Cold Snap

Better titled: I'm so glad I'm not a pioneer.


We had a late frost.


there are signs of life, but I just don't know. The weather can reach highs of 70, but then dips to frost or just plain cold drizzle.

My getting home from church late and forgetting to shut the cold frame lid before frost certianly didn't help matters any.


This is what my cold frame looked like last April around this time. Needless to say, this is not my year for seedlings. Somewhat upsetting seeing as last year I ended up throwing away most of my seedlings because of the move. This year I have a 30x40 tilled rectangle of perfectly good dirt.


sigh.

Flowers Flowers!

Spring is just too pretty for words. I'm noticing the magnolias around town have lost blossoms, but the dogwoods are in bloom. And the wisteria.

A moment of silence for my wisteria. I hope it is doing well. I miss you, wisteria.



I took this picture during the first inspection. It was the first week of May- when things were starting to become a reality that this house could be ours. (after a month of negotiations and another month would follow!)


and this is yesterday. I think I killed the clematis? :( So much of it is dead twigs, like a giant bird nest. The green you see is coneccted to one or two fresh whips growing from the ground up.


New growth on left, dead (original plant) on right. I'm lost on how to prune/revive this. I think that is mint growing rampant everywhere?


by the carport last year.


Yikes! This area got more water and seems to come back in full force. Weave it to the trellis?


Beside our bed. The lilac is incredibly fragrant. This humble bouquet brings joy to my heart.


These little guys popped up so I snagged them for the table. This is the double daffodil I was mentioning in previous post. According to some websites, I can purchase them in all white and salmon shades also. If the critters will leave daffodils alone, I want more of these beauties.

Blooms

She was all to eager to help re-seed.


This bush was in bad shape when we moved in. I was somewhat fearful and only gave it a hesitant pruning. Now that I know it blooms, I'll be a bit more agressive next go around.

I need to show off my lilac tree I've nurtured from cutting. It is almost ready to be planted! This bush also looks like it may have some babies I can dig up and nurture.


The apple blossoms are beautiful.


The trees are rough. We have four or five apple trees on the property and they have been ignored for many years. The neighbour has a friend that will teach us how to properly care for the trees when it comes time to prune this fall. Reading is good, but it is wonderful when someone can pass down their knowledge while walking the property with you.


Something ate my tulips. #@! I didn't take any pictures of the (now dying) daffodils, but most of them came up alongside the snow crocus and they were beautiful. There was one lonely double daffodil in the mix and the girls and I agreed it was the prettiest. I think I'll research purchasing some apricot or pink daffodils for planting this fall.

Fencing

These guys are everywhere. I've heard they love gardens. The only crummy part about internet research is that you read and discover the best way to do something based on other peoples frustrations- sometimes those around you are like You've got to be kidding. Why don't we try it without a fence the first year and then if the deer/rabbits eat your garden, we'll put up a fence. They might not eat your garden at all.


No. Shannon had to have a fence. With buried chicken wire. The internet said so.


Donnie did the math and for 20% more expense, we could have 75% more fenced square footage. This would allow for the tractor to get in and allow expansion in the future-- without moving buried chicken wire. Of course it means 50% more work.

*I made up the above percentages for illustration purposes. They make sense when you do the actual math.


The tractor, after much tinkering, decided we were done for the day.

I hope nobody remembers this was my idea.



Hahahaha. Welcome to our farm.

Baby Seedlings Journal

Day One in the cold frame

You can see the upper right pallets of seedlings are doing mediocre. It appears the tomatoes may survive and 4 lonely cucumber plants appear to be okay. I started those seedlings too early and just had them on the back porch, covering them in a blanket at night. I moved them to the cold frame after stapling the plastic back up. I got them some room-mates on Wednesday.

For my records, and your amusement:

*seeds are planted left to right in egg cartons. Unless noted, they are organic and heirloom. Most seeds were purchased for 10 cents a packet on clearance last year. Yay!
A- 6 Black Beauty Zucchini (etsy purchase)
AA- 6 Yellow crookneck squash (seeds of change)
B- 12 Tomatillo Wild (etsy purchase)
C- 6 Hales Best Cantaloupe (etsy purchase
CC- 6 Hales Best Cantaloupe (seeds of change)
D- 12 broccoli (Seeds of change)
E- 8 Sugar baby watermelon (seeds of change)
EE- 4 Rosa Bianca Eggplant (seeds of change)
F- 12 Picklebush Cucumbers (Burpee- not organic or heirloom)
G- 6 Jalapeno (seeds of change)
GG- 6 Banana Peppers (Burpee organic)
H- 6 Carnival mix bell peppers (Burpee organic)
HH- 4 California wonder Red bell pepper (seeds of change)
HHH- 2 Long Cayenne (Ferry Morse- not organic or heirloom)
J- 6 Butternut Squash (Burpee- non organic)
JJ- 4 Straightneck Summer Yellow Squash (Burpee- non organic)
JJJ- 2 Jack be Little Decorative Pumpkin
K- 6 Cherokee Yellow Wax Bush Beans (Burpee- non organic)
KK- 6 Honeydew Melon (Burpee- non organic)
L- 6 Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean (seeds of change)
LL- 6 Snow Peas (seeds of change)
M- 4 Bells of Ireland (Renee Garden)
MM- 6 Miniature Roses (Renee Garden)

72 Green Arrow Shelling Peas (seeds of change)


Sadly, it rained, and poured, and drowned the Marigolds & Strawberry flats. I will re-seed those I think.

Just the Dirt

I'm separatig the bulk of the garden posts. Stay on the family blog if you want to watch the kids grow like weeds. This blog will be public, so a bit easier to keep up with.