Garden Friday

 

 

 

 

 Welcome back to Garden Friday,

where we share what's growing on our Piedmont Homestead.

While out walking yesterday,

I couldn't resist taking a shot of a neighbor's lovely mailbox planting.

So many cheerful colors in one spot encouraged me on my outing.

 

 

The gravel walkway behind the house is being enjoyed

by all of us.

I love to hear the crunching sound it makes

when I venture that way to let the chooks out in the early morning.

We had over three inches of rain this week,

and it seems to have done a great job helping the water move away from the house.

 

So many things are waking up on the property,

like this yarrow planted in the mailbox bed.

This plant was new to me last year,

and it's had no difficulty coming back all on its own.

This trouble-free perennial has virtually no pest issues,

fosters pollinators in the garden, and requires very little care.

 

The dogwoods are leafing out,

and I was thrilled to find another specimen in our wooded area.

I would like to transplant it elsewhere,

as it is rather hidden where it grows now.

This has become one of my favorite trees since moving here,

especially after learning about the meaning of the flower

as a symbol of rebirth.

This apple tree is certainly a beautiful sight when in blossom,

but because it was not well cared for earlier on,

it isn't the healthiest specimen.

We are debating whether or not to keep it.

It does provide food for wildlife,

but its location is far from ideal,

and the thought is that something else would do better in the spot.

Until we decide, we'll enjoy the flowers.

 

The front porch bed is starting to come alive.

There are perennials planted here,

including salvia, coneflowers, rudbeckia,

Shasta daisies and lantana.

I'm looking forward to adding much more to fill in the empty spaces.

 

The red cabbage that was planted in fall

has finally started to bolt.

It's just as well, as we have plans to fill the bed

with spring veggies.

These will be given to the chooks as a treat.

 

Some of the strawberries were placed in this pot,

but there are many more plants to be transplanted to a bed.

Our usual resource for compost is having difficulty with his supplier,

so we have had to put filling our raised bed boxes on hold.

The plan is to create long, narrow boxes for the remaining strawberries.

 

The snap peas drank up every bit of rain we got this week.

They are due for a feeding,

and I look forward to watching them scale the cattle panel trellis.

 

The mint patch behind the chicken coop is coming back gangbusters!

This was already here when we bought the house,

and I'm hoping to use it for sun tea this summer.

 

Between rain showers, I worked on digging the drainage trench deeper,

to encourage the rain water away from the coop.

 The trench leads down to the septic field and out towards the street.

We plan to fill it with gravel, once we get another load.

 

Not sure how easy it is to see here,

but some recently acquired liriope grass was garnered

and used to create a curved border in front of the flower bed.

More work will be done in this bed

once our worry of frost is over, somewhere around April 15th.

 

The blueberries are doing well,

and as a matter of fact,

several more bushes were acquired to add to the collection.

There should be enough berries for the birds and us!

first tulips of spring

With overnight temperatures predicted in the 20's,

we are hoping this is the last blast of winter

before spring arrives in earnest.

I am looking forward to seeing all that Mother Nature 

has in store for us.

 

Here's hoping Ole' Man Winter is on his way out!

Garden Friday

Happy Birthday to my dear sweet Faye!

Welcome to Garden Friday!
We are continuing to hunker down for the most part,
and enjoying our garden time every chance we get.
Our neighborhood is displaying these red ribbons
outside of our homes as a symbol of unity
through this difficult time.
Our neighbor across the street actually made them
and distributed them at no cost.
We are grateful for good neighbors.

 Last week we transplanted our strawberries
into this big wash tub.
Covering with straw should help to keep them moist,
as they are big drinkers.
The tub is placed on thick cardboard,
so that any runners can sprawl outwards.

The asparagus is amazing me!
Regardless of the poor clay soil,
it is popping out like nobody's business!
As this is the first year it was planted,
it will remain unpicked and left to go to seed.
Next year we should be able to harvest a bit.

The onions planted in one of the new 3X8 beds started emerging this week.
The welded wire will be removed once the Yukon Gold potatoes come up. 
Snap peas were planted heavily 
all along the arches we put up last year.
A few coffee cans were seeded with
lettuce, kale, spinach and chard.

 I'm trying to get a jump start on the sunflowers,
so I planted a few in the pollinator bed,
as well as around the garden.
One of the goals is to feed the birds,
but I'm hoping there is enough seed left after summer's end
to feed me some sunflower sprouts!

