Our riot of daffodils... I'm back! Sorry for the long absence - it was longer than I had expected. We got back from vacation in Florida last weekend and I had intended to post on Sunday, but then my mother and little sister were arriving on Sunday afternoon for a short visit, and I ran out of time. My sister is moving to California this summer, so I probably won't see much of her for a while... But we had a lovely day or so together, and it was wonderful to see so much of my family within a week's time!
Spring Break was great - the Florida beaches were clean and beautiful, and we had so much fun with my sister, brother-in-law, and the adorable twin nieces. The guys kept us well-fed with lots of fresh fish, and the twins entertained us with their constant singing, chatter, and giggles.
Anyway, I promise I'll be back with another health-related post soon, but thought I would take this week to catch up and give a quick update on homestead life and our plans for the homestead this year...
Spring Break was great - the Florida beaches were clean and beautiful, and we had so much fun with my sister, brother-in-law, and the adorable twin nieces. The guys kept us well-fed with lots of fresh fish, and the twins entertained us with their constant singing, chatter, and giggles.
Anyway, I promise I'll be back with another health-related post soon, but thought I would take this week to catch up and give a quick update on homestead life and our plans for the homestead this year...
The tomatoes are up! There hasn't been much to report for quite a while, as it seemed like this winter would never end! With a slightly late, but very cold start, we thought winter was over when it hit 70 in February and the daffodils started coming up. Unfortunately, this was definitely NOT the case, and we are now entering May without even seeing redbuds blooming yet. The past 2 months have been cold, dreary, and wet for the most part - thought we did get lucky and miss out on the major snow storms that hit the East coast. Fortunately, I was already planning a late start to my indoor seedlings due to our Florida trip, so they are just now popping up...
Although I don't particularly enjoy starting seedlings indoors (it always seems rather tedious and boring), one of my absolute favorite parts of the garden season is watching the tiny seedlings unfurl themselves - uncoiling their tiny green stems from the damp soil and stretching their green leaves upwards toward the light. Even though I understand the biology behind it, it always seems somehow miraculous to me. Especially when I think that from this tiny little stem with 2 green leaves will come pounds and pounds of fruit in just a few months time - tomatoes, peppers, tomatilloes, eggplants - each from one little seed... It's so amazing! I don't understand how anyone who grows a garden could not believe in God. :-)
Despite the long delay, it appears that the endless winter is finally coming to an end now - hopefully tonight's light frost will be the last for the season - though I can't count on that just yet! The drive to Florida was an interesting journey - one in which we felt as though we traveled forward in time from winter to summer, and then back again. With each new hour further South, I exclaimed with wonder at the steadily increasing green - going from gray trees with tiny buds, to sprouting green foliage, to pale spring green coverings over all the hills, and then to summer-like leaves. Dandelions and daffodils along the roadsides gave way to swaths of pink primroses, golden wild mustard, and then clover. Redbuds were replaced by magnolias and then white clusters of fragrant black locust blossoms, and some beautiful drooping purple flowers which I never could identify.
Although I don't particularly enjoy starting seedlings indoors (it always seems rather tedious and boring), one of my absolute favorite parts of the garden season is watching the tiny seedlings unfurl themselves - uncoiling their tiny green stems from the damp soil and stretching their green leaves upwards toward the light. Even though I understand the biology behind it, it always seems somehow miraculous to me. Especially when I think that from this tiny little stem with 2 green leaves will come pounds and pounds of fruit in just a few months time - tomatoes, peppers, tomatilloes, eggplants - each from one little seed... It's so amazing! I don't understand how anyone who grows a garden could not believe in God. :-)
Despite the long delay, it appears that the endless winter is finally coming to an end now - hopefully tonight's light frost will be the last for the season - though I can't count on that just yet! The drive to Florida was an interesting journey - one in which we felt as though we traveled forward in time from winter to summer, and then back again. With each new hour further South, I exclaimed with wonder at the steadily increasing green - going from gray trees with tiny buds, to sprouting green foliage, to pale spring green coverings over all the hills, and then to summer-like leaves. Dandelions and daffodils along the roadsides gave way to swaths of pink primroses, golden wild mustard, and then clover. Redbuds were replaced by magnolias and then white clusters of fragrant black locust blossoms, and some beautiful drooping purple flowers which I never could identify.
April 2nd! The return trip felt like going back in time, as the vibrant green steadily gave way to bare branches, and we finally found ourselves back in the land of daffodils and dandelions - barely advanced since we had been gone, as it was quite cold here for most of the week, and I heard it had even snowed a few times.
