender plants are now back on the little shelves.
I have been focused on filing taxes this week. Fell asleep around supper time, when I was taking a break. Just woke up, so am posting this now. I may wind up having to file an extension-down to the wire.
Will catch up with the thread when taxes are done. Have a great weekend. Prayers up for all. God Bless.
Pinging the list.
I think I got everyone’s name added to the list that requested it. If not, please send me a PM to be added or deleted from the list.
Oh....so much pain. ;-)
Indoor seeds are coming along. Maybe next week will plant those cool crops right in the ground...lettuce, spinach, carrots.
Last year was a huge success....Krim and Black Cherry tomatoes are now my favorites. Awesome. The Krim tend to crack, I picked them a tad early, put them in a box to ripen.
The nice part was that they ripened one or two at a time....so I had a continuous supply.
Greetings from southern New Hampshire, where spring has sprung!
I have the backyard and garden watering system turned on and it has weathered the winter just fine, except for the most distant drainout valve “pot” which is still a solid, albeit shrinking block of ice. Even the hose bib, three feet away is running freely, but I cannot get to the valve to close it. Waiting until the ice melts. Hopefully, it will be fine.
Our new bee colony is doing fine. Getting ready for the new one, due a week from tomorrow.
I have completed the cleaning, plumbing repairs and restart of our bog filter, which cleans the water from the duck pond, while providing a pleasant stream and place for water plants. Barb can transplant the parrot feather which wintered over in a used aquarium in the basement. It wants out...bad! I also dranined, cleaned and refilled the pond/waterfall under the garden pergola and it is ready for parrot feather. The front pond is drained and ready for cleaning this morning. Then a refill and start of the fountain. the stream/waterfall will come later.
Our ducks have gone into egg production! We are getting 6-9 eggs a day, now. Barb has been boiling them, grinding them and feeding them back to the ducks. They love ‘em! We let the ducks out to explore the garden area. The older ones are quite comfortable with us, but the “flotilla”, consisting of the ten babies from last fall and Carlton, our lone Pekin are standoffish. However, they are extremely well-behaved. When I pick up a bamboo pole, they line up and march to the pen. At night, same thing going into the coop.
I took a fork to the first 4 by 4 raised bed and the ground was thawed. So, I will start spading the garden.
Good Morning!
Rain rain rain...well it IS April!
Got my dill, flatleaf parsley, and tarragon in yesterday. I am waiting two more weeks for basil and rosemary. I need to hunt down some lemon verbena and am toying with adding lemon grass somewhere.
I have signs of life on my lemon thyme, mint, and lavender that wintered outdoors. I am giving the oregano a few more weeks. That one may be a replacement this year. Last summer I didn’t dry enough oregano to make it through the winter.
My chives, sage, and french thyme are thriving and being put to use already!
This is one of the slowest Springs in memory! Just when we turn a corner, we get slammed again with cold temps, wind, rain, snow...BLECH!
But, I know I’m not alone!
Tomato, pepper and basil plants are still indoors under lights - cool weather crops are in the (unheated) greenhouse and doing fine, even with freezing temps at night. I’m keeping things covered; if the cold air doesn’t hit them, they’ll be fine.
The only thing actually in the ground are peas and a few Sweet Pea flowers, and a few big nursery pots of spinach, lettuces and spicy greens mix.
Finishing the roof is taking priority, and finishing the fence around the pasture that the mule uses.
I’m starting on my WISH LIST of projects I would like accomplished, but so much depends upon Beau’s Spring Canada Fishing Trip, and my Dad isn’t getting any better (he’s just old), so he takes up a lot of my time.
But - That’s Life (Sinatra!)
“That’s life (that’s life) that’s what people say
You’re riding high in April
Shot down in May
But I know I’m gonna change that tune
When I’m back on top, back on top in June...”
Plant a Garden ~ Edgar Guest
If your purse no longer bulges
and you’ve lost your golden treasure,
If times you think you’re lonely
and have hungry grown for pleasure,
Don’t sit by your hearth and grumble,
don’t let mind and spirit harden.
If it’s thrills of joy you wish for
get to work and plant a garden!
If it’s drama that you sigh for,
plant a garden and you’ll get it
You will know the thrill of battle
fighting foes that will beset it.
If you long for entertainment and
for pageantry most glowing,
Plant a garden and this Summer spend
your time with green things growing.
Mother Nature sent us a couple inches of snow this morning here in Central Missouri. It didn’t stick around for long though.
Yesterday we went to the MU Bradford Research Farm’s annual Grow Native sale and brought home a nice selection of perennials. We found a gorgeous bald cypress tree, some other wet-area plants to set out next to the pond, a couple paw-paw trees, and some flowering things to put in Mrs. Augie’s gardens by the house.
The peach and plum trees are blooming nicely now, but the soil is still too wet to do much of anything in the vegetable garden. After last season we decided that we’ve been spending too much time choring and not enough time having fun so I’m going to scale back a bit on my plantings this year.
I’ve already sown timothy and red clover on the pumpkin patch spot so it will go back to being a hay field for a while. I haven’t decided exactly what all I’m going to plant in the vegetable garden this time, but I have decided that I’m going to switch most of it over to raised beds. I hope to get that accomplished this summer and have it ready for next year.