 The welded wire covers seem to be deterring any digging,
which is their intended purpose.
Once planting begins in earnest, it should come in handy.
We are still awaiting the correct parts for our drip system.
It's been a lesson in patience, but we hope to wrap it up soon.

 The oregano that was on the property when we bought it,
comes back each year with no prompting from me.
What a delightful gift to us.
I'd like to make more of an effort to dry it,
so that I can stop buying it at the grocery store.

 A few new birdhouses were added to the garden area this week.
I'm thinking, more birds, less bugs in the garden.
We'll see!
A friend also recommended getting a bat house
to help with mosquito control.
I can do that!

 I've always thought that alyssum was an annual,
but it's been coming back on its own.
It's one of my favorite delicate blooms to use as a border,
and I really should use it more in the veggie garden area.
Smells divine too!

The irises are wowing us with drama!
This is the first time since they were transplanted
that they've bloomed.
Worth the wait, wouldn't you agree?

I know I'm a Yankee,

but I love me some dogwood trees!

They compliment the tulips we have coming up

on the west side of our driveway.

Sometimes when I'm walking the property,

I see so many areas that need additions,

but time only allows for so much.

Gardening is always a work in progress.

dogwood blossoms

Here's hoping you have some garden projects
to keep you happily busy at home.
Bee well...

Wordless Wednesday

Garden Friday

Hey there and welcome to Garden Friday!

I have recently  
                           fallen 
                                      in 
                                                love...
with this pink dogwood tree in our front yard.
It is a symbol of the South and I'm thinking I need a few more,
just so we have a proper Southern Homestead!

 To my astonishment,
our peach trees have fruit on them.
These poor babies have been fairly neglected by previous owners,
but they are still trying to do what they are intended to do.

I'm not sure that I can nurse these trees back to health,
they are in pretty bad shape,
but this will be the first season that I can monitor their progress.
Fingers crossed!

The straw bales have not germinated one thing that was planted.
Pretty disappointing, I must say,
but we carry on anyway.
The transplanted kale seems to be happy there,
and this week we were able to transplant some lettuces that had been sown from seed.

There are watermelon and canteloupe seedlings ready to transplant,
and I'm thinking of adding them to the two ends of the bales
so that they can roam at will.

We had an unexpected cold snap and it looks like the kale didn't much appreciate it.
I took a sampling of both the kale and lettuce growing in the bales
and they tasted mighty fine.

The sugar snap peas are making slow progress up the pots.
I'm thinking I may have started these a bit too late to get much of a harvest.
I recently heard about a variety that only gets to 4 feet, so doesn't need trellising,
and that seems like a great alternative!

The potato towers are doing nicely.
The shoots are growing up out of the straw,
so I covered them with some leaves
 to protect them from the cold that we are expecting tonight.
Hopefully, this will be the last of the cold weather for a while. 
(Haven't I said that before?)

Tomatoes and melons are awaiting their turn to be transplanted.
I'll be fashioning tomato supports for the first time this year.
It's a combination tomato cage and stake gizmo
that I learned about on one of my favorite blogs, Old World Gardens.

 The deck continues to host a variety of spring and summer crops,
as well as a few surprises.
We seeded our loofha and some pigeon peas in cell packs.
I was also gifted with some cucumber starts
that I plan to put in a pot over the weekend.
I see pickles in our future!

Since I had some doubt about the viability of the snap peas and green beans,
I decided to try sprouting them in bags.
If these germinate, they'll be added to the container garden.

 The azaleas continue to amaze us with so many blooms!

Here are a few new acquisitions I picked up at a local nursery.
Two of these beauties are familiar to me,
as we had them in our Florida garden.
I'm hoping to get them installed as soon as this last cold snap passes us by.
I'll be posting about our visit to Mike's nursery next week.

We were thrilled to be visited by hummers this week.
No sooner had we hung up the feeder,
when one very persistent hummingbird made himself right at home.
You can read how we make our own hummingbird nectar here.

 It seems that spring is hesitant to stick around.
The weather has been gorgeous and then a sudden cold snap overnight
makes us think that winter will never bid us adieu.

Nonetheless, we are grateful for living a seasonal life.
C'mon spring, we're ready for you!