Garden Friday

 

 Welcome back to Garden Friday,

where we share our Zone 7b garden.

Look at this lil' fella I found lurking among the brush.

It's a sign of approaching spring!

A couple of weeks ago, I took the time

to thin out our irises near the mailbox bed.

I added them around one side of the new chicken run,

and I can't wait to see them all come up and bloom!

 

Some time was spent potting up many of our sprouted seeds.

I've been germinating seeds on our kitchen countertop,

using only damp paper towels and a clamshell lettuce bin.

It's worked great and has gotten me a bit of a head start

on the planting season.

 

 

 Just look at the roots of this snap pea after about 2 weeks!

When it's time for them to grow, they know it!

The beginnings of a climbing trellis were added

to one of the raised beds.  The peas were planted

just inside of these two t-posts.

As the peas grow, baling twine will be added across the center,

enabling the peas to start their ascent.

These peas will be growing on the northwest side of the bed,

so as not to shade the other plants sharing the space.

 

 

 Several pots of broccoli were potted up,

using the same sprouting technique.

The wire covering the bin is to dissuade squirrels

 from digging up the soil in the pots.

As I checked these on Thursday afternoon,

they were doing quite well.

There are also chard and kale seedlings placed here.

All of these will be covered with a blanket,

as we are supposed to have a cold snap come through over the weekend.

 

 

The blueberries show more buds each day.

With about a dozen bushes planted,

we are hoping to have enough berries 

for both the birds and us.

 

This stem was spotted near one of the blueberry plants,

but I think it's a raspberry, noting the thorns on the branches.

I'm hoping to transplant it elsewhere,

so that it doesn't interfere with the blueberry's progress.

 

Here's a curious creation.

I'm assuming some sort of creature

spent the winter snuggled in this cocoon.

Any ideas?

 

With this weekend's cold weather looming,

it would be a great time to make some soup.

This leek is more than ready to add some deliciousness to the pot.

 

This season, I'm using coir to add to the compost

I usually use for seedlings.

It comes in bricks like this,

and you merely add water to saturate it 

until it becomes a similar texture to peat moss.

 

We choose not to use peat moss, 

because of the damage to the ecosystem from harvest.

Wanna find out more?

Read this.

This beautiful coir comes from coconut,

and is far more sustainable than peat.

Adding this to compost or soil

adds in the aeration of your growing medium

as well as helping with moisture retention.

The tulips are coming up!

It never gets old to see these amazing plants

rising up from underneath the earth like magic!

I believe that I am now convinced 

that bulbs must be added each fall

to increase the wonderment each spring.

Who's with me on that?