Late Start In the Garden

Due to the last killing frost and last snow being at the beginning of June, it took a while for the garden to get into full swing this year.  This means that getting a corn, pumpkin or winter squash crop will be a gamble this year.  But heck, growing a garden of any sort here in the high desert is a gamble.

Either a Zuke or a Yellow Squash - of course, I am not organized enough to label them.  Good thing I like surprises.

Veggies currently in the ground:

• Black Beauty Zucchini
• Yellow Crook Neck Squash
• Yellow Straight Neck Squash
• Acorn (Winter) Squash
• A small, short season (90 day) pumpkin that I can't recall the name of
• 3 sad Alaskan Fancy determinate tomato plants
• 40 stalks of Golden Bantam Cross (F1) Corn
• Sweet Dumpling (Winter) Squash
• Lemon Cukes
• Market More 76 Cukes
• 6 sad little Okra plants that don't like our cold nights (still in the 50*F at night)
• A few garlic that really should be pulled by now
• Blue bush green beans (turn green when cooked - or when the temps top 100) - French Velour and True Blue
• Yellow "Pencil Pod" wax bush beans
• Dow Gawk "Yard Long" pole beans
• Kentucky Wonder pole beans
• Blackeye Peas - both purple hull and California No. 5
• Last of the snap pea vines (to be fed to the chickens and ducks this weekend)

Bush beans are beginning to bloom, so probably two weeks before we start eating them.  I'm not sure how blue the blue beans will be - the flowers are decidedly purple.   Planting more bush beans every week as they ripen their crop over a short time period (as opposed to pole beans that will bear until frost kills them).  Also, beans will fix nitrogen into my sand.  Since they are cheap seeds to buy, I am using beans like a cover crop.

Speaking of cover crops, I found some old clover seed, and it is making a fair stand under the apple trees.

As for veggies, the rest of them will probably start being ready for harvest whenever I'm on  my next business trip. It's just the way of the world.  A new sprinkler and battery-operated timer setup should at least help insure that the plants will live.  

September Garden Status

The last sunflower is blooming, along with oregano, sweet marjoram, yellow squash and desert mallow.
 

Well, some days I actually feel like I had a real garden this year with an actual harvest.  A review of some of the crops:

• Birds and everything else will pluck out newly sprouted sunflower seeds and peas - must rig up some protection for them. At least a dozen sunflower sprouts and 100 pea sprouts were donated to the local wildlife.
• Garlic beds dug up a month or more in advance worked out very well - nice, soft, easy to plant beds. Ones not made up early are not nearly as easy to plant out. Now I am looking at planting some directly in unprepared beds, and that will be even worse, probably inhibiting good bulbing up in the spring.
• Sunflower seed heads need to be well protected or the wildlings will eat them all - even before they are mature. Chickies got very few this year, and there are none for the wild things for the winter. Sunflower leaves,however, made excellent chicken greens all summer long. And after the sunflower seeds had been consumed by the wild things, I pulled the stalks out and the chickens had a riotous good time eating up the leaves and pecking at the seed head itself.
• Collards grew very well under the shade of the large, yellow squash leaves. Next year, need to grow more. The chickies really like collards, and I added some to our salads.
• Spinach was a great success. I only half-hearted saved seeds. Some of the ones I saved did sprout when planted in the fall, but I don't know if Matador is open pollinated, so I didn't really work at it. Chickies and Granddaughter indulged in much spring spinach.
• No matter how many edible pod peas that I grow, there is never enough! I like to eat them right off the vine. The chickies like the peas, the pods (from ones that have grown too old to eat more than the peas themselves), and the leaves.
• Peas sown in September will probably not ripen before the first hard frost - still, at least they will make some nice greens for the chickens.
• Bi-colored corn was stunted as usual, but flood watering them produced a significantly higher number of ears of corn this year. Pollination was spotty, so most ears were missing kernels here and there - not pretty, but still very sweet and yummy. I ate several raw, right off the stalk - and happy chickies got to peck at the resulting cob. The bright red stalks and leaves of this variety is beautiful - need to look up what type I planted so that I can order that type of seed again.
• Yellow squash was a great success in bed no. 3. The ones in the ground, however, were eaten the moment they sprung forth from the earth.
• My garden blessed me with any wild things in the garden this year. I saw my first and only humming bird while sitting quietly in the garden before work one summer day. Lizards lapped water from the herbs in bed no. 1 all through the summer. Pigeons nested in the chicken coop (although Old Biddy kept destroying their nests, so they did not raise a brood). Chipmunks and mice raided the garden from time to time, and red tailed hawks (or so I believe them to be), soared overhead. Rabbits, luckily, are well-fenced out!

