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Walkabout – May Edition
With all the plantings done for the year its great to be able to simply stroll the yard and take a moment to enjoy the miracle that is Mother Nature.
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Reminder: Water any seedlings or moved plants
Spent this Mother’s Day over at Sycamore Hill Gardens. Beautiful grounds with a coy pond, stepping stones, fairy garden, hedge maze and so much more. They hold a Mother’s Day Garden Tour that Elaine and I enjoy as it is the place to relax outdoors and the kids have so much fun feeding the fish and running the maze. I recommend it to anyone who lives in the Central New York area. This leads me to my words of warning. Remember to water, water, water any seedlings or plants you move. 7 of the strawberries we moved last night were wilted when I watered the garden 22hrs later… I’ll have…
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Integrating the Chicks with the Chickens…
So far the Chickens aren’t playing so nice with the Chicks and repeatedly peck them and squawk while they are in the run together. No big issues so far as we’ve been around while they are out. We’re going to have to let them figure it out shortly. In the mean time they are quite content roosting on their box below the coop. It makes me want to put a little perch/bar in their area but no I have to stop myself as its only temporary.
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An Unexpected Bounty of Strawberries
Lo’ and behold August and I were hoeing the garden to plant some watermelon seeds when we had to double take what we were scraping up. To my surprise there were Strawberry plants growing 25 feet away from my Strawberry Patch. As far as I can tell a squirrel must have sat on the fence eating some strawberries last year and seeded the area with more strawberries. Time to move the plants down to the existing patch. Now with the plethora of strawberries “planted” time to work on the Watermelons. On the scale of snacks it goes #1 Apples, #2 Watermelon and #3 Cherries. I prefer to hoe the planting…
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Cherry Bush Down
As it turns out we didn’t loose any plantings over the winter but one of the Hanson Cherry Bushes snapped 80% of the way through the main trunk. I was hoping with a little wrapping it would heal up but alas after seeing the new growth it was obvious it needed to be trimmed to regrow from the base. A small set back but happy to have not lost the bush in full.
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Rising of the Black Raspberries
The Black Raspberry plantings were making nervous as they were the first plantings this year and haven’t been showing any growth. Their color has always been good but today I decided to dig in the mulch and low and behold their they were. We just might get to pick 3 varieties of raspberries this year.
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Yard clean-up doesn’t end, simply changes
Several of the pine trees in the back of the yard are starting to die off due to a combination of creeping ivy and blight, or so I ponder. Last year I noticed the pines weren’t in the best shape but only got around to cleaning the vines out in the fall. This year we’re getting a jump start and cleaning up the dead limbs and the lowest branches to hopefully rejuvenate growth as well as cut down on ticks. I’ll have to get the limbs quartered to 3 feet for pick-up but already see how this gains us a little more yard space. I wonder what I could possibly…
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Caprice’s perspective of the garden
Its always fun when the kids want to help, cooking, cleaning, building, gardening or what not. Today Caprice wanted to help in the garden but decided to instead take photos as its something she’s gotten more and more into. Without further adieu The Garden a la Caprice.
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Cherry Blossoms! and more
Spring blossoms are so rewarding! I love enjoying the outdoors but there is something especially nice in seeing plants mature and thrive. Last year we got a few apple blossoms but nothing from the Cherry Trees. This year 2 of the cherry trees have a few dozen blossoms. Wait a few years and the whole yard will be a bloom! Take a moment and stroll the yard with me.
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Paying some attention to the Apple Trees
Its always easy to let nature takes it course but wait to long and it’ll mean assembling beds around the trees vs in advance. By my count this is the fourth set of beds for this year and the last. I wish we could leave the trees unfenced as it makes the space look so much more open. However we’re not taken any chances with the deer this year. We’ve already put up the garlic and enlarged the fences. From here on out it is simply making sure nothing grows in the mulch and mowing. Beyond taking care of the chickens and weeding the garden… Work in the field is…
