Homestead Happenings

sedum

Welcome to Homestead Happenings!

It's been a while, but we are back on track

and have a few updates on what's growing on!

 

The flower beds are bursting with color!

Even this coneflower in the shade is showing off.

With an abundance of rain throughout spring,

the blooms have needed very little coaxing to shine.

Our two pollinator beds near the driveway are filling in.

With Joe Pye weed, parsley and rue planted here,

we hope to have a steady supply of black swallowtail caterpillars visiting.

It's always mesmerizing to watch them make their transformation.

The front beds have been an ongoing project 

over the past year.

Adding evergreens really helped to anchor the space,

and adding more perennials keeps the color changing.

The chamomile in another pollinator bed

is so cheery.

For the first time, I am growing enough to make tea!

Can I just tell you how much I adore having these hydrangeas?

I could not grow them in Florida,

and always admired them in gardening magazines.

A fellow master gardener needed to make room in her garden

for something new, and she gifted me with these,

just for helping her dig them out!

They now line the area all along our driveway

and back in this corner of our lot.

Hydrangea envy no more!

One of the things I like best about them,

is the four season interest they offer us outside,

and the added bonus of being able to include them in 

flower arrangements all summer long.

They also make lovely wintertime displays after they have dried.

What a blessing to be able to have fresh cut arrangements

once again in the house.

The plan is to provide a Friday bouquet for neighbors

all summer long.

Won't that be fun?

Lest you think only the flowers are getting attention,

rest assured that the veg garden is humming right along.

Beets, kale, leeks, lettuce, onions

and a few new additions are enjoying the consistent watering

and ample sunshine.

Our Birdie beds are working out just fine,

and three more were just delivered this week.

That should be all we need for the foreseeable future,

and we look forward to filling them up with goodies.

I swore off of growing squash a few years ago,

as I didn't want to deal with the vine borers anymore.

Well, this cushaw squash is supposed to be

very hearty and I will say that it has taken off without much assistance.

On the opposite side of this bed,

there is one Seminole Pumpkin that germinated.

This variety is heralded as resistant to the squash vine borers,

so I am hoping for good things.

My farmer friend Lynn used to grow it in Florida,

and swears by its reputation.

Good enough for me.

We have so many volunteer squash

(I think it's squash) plants growing.

In the compost pile,

near the chicken run,

and in several other random areas.

A few Jack-o-Lantern pumpkins

in a raised row were planted intentionally.

These seeds were given to me by a fellow gardener

who had come to pick up chamomile plants.

(I took these photos in the heat of the day,

so they look a bit bedraggled.  They will recover.)

It's time to replant some of this washtub.

The curly lettuce has bolted,

and is too bitter for my liking.

The chooks will enjoy it though,

so nothing goes to waste.

A combination of kale, beet greens and lettuce

fills my daily salad bowl.

Can't get fresher than that!

We have green beans, folks!

I spied these tiny beans the other day,

and it made me smile.

A couple of these plants will feed me well.

The garlic was harvested this week,

the latest I've ever done so.

I kept hoping that it would size up,

but it just never happened.

I need to rethink my fertilizing strategy for next season.

Hopefully, this harvest will last us the year.

It will cure in the garage for a couple of weeks,

then be trimmed for storage.

A hefty bunch will be going to sister's house.

That gal can eat some garlic!

I think I need to plant some in her backyard.

What's happening at your place?

Wordless Wednesday

 

Memorial Day 2024

 

"There is nothing nobler

than risking your life for your country."

~Nick Lampson

Wordless Wednesday

 

Homestead Happenings

Hello there!

Welcome to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's going on here on our

Piedmont homestead.

The weather here has been beautiful and quite conducive

to working outdoors.

Unless you count the six inches of rain

we've gotten in the past week.

Oh, it's been a wet, soggy mess,

but the garden is soaking it all in.

The rain is about the only thing

that could keep me inside,

as our temperatures have been oh, so mild.

Our handy neighbor Joe,

who has helped us with several projects,

put together this shelving for me.

I told him how I like things tidy,

even outside, and he whipped up these two beauties.

The one pictured here is near the garden and 

corrals all of my pots and bins.

He also created shelving under our deck,

so that I can keep all of my trellises, conduit,

and the like well off the ground.

Another request fulfilled was a frame for my soil blocks.

I'm working my way toward using less plastic,

and soil blocks are a great way to get plants started.

We have the best neighbors.

It's been a wonderful spring for meeting other gardeners,

while having the opportunity to share my extra starts.

Everyone who comes to collect something

has been so kind and gracious,

even offering up seeds or plants in exchange.

Gardeners are a generous lot.

Our dahlias have started to open up,

and what a treat they are to gaze upon.

The bonus is that the pollinators love 'em!

The asparagus is still giving us a few stalks a week,

but it has mostly gone to seed.

I didn't think I would tire of eating it,

but for the last little while,

I've been giving it to neighbors.

I tried an experiment with these seedlings.

The pots were put in with the chooks,

which they quickly and thoroughly devoured.

This is what they looked like after a week.

One regrew and the other did not,

but it was cool to see one rebound.

The two new Birdie beds have been filled 

and are ready to grow some food!

Big K helped me place a cattle panel arch

between the two beds.

Seminole pumpkin and Cushaw squash/melon

have been planted alongside it.

This is the view of the garden from our "spa" room.

I'm pleased with the layout so far.

There will surely be some tweaking,

but I like the more condensed, streamlined look.

The babies have been outside fulltime for a few weeks now.

They seem to be adapting well to all the sights and sounds

around them.

Once they become similar in size to the other hens,

they will be integrated into the flock.

The decision has been made that Gandalf will

live the bachelor life in this coop, out on the grass.  

He will still be able to have free ranging time,

but he will be separated from the girls.

As we have not been able to find a suitable home for him elsewhere,

this is the best we can do for him.

lamb's ear blooms

I'd love to hear about what's happening 

on your homestead!

Do tell!