Well, I am sure there is more, but if I am ever to get this posted, I shall have to stop for the moment.

Chickies and Hungry Jack (the rooster) enjoying sunflower stalks for a late afternoon snack.

Early June

I am happy to report that there were no posts for June 2010 because my husband is home from Afghanistan, I am enjoying having him back home, and I was out in the garden actually gardening! Goodness and blessings all around me!

Early June is the time of mouthwatering peas! None of them actually made it into the house this year. Granddaughter and I grazed them in the garden and fed the shells and vines to the chickens. At the end of the season, over the course of a week, the vines were cut and tossed into the chicken run for chickie entertainment and nutrition.

Early June also foreshadows the bounty of Deep Summer and Autumn. The sunflowers in bed two that looked lonely and far apart are a dark green and foot tall in Early June. The promise of giant, golden globes in a few more months.

I have successfully murdered 4 raspberry bushes to date. Young, Innocent things, bought as bare root plants ready to leap forth and take over the world. But alas, dogs, searing heat, and early neglect and other abuse led to all of their demise. But this year, it appears, that I may finally be successful. A Walmart plant, supposedly of "thornless black raspberry" parentage, thrives and began flowering in June. My keys to finally having some success? Plant early - before the searing heat of summer. Water daily this first year. Mulch heavily. Feed lightly.

Wishing for the Weather to Settle

Although the apple trees survived our extra brutal winter this year, only the two Fuji's bloomed with any vigor. The Gala had less than one dozen flowers. Since the Gala is the cross-pollinator for the Fuji's, and visa versa, there chances are pretty slim that we will have apples this year. Add to the fact that they bloomed during a cold, windy week at the beginning of May when the bees were still sleepy means the chances are really about none. Inspection of the trees confirm this. At least the three young trees seem to have survived the winter. The old tree of unknown parentage that my husband saved from the house-builder's bulldozer, however, does not look like it will survive this brutal spring season. I continue to water her as if she were going to live - but if not, then this summer she will become something else. I recently saw a book on wooden buttons. Maybe some of her branches will be reincarnated that way. And her gnarled trunk might warm our house as firewood. And, of course, I have my photos of her. But for now, I encourage her with water, food and words.

Still, as the matron apple tree appears to decline, there are young, fresh plants just beginning their journey. Seven sunflowers in Bed 2 are up and about with large leaves patiently waiting for the hot summer sun. 15 more are barely out of the ground on the west side of the garden - planted under chicken wire, and hidden by dried weeds to thwart the hungry birds. They are planted on the west side, because, invariably, a sunflower will face the morning sun when it prepares to set seed.

Other Garden Status

• Peas - over 30 of them, ranging from just sprouted to 4 inches tall
  
• Spinach - var. "Matador" - 39, some with their first set of true leaves
  
• "New Toy" Day Lilies - 3 sets, barely out of the ground and only a few inches high - hoping their bright pink blooms will add color to the garden all season long
  
• Rosemary - continues to bloom
  
• Lemon Balm - self seeded babies are launching their first true leaves
  
• Bearded Irises - Deep maroon tips peak out of lengthening scapes
  
• Garlic - waits for the summer heat to spur them to bulk up their bulbs
  
• Hens - Acquiring 8-12 eggs a day

Enjoying the blessings of the season - in spite of snow last week and the chance of freezing night temperatures still in the forecast.

Is it Spring yet? And selling eggs...

This photo was taken in mid-April in California. So at least 6 months before anything green even thinks of poking its head up out of the sand here in Nevada.

There are some advantages to winter, though. First off, it isn't so doggoned hot. Of course, that probably means it is freezing cold. We do get a few weeks where it is actually nice, though. Maybe one in April, maybe a few in May, a few in September. If we're lucky, a few in October.

