Garden Friday

 

 

Welcome to the first Garden Friday of spring!

It's a thrill to watch everything wake up from its winter slumber.

These tulips are so vibrant!

 

The bulbs are especially enchanting to me,

because having lived in Florida for so long,

we did not experience their magical uprising.

 

The daffodils are still blooming each and every day,

and we have a variety of colors and shapes to enjoy.

 

I was able to add some asparagus to my salad yesterday,

and I have to say that it is very rewarding to harvest your food

from right outside your door.

What could be fresher?

 

A new technique was tried for sowing carrots this week.

I'm notoriously lax about thinning them out,

so I decided to plant them more "by the book".

 

The Cobra was used to make drills (or furrows).

This tool makes the job quick and easy.

 

 

A friend gave me one of these seed planters,

so I thought I'd give it a go.

I think I still got too many seeds in some of the spots,

but we'll see what comes up.

 

Some rosemary was harvested from our established plant out front.

The plan is to move it to a sunnier location,

and I wanted to be sure that I had a back up plan.

 

 A dozen or so sprigs were cut and placed into a pot,

for future transplanting or giving away.

This drought tolerant herb makes a lovely bush.

The scent always reminds me of my sweet momma.

 

 

Two elderberry plants were put in place this week.

These were my purchase from our local Extension plant sale.

I'm hoping to be able to make elderberry syrup with the fruit.

 

Each year, I add to our food forest.

Last year we loaded up on blueberries.

 

After a couple of days of fairly heavy rain,

I noticed how much this yarrow had grown.

It seemed to shoot up overnight!

Looking forward to adding more natives to this bed in the front of the house.

 
 The tulips and this candytuft are just gorgeous.

I think I want to add a lot more of the candytuft to the garden beds.

It's gone through the winter like a champ.

What a treat to see them each morning

as I head out on my daily walk.

What's blooming where you are?

Garden Friday

 

 

 

Welcome to Garden Friday,

where we share what's going on in our Zone 7b garden.

It's been a wet and woolly week here in the Piedmont.

We have been blessed with an abundance of rain,

and the garden has loved every drop.

 

The pansies are looking better than they have

since they were first planted.

The cooler temps didn't seem to faze them one bit.
 

 

Before the coldest temperatures hit,

I harvested some lettuce.

It's still tasting mighty fine,

even though it's been in the ground for months.

This is a combination of buttercrunch and green oak leaf.

 

 

Parsley is planted for our kitchen needs,

but also to enable black swallowtail caterpillars to thrive.

The parsley in the raised bed took a hit with the freeze,

but this bunch in a pot is doing just fine.

We are sprouting other herbs now in the kitchen,

just as we did for the broccoli, chard and kale.

 

 

The garlic really responded to the rainfall.

It is growing like gangbusters!

This is one of my favorite crops to harvest.

So satisfying!

 

The peas were covered with leaf mulch the night before

the temperatures plummeted to 18 degrees.

They are now popping back up through the leaves.

 

 

The potatoes didn't fare too well.

They were looking so good,

but I didn't cover them up, 

thinking they'd be okay.

They weren't.

I'm fairly sure they will recover without a problem.

 

 

The oregano that was recently transplanted

look like they are a bit worse for wear.

This crop has made it through four winters here,

so I'm not too concerned.

One day this week, I spied one of our resident bunnies munching away.

We are happy to share our bounty.

 

The broccoli looks to be progressing,

and I'm hoping that more consistent weather 

will be key to its success.

 

The irises that were transplanted from the mailbox bed

to the front door bed are doing great.

These gorgeous purple blooms 

will be a welcome greeting very soon.

 

 

This area under my bedroom window

was recently fiddled with.

Plants were placed in clusters,

instead of being more spread out.

This also made room for any new plants I may want to add.

The plan includes widening the bed a few more feet.

 

The daisies, poppies, and yarrow have grown right through the coldest days.

I'm hoping to add more natives overall to the garden,

especially those that attract pollinators.

 

 

The Black-Eyed Susan is rarin' to go!

This week, especially, I noticed how vibrant and healthy they look.

Some of these will be divided and added elsewhere.

 

I'm happy to say that our girls are again laying like champs!

