Garden Friday

Garden Friday starts with a bit of excitement!

This is the second set of wren babies who have been hatched in this cute lil' birdhouse this spring.
It's located on our front porch, just next to the front door.

The parents have been busy for about 2 weeks
keeping them all fed.
We've been blessed enough to watch them
nurturing their brood.
It's especially heartwarming to me that C gets to see something 
so amazing up close and personal. 
In fact, I woke him up from a sound sleep
so that he could witness these fledglings take their first flight!

So astonishing!

In fact, I felt myself getting a little choked up

when I saw the first one take flight.

It was so wonderful (and a little heart-wrenching) 

to see them successfully fly the coop!

By our count, five babies were sharing this itty-bitty home.
Wow, talk about a cozy nest!
Maybe that's why they were so ready to be off on their own!

 With mulch at the ready,
it was time to fill in the veggie garden.
The cardboard was supplied by a friend,
so it was laid in place along the raised beds.
This will serve as a walkway.
The stake-a-cages to the left are for our tomato plants.

It was also added to the area between the potato towers.
These will be upended soon to harvest our Yukon Gold spuds.
The garden will be reconfigured in the fall,
so the potatoes will be planted elsewhere next time.

A good 3-4 inches of mulch was placed directly on top of the cardboard.
I had planned to add leaves first,
but never got to the raking.
I'm hoping that with the depth of mulch added,
weeds won't make it through to the surface.
Time will tell.

 Care was also taken to add newspaper where the tomatoes will be planted.
This should allow the roots to penetrate the soil,
while deterring weeds with the combination of paper and mulch.

All the walkways were covered
and the garden is taking more of box shape. 
The two raised beds were also filled with mulch
to prevent weeds and regulate soil temperature.

 If you notice on the upper left-hand part of the photo,
there is still plenty of mulch to be had.
Can you ever have too much F-R-E-E mulch?

 Mulch was even added to the tops of the straw bales,
to help with our slug infestation.

 Speaking of which,
THE BEER WORKED!
It was like magic!
So, with our triple threat,
(beer, copper wire, and mulch),
we are making great strides on beating 
those 
persistent 
and 
pernicious 
pests!

The front bed got covered in mulch as well.
It looks so much more finished with the mulch added.

 Before adding the mulch to the raised beds,
drip irrigation was put in place.
It turns out I had just enough hose to cover the entire garden,
although it took a bit of time to figure it out.
In the fall, we will be switching our irrigation to pvc pipe,
so this is just a temporary watering system.

 As our temperatures reach close to 90 some afternoons,
most of the kale and lettuce is bolting.
The remaining plants will be harvested by the weekend,
and we'll figure out if we want to reuse the straw bales for something else,
or retire them and use them for mulch.

There is a large cluster of what I think is oregano
growing right over our septic tank.
It's coming into flower,
so I am planning on saving seeds to be planted elsewhere.
 

Summertime is here,
no matter what the calendar says.
The fireflies have appeared,
creating the magic of youth all over again.
Cool mornings and bright skies until about 9 p.m.
lend themselves to productive days on the homestead.

What is late spring offering up in your world?