Another advantage of winter is that the winds die down, meaning there is less dust in the air. On a cold, clear November night, you can see stars beyond imagination. Those of you who live your lives in the city miss one of the joys of rural life - turning off all the lights and sitting on the porch with a good dog at your feet and counting stars. In November, there are no blood-thirsty bugs to feast on you at night. I think even if you were a hard-core atheist, at a moment like that, you would be tempted to Believe.

Peas were planted two days before the sub-20°F night. So far, none have peaked up from the ground. Perhaps I was too late in planting them? I was hoping for pea vines for the chickies to munch on in winter, even if we didn't get any peas.

Garlic is here and ready to plant out. My living room smells so yummy with the bulbs waiting for me there - waiting for me to

• get off my duff
  
• build them a cage to protect them from marauding chickens
  
• put them in the ground

The basil, of course, died with the first 30°F night, but the oregano keeps on as well as the sweet marjoram. Surprisingly, the rosemary also still survives. The tips are a little frost-killed, but I think if I mulch it well, perhaps it will come back in the Spring. Gardeners, I am sure, are eternal optimists. Even after we are dead and buried, there is always Next Spring.

About selling chicken eggs...


Of course, one must count one's eggs before the chickens actually start laying. It's the way it is done! So even though no one is laying yet... with 25 hens, and 2 of 3 laying an egg every day, we could have 18-20 eggs or so during peak season. That could mean that I have 10 dozen eggs a week to sell at the farmer's market. Enough to beak even in cost of driving expenses and almost a weeks worth of chicken feed. An added bonus is that my granddaughter lives in the same town as the little farmer's market that I would attend. So it would just be another excuse to see her every week. Any eggs that didn't sell I could give to my daughter.

But to really make it worth it from a dollar perspective, I think I would need 100 hens... but that is starting to sound like work. I have to remember, the chickens are for therapy and entertainment, not work! ...and maybe I can sell some garlic, too...

With the idea that I might have a very small egg business, here are some resources I have found...on the other hand, I have not been able to find anything useful on the laws that I need to comply with...

• Nevada Grown (http://nevadagrown.com/UserPages/default.aspx)- as they say on their website, "your resource for Nevada’s rich selection of locally-grown food."
  
• Fallon's Farmer's Market (http://www.fallontourism.com/index/farmers_market.htm) - small town, homey, little tiny farmer's market - I love it!
  
• Local Food Northern Nevada (http://lfnn.blogspot.com/) - a local blogger on local foods and where to find them in the Reno/Sparks metroplex (hey, for Northern Nevada, it is a "metroplex"...)
  

Garden Update

Desert Mallow buds and bloom at night. I think I've remarked before that they are pretty stinky - but the pollinators love them, so I won't complain.
A mess of peas and some garlic. Steamed the peas and ate them. Cut some pea vines for the chickies to peck at. It doesn't look like the actually ate any of it, but it did amuse them for some time.
This tom is a survivor of 3 hail storms and 25 degree weather. These are the first buds. I know I should pinch them off for a healthier plant, but I'm not going to.
Corn, lovely corn. 60 little stems of corn are poking through the dirt. Apparently the birds out here don't know about eating corn seedlings? Shhhh, we'll keep it a secret!

• First set of Kentucky Wonder pole beans are well up
  
• Yellow Pencil Pods are doing much better than the Royal Purple bush beans, but I wonder how much that has to do with seed viability? The Royal Purple seeds were several years old.
  
• Dow gawk beans not germinated yet. It's still early. Hopefully they wil be up soon.
  
• Toms that were planted out a few weeks ago all nice and dark green and ready to take off growing like crazy any moment now.
  
• Still eating a few tiny strawberries every day
  
• Deep watered the fruit trees earlier this week
  
• Still no sign of Eight Ball (round) zucchini seedlings.
  
• Have been moving bearded irises out of veg bed 1 and out into the sand. Not amending the sand too much, although I did add some slow release fertilizer to it. They may not bloom next year, but I am hoping that I transplanted them early enough in the season that they will be well established by next spring.
  