We get at least 3 eggs most days,

and it is so satisfying to be able to share them with neighbors.

Chicks are in the plans for early spring!

Enjoy this beautiful bouquet, 

courtesy of God.

Hope your spring garden plans are coming right along.

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?

Garden Friday

 

 

Welcome to Garden Friday!

It's been a cool and wet week here in the Piedmont

of North Carolina.

Here's what's going on in our zone 7b garden this week.

The daffodils are bursting forth all over the neighborhood.

We've added a few more each year to our property

and they are quite the cheery greeting to springtime!

 

The hyacinth blooms are also appearing.

The color purple speaks to me,

so these are a welcome addition to the beds.

 

The tulips that were planted mere weeks ago,

have decided that the time is right to pop out of their cozy underground bungalow.

This is the first time I have planted tulips,

as we couldn't grow them in our former home in Florida.

It's such a treat to see all of this dormancy come alive!

 

The irises have yet to be moved,

but it's on the list I will get to it this weekend.

These share space near our mailbox,

but they would do well to be divvied up and distributed to other places.

 

Some cannas were spied yesterday,

although I could have sworn I dug them all up last fall.

These will be transplanted near the chicken run,

as they will add some interest and a bit of shade for the chooks.

 

A check on the blueberry plants found that some are awakening,

and some are not.

Looking back on my soil test from last year,

I am looking forward to seeing if adding the needed amendments

improved the acidity of the soil for this crop.

 

This new-to-me forsythia is starting to bloom,

and I need to find a proper spot for it,

so that it can get as wild as it wants to.

Any suggestions?

 

The strawberries seem to be coming alive,

although I have to say, that they never really seemed to mind

even the coldest temperatures.

I was hoping to create a larger bed for the entire collection,

but haven't yet gotten around to it.

 

Our first asparagus of the season was spotted yesterday!

I can hardly wait to enjoy this delicious treat.

No more buying asparagus at the store!

This crop can provide food for up to 20 years.

 

The potatoes that were planted just two weeks ago

have begun erupting through the soil.

Well, that didn't take long.

I will probably have to purchase some seed potatoes,

as the ones I planted from last year's harvest

won't likely last us too long.

We love our spuds.

 

I'm looking forward to watching the parsley

recover completely from the winter's frigid temperatures.

It never died back entirely,

and I'm sure it will bounce right back

with warmer temperatures and ample sunshine.

 

The cover crops will remain in place until I need this bed

for other crops.

I'll add them to the chook run to see if there are any takers.

They look pretty beat up after the last major snow we had,

but notice how most of it is still green.

Aren't plants just amazing?

 

Gardening is happening on the inside of the house too.

I'm using these clam shell containers to sprout my seeds before sowing.

They act as a mini greenhouse.

 

Just look how the snap peas are diggin' it!

The seeds are simply placed on a damp paper towel,

(you could use strips of fabric to make it zero-waste),

and left in the containers for a few days.

 

The Ruby Red Chard seems to enjoy the conditions as well.

I'm sprouting the seeds to get a head start on my crops for spring.

This year, I am planning to incorporate more food crops

into the landscape,

so I am sprouting more than I normally would.

It's all one great big experiment!

 

For each set of seeds,

I write the date and the variety on the towel

before placing it into the container.

It's so exciting to open up the bin each morning

to see what has germinated!

 

Another task we accomplished this week

was to clean out all of the birdhouses we have on the property.

I was so thrilled that my boy helped me with this chore.

He is a real bird lover,

so he wanted to make sure our feathered friends

have a cozy place to call home all season long.

 

Nests are always so fascinating to see.

We leave materials that might be useful to the birds

in the creations of these masterpieces.

In several nests, we found string from our bird seed bags.

Birds are the ultimate repurposers!

 

Unfortunately, we found a sweet chickadee

in one of the houses that had succumbed to something.

We gave it a proper burial near the garden.

 

In one of the bluebird houses,

we found the beginnings of a nest 

for this season.

We've noticed a pair of bluebirds making themselves at home here.

And we couldn't be happier.

 

The winter is winding down,

and we will be ready for spring

whenever She decides to make her appearance.

Until then, it's homemade candles in the morning,

and comfort food at dusk.