But spring persists, and this week we had a sure sign of it, as our asparagus began poking its way up out of the earth - the perennial vegetable of spring! I am looking forward to harvesting a few spears this week, before the asparagus beetles arrive to terrorize our poor patch. (I plan to apply some beneficial nematodes once the soil warms, as I've heard they may help.)
We have had the most amazing stand of daffodils this year - it seems they are multiplying quite happily even in their partly shaded bed, and most of the tulips have survived the rapacious deer, thanks to my application of handfuls of stinky dog hair, which really seems to work better than anything else at keeping them away. (Thanks, Molly Brown!) :-)
But spring persists, and this week we had a sure sign of it, as our asparagus began poking its way up out of the earth - the perennial vegetable of spring! I am looking forward to harvesting a few spears this week, before the asparagus beetles arrive to terrorize our poor patch. (I plan to apply some beneficial nematodes once the soil warms, as I've heard they may help.)
We have had the most amazing stand of daffodils this year - it seems they are multiplying quite happily even in their partly shaded bed, and most of the tulips have survived the rapacious deer, thanks to my application of handfuls of stinky dog hair, which really seems to work better than anything else at keeping them away. (Thanks, Molly Brown!) :-)
 Tulips & daffodils galore! |  The spring lettuce and salad greens are looking good... |
Yum! Fresh asparagus! Thanks to the delayed spring, I have had some time to work on some of the larger projects that I often don't get time for this time of year, such as cleaning out "the mound" - the great pile of dirt left by our geothermal installation, which we unfortunately let go to weeds the first year. Last year I half-heartedly attempted to hoe out a bit of the grass and plant some wildflowers. We ended up with a giant weed bed with a few lovely wildflowers in it. This year, I am determined to reverse the trend and have a giant wildflower bed with just a few weeds! Thanks to the help of my hard-working mom, and my trusty digging fork, along with hours of forking and pulling stubborn grass roots, I will be finished with that huge project this week!
My next goal is to cover the languishing raspberry bed (now empty) with cardboard to keep the worst of the grass down over the summer, and hopefully fill it with new raspberry plants next spring.
And finally, I need to shape up the circular flower beds in the front lawn, lay a base of gravel around them, and build them up a bit with a border of some of the old bricks that were left behind on the property when we bought it.
All this along with the regular gardening tasks of spring - weeding, planting, covering and uncovering on cold nights, watering new seedlings, etc. But without the added pressure of having to dig any new garden beds this year (YAY!!), I hope to manage it.
Besides the garden, we have two other goals for the homestead this year - digging a pond, and (finally) getting some chickens! Of course, that depends on us finding or building an adequate chicken house, but once that is in place, I plan to use mobile poultry netting to give them fresh range every few days, as well as, of course, plenty of garden scraps. I look forward to the familiar clucking of hens, and that somehow comforting routine of chicken chores - a task that I did twice every day for the first third of my life...
I guess that's it for now! Oh yes, and the peas and radishes are up, arugula, lettuce, and Asian greens mix are looking great, and the potatoes are JUST starting to barely peek out of the tops of the hay bales, so spring is finally here, my friends...I think... :-)
I'll be back next week with your May "freebie," so stay tuned!
Rose.
My next goal is to cover the languishing raspberry bed (now empty) with cardboard to keep the worst of the grass down over the summer, and hopefully fill it with new raspberry plants next spring.
And finally, I need to shape up the circular flower beds in the front lawn, lay a base of gravel around them, and build them up a bit with a border of some of the old bricks that were left behind on the property when we bought it.
All this along with the regular gardening tasks of spring - weeding, planting, covering and uncovering on cold nights, watering new seedlings, etc. But without the added pressure of having to dig any new garden beds this year (YAY!!), I hope to manage it.
Besides the garden, we have two other goals for the homestead this year - digging a pond, and (finally) getting some chickens! Of course, that depends on us finding or building an adequate chicken house, but once that is in place, I plan to use mobile poultry netting to give them fresh range every few days, as well as, of course, plenty of garden scraps. I look forward to the familiar clucking of hens, and that somehow comforting routine of chicken chores - a task that I did twice every day for the first third of my life...
I guess that's it for now! Oh yes, and the peas and radishes are up, arugula, lettuce, and Asian greens mix are looking great, and the potatoes are JUST starting to barely peek out of the tops of the hay bales, so spring is finally here, my friends...I think... :-)
I'll be back next week with your May "freebie," so stay tuned!
Rose.
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