Slowly, very slowly, I am turning the sand in my 50x70 little oasis into dirt. Of course, the three raised beds still have the best dirt/sand mix, but the bean patch and corn patch are doing well. As I compost more weeds and more chicken bedding and chicken poo, we should be able to actually "grow dirt." Also trying to plant lots of legumes, too, these first few years. I can see improvements over last year and the year before already.

June, June, June!

Lots of activity in the last few weeks. And more, much more to come! Can't believe we are already in the middle of June.

• Peas
  
  
  
  • Been eating peas from bed 2 for several weeks
    
  • Peas in bed 1 and around the tree are starting to flower
    
  
  
• Strawberries
  
  
  
  • Eating one or two sweet strawberries a day starting this week
    
  • Picked 18 yummy little strawberries today (they are mostly just a little bigger than my thumb nail, but oooh, sooo sweet!)
    
  • Runners are running everywhere - may never have to buy new plants again!
    
  • Some plants have leaves nearly as big as my hand
    
  
  
• Bearded Irises
  
  
  
  • The Irises are officially done blooming
    
  • Have moved 9 out of bed 1 and planted around the garden - they may not bloom next year, but probably the following year they will be fabulous.
    
  
  
• Beans
  
  
  
  • Over 80 Yellow Pencil Pod Bush Beans are up
    
  • About 50 Royal Burgundy Bush Beans are up
    
  • A few Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans are starting to come up
    
  • Sowed about a dozen more Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans today
    
  • Sowed two dozen Dow Gawk "Yard Long" Beans (90 days to maturaty - I'm surely pushing the season)
    
  
  
• Other Stuff
  
  
  
  • Sowed some "Eight Ball" round zucchini today
    
  • Harvested some garlic that did poorly over the winter - bulbs are mature, but small
    
  • Really need to plant out all those things that take 90 days or more to mature
    
  • 8 Heavenly Blue Morning Glories are up
    
  • Zero Moon Flowers have germinated
    
  • Corn due to germinate late next week
    
  
  

First Day of June

Here's a photo of one of last year's "Iris Bed Designers" who rearranged them last summer. I know he is admiring his handywork!




Hail damaged sweet basil...

First Royal Purple bush bean seedling for the season. There are a few more that were snipped off, so I am thinking something ate them. I may have to lightly cover that area with some pulled weeds so the seedlings are not as visible.

Some of the sunflowers are now a foot tall. Others planted later or in less ideal locations are not as tall or robust but seem to be doing ok, too. Not sure why some sunflowers haven't germinated at all. The weeds, of course, continue to flourish!

We are definately behind last year in planting things out. The long, cold spring did not inspire one to set plants out too early this year. The tomato planted a month ahead of everyone else does not appear to be appreciably further along than the ones I planted out last week. Of course, the peas loved the spring this year.

One of the nice things about having a large garden as opposed to a small farm is that it only takes 15 minutes to plant out a bed of beans and there are no tractor requirements. And only 15 minutes to plant out 3 tomato babies.

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Done so far today

• Planted a whole pack of Pensil Pod Yellow Bush Beans - about 120 seeds
  
• Planted a Red Pear tomato and a Sweet Baby Girl tomato plant in raised bed 3 (where the garlic is ripening)
  
• Planted a Yellow Pear tomato to the east of the Rescue Apple tree
  
• Dead-headed spent iris blooms
  
• Watered everything
  
• Pulled a 5 gal bucket of weeds and added to the top of the compost pile
  
• Took pictures
  

Can't wait!

The summer harvesting season is almost upon us. I have been eating one or two peas here and there for the last few weeks, but now the pease are blooming in earnest and hopefully we'll have enough for some stir fry soon - assuming I don't eat them all while watering the garden or pulling weeds!

Came home from business travel to find the first of the strawberries blushing red. I was wondering when to get my bird netting... I think the answer is now!

Here's a little view of the south side of the garden looking East.

