Saturday, April 30, 2011

Blossoming Brides of April

Joining Susan for



~*~


Looking eversomuch as blushing brides...


dressed in gowns of pure white




Rosy cheeked before her groom






lifting beaming faces to the heavens





curtsying with skirts rustling in the breeze





choirs praising





congregations joining







the springtime throng







something blue













something old






carefree





winsome









reliant





virtuous





pure






Monday, April 25, 2011

In Just Three Weeks....

I've gone from these...

to what you see below!

( hollyhocks and strawflowers)

(Cinderella Pumpkins, Acorn and Sweet Meat Squash)


(Lupine and Pink Poppies)



(Heirloom Tomatoes, Hot Peppers and Broccoli)


(Sweet William)
Sweet William seed I gathered last year is even popping through

the soil! I am so happy ~ I didn't think they would grow.

I just threw them in an old cardboard box with some

soil and 'ta da'! Little specs of green!



This is the most exciting of all~

Saturday was a beautiful warm sunny day.

I planted my peas and today~

3 days later they are popping up!!!



(Someone else discovered them! Taz, my little

Aracauna Rooster! Bad boy!

Now his wing is clipped so he will have to stay in the

chicken yard with Fly, my Cuckoo Maran

Rooster. They fight! But it's him or my garden!

He will just have to learn to fight or run faster!)


~*~*~*~*~



Joining all the others for the Homestead Barn Hop



Why don't you head on over and see what's happening

at everyone's homestead?


:~D
















Monday, April 18, 2011

Preping the Garden!

With Gentleman Farmer home for the week

and a bit of nice weather (finally!),

the garden got its spring tilling!

I just love the smell of the fresh turned earth

and how chocolaty rich and fluffy it is!


My 'garden crew' loves it too!

This is one of the last times this gardening season

they will get to be in to gobble up those

tasty fat earthworms!

Gentleman Farmer brought home some

very nice wooden pallets from work last week,

and fixed me a grand compost bin.

It is situated next to the door of the chicken house.

When I am cleaning out the coop I can simply

fork it out into the bin!

(I will have to take down the deer fencing, but

it shouldn't be too often.)

Almost ready to get those seeds and plants into the garden!

Then we will see about getting that Hen Haus painted!

:>


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Making a Garden *WELCOME* Sign!


~*~


Here is a fun way to

*Welcome*

friends to your garden!

~*~


I searched the barn for an old scrap piece of lumber,

grabbed my pruners and headed for the brush pile

that I had created a couple of weeks ago

of prunings from some Rhododendrons

and a couple of Buddleia.






Finding several pieces of trimmings about the same

size, (I used the Buddleia branches)

I snipped pieces to form the letters

and laid them out to get the spacing

and height that pleased me.


After nailing the smaller pieces to the board

to form the word,

I took some larger and longer branches to

frame the board.


Finally, after nailing it all together

(and replacing many pieces that split

as they were nailed to the board),

I have a nice rustic sign to

*Welcome* friends and family

to my garden!


If you would like to make one for your garden, here is what you will need: 1 weathered board ~ Several twigs and branches (I liked ones with interesting bark and shapes) ~ pruners for trimming branches to size ~ Hammer and small nails ~*~

Monday, April 4, 2011

Working in the Greenhouse

A little break in the weather had me itching to get

outside and do something!

I just received my garden seed order

so decided to play out in my greenhouse.

When ever I head outside,

my trusty sidekick, Harley (cat)

tags along for the adventure. There is always

some fun to be had for him.

Today was no different ~ as I pulled dried

weeds and old broken pots from inside

the greenhouse and outside,

one of our roosters found him

to be quite interesting!

As Harley reclined in the wagon

supervising my efforts,

Taz hopped into the wagon with

Harley to try to convince him

that the lovely weeds

would make a much finer nest than

the bare wooden bottom of the wagon!

Harley, "You've got to be kidding me, right?"

A few more weeds and a few minutes later, Fly and his girl added to the merriment! Harley began to get a bit miffed at the intrusions upon his leisure time. He said I could continue entertaining these jokers without his support and headed to the barn were his presence would be more fully appreciated ~ helping the Gentleman Farmer build me a couple of seed benches for the greenhouse. These benches will be topped off with some sturdy hardware cloth (wire) to hold these newly planted up trays. Anise Hyssop for teas, potpourri, and gifts to the neighbors bees! Four kinds of heirloom tomatoes, hot peppers, and broccoli.
Sweet Meat Hubbard squash, Carnival Acorn Squash

and Rouges Vif D'Etampes (Cinderella) Pumpkins!




Queen of Sheba

and

Large Leaf Italian Basil


And trying Grandma's way of raising seeds in

eggshells ~ roots won't be disturbed. Just lightly crush the

shells and transplant into pot or garden!





Hop on over and see what others are working on

at their little homesteads!