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Happenings

• 32 sunflowers growing so far
  
• 4 Royal Purple bush beans breaking ground
  
• Peas blooming - continuing to eat a few here and there
  
• First strawberries ripening up
  
• Bearded Irises still blooming like crazy
  
• Tomatoes have survived hail and transplanting
  
• Garlic scapes doing their thing
  
• Harvested some lemon balm to freshen up my garbage disposal
  
• Oregano going crazy
  
• Basils outside looking good (hopefully they'll go crazy once the warm weather gets here)
  

Survived the Hail

I was so bummed over the shredded irises that I decided to post some pre-hail photos of them to cheer me up. Luckily, the plants themselves are doing fine. And it looks like the buds that will bloom in a few days are also fine.
Don't know the name of this one, but it is a lovely blue color. It could be "blueberry", but I may never know as all the ID tags went bye-bye when the dogs started pulling them out last year. Thank goodness for fencing (and thank God for a husband and son who like to build fences!!!)!

Among the plants that were not phased by the rain, hail and cold were the peas. Moments after taking this photo, I ate this one! Crunchy, sweet, yum!

Surprisingly, nearly everything did OK with the hail. Probably because, even though it hailed three days in a row, the hail actually only lasted 5 or 10 minutes each time and was promptly melted by reasonably warm rain. In fact, the trees are looking possitively lush with all this water they've been getting. Much better than I can do with a hose.

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• Five tomatoes in the ground
  
  
  
  • Tomato Vera (hollow, "pepper-like", tomato)
    
  • Classic Roma
    
  • Red Pear cherry
    
  • Mexico Midget cherry
    
  • Steak Sandwich
    
  
  
• A dozen or so more tomato babies inside under lights
  
• Sugar Snap Peas starting to bloom - and the first few peas already eated off of the vine
  
• Basils
  
  
  
  • All Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil that were in the ground died during the hail
    
  • 2 Purple Ruffles planted - both survived hail
    
  • Mammoth Basil survives
    
  • 2 Genovese Basils survive
    
  
  
• Other Herbs
  
  
  
  • 3 clumps of Lemon Balm - the small ones that were burried under tomato trash have caught up with the one that was cared for - all looking vigorous
    
  • Rosemary sitting around not doing anything - not looking poorly, but not growing - just hanging out and waiting for warm weather, I suspect
    
  • Oregano loves this weather
    
  • Sweet Marjoram loves the weather, too
    
  
  
• Strawberries - some are as big as my thumbnail
  
• About 10% of the garlic have scapes
  
• Sunflowers looking healthy and vigorous - sowed more the other day, but they aren't up yet.
  

Garden is starting to take off!

I am certainly paying for staying out at sunset to take photos of the garden - the biting bugs had a field day feasting upon me!

Tiny strawberries are popping up everywhere. Several dozen so far - most smaller than my pinky fingernail. But still, they are strawberries, and they promise all sorts of sweet delights!I have both June bearing and ever bearing strawberry plants, but, alas, due to poor planning and poor labeling, I have no idea which are which. I am assuming the ones going crazy with the flowers right now are the June bearing, being that it is almost June...

The first peas are now blooming, so hopefully we will also soon be crunching on the first sweet, tender sugar snap peas. They don't last long when spring goes from 25 at night and days in the 50's to days in the 90's - inside of a week. Even the vines that have not attained full size should start going crazy trying to make peas before they die of heat exhaustion.

Probably I should have put more tomatoes in the ground last week, but with being sick and preparing to cross the mountains, I just didn't have it in me. I was, of course, quite pleased to find that the one tomato plant that I did put out survived fine and greened up well. So I am thinking that setting out tomatoes is going to be high on the list of things to do this week.

And, of course, the Oregano is trying to grow everywhere! I think I am actually glad that some of my transplants died while I was gone - as the ones that survived are doing almost too well. I guess I will be drying Oregano for winter use this year! All this from two scrawny little seedlings that almost didn't survive last summer.

Some accomplishments today:

• Deep watered established trees and all the non-tree plants (did not water the not-yet-established trees as it was very windy today - and I was concerned that with 50MPH winds, that watering them would loosen them up and let them be toppled over)
• Enjoyed the bearded irises
• Transplanted 1 tomato and 5 basil plants
• Planted a pack of Royal Burgundy bush beans
• Pulled some weeds - they are making a nice mulch around my rescue apple tree
• Pulled a few dozen porcupine quills out of one of my dogs, Max - he wasn't pleased, but he's much happier now.

Still haven't decided what to do with the black widdow who is living in one of my apple trees. I know where she is, so I am careful, but I am concerned for my grand daughter. I have an afinity for anything that gobbles up bugs in the garden, though, and her web is full of (nicely dead) bugs. Maybe I can relocate her to the far corners of the property? For the moment, though, I am letting her be...

The "To Do" List

Seems like no matter the good intentions, after months of planning and waiting for the weather, once agreeable weather actually shows up, it is all a race to get everything done for Spring Planting - and invariably, many things just never get done.

---

Current List of Things to Do:

• Build a little alter in the garden area
• Feed the backyard trees
• Feed the front fence trees
• Continue the loosing battle against tumbleweed
• Clean up potting table
• Cut back all the yellow "ferny" weeds (and use as mulch)
• Sow more sunflower seeds
• Prep the main pole bean area
• Add dirt/compost to the sand
• Put up a trellis or string
• Pot up more toms and basil
• Start more seeds
• Toms
• Peppers
• Basils
• Herbs
• Buy/Order
• Hybrid Poplars
• Lavender plant

Bearded Iris and the general state of the garden

It's such a delight to have my garden area all fenced in this year. Jack Rabbit depredations are non-existant and the dogs have not pulled out and/or rearranged my bearded irises! As a result, most of the irises had enough stable time in the same spot that they decided to actually put out buds. Of course, they were at one time nicely arranged to provide a rainbow, but now I have no idea what color is where.

Other things going on in the garden...

• Cutting back "ferney" weeds for mulch
  
• Falling further and further behind on weeding out tumbleweed seedlings
  
• Strawberries are blooming prolificlly
  
• Desert Mallow is waking up, although there are no flower buds yet
  
• Garlic is even taller now that we've had a few warm days in a row
  
• Peas in Veg. Beds 1 and 2 and around the tree are all doing well.
  
• Work has begun in ernest on the chicken run and chicken pen
  
• Placed my 2008 seed order with Territorial Seeds.
  

Blustery Spring Day & Early April Photos

Nectarine blossom, April 6th, 2008...

The nectarine tree officially burst into bloom on April 6th! First of the orchard trees to bloom this year. The two more mature apple trees were only 13 days behind the nectarine, though - opening their first buds today. (Unfortunately, there were 40 MPH winds, so I was not able to photograph them, although I spend a goodly amount of time standing in the sand-blasting wind just gazing at them.) The two younger trees do not look like they have flower buds on them - only leaf buds. Ditto for the sweet cherry. All the trees in the orchard look happy, though, with bright green leaves and/or leaf buds.

More nectarine bud photos from April 6th...

In spite of 40 MPH winds and sand-blasting, I hung out in the garden for several hours during the late morning. Had a peaceful, therapeutic time. Even got some garden "chores" done.

Lemon Balm in Bed No. 1

Raised Bed No. 1

• Watered
  
• Transplanted some oregano from the original patch to another location in the same bed - pulled it away from some bearded irises that it was trying to invade - and couldn't just "throw it away!"
  
• Speaking of bearded irises, they survived the winter just fine and most have leaves more than 6 inches high now.
  
• A dozen sugar snap peas have broken ground
  
• Earlier in the week I discovered 2 more lemon balm clumps hiding in the tomato debris from last year - bringing the total to 3 clumps! They don't really have a pleasant lemon smell or flavor - kind of have turpentine undertones - but anything that will survive the desert and our winters is totally welcomed!
  
• Earlier in the week also discovered a small patch of sweet marjoram. Looks and smells very similar to the oregano, but the leaves are not fuzzy and the smell is not nearly so pungent. Another survivor from last year - that's 3 herbs I've found that will over winter here (Sweet Marjoram, Lemon Balm, Oregano)
  
• Desert Mallow has 3 very tiny leaves at the base of last year's dead wood - so I shall say it is officially awake
  

Closeup of new strawberry growth, 4 April 2008...

Raised Bed No. 2

• Watered
  
• Strawberries look healthy and undaunted by whirling winds
  
• A few stray garlic are up - not as robust as the main crops - these were small cloves planted more for decoration and because I cannot stand to throw any plant away that might possibly grow
  
• Crocus leaves are still up and healthy looking, although the few crocus that bloomed in this bed are long gone
  
• more than 25 sugar snap peas are up and have their first true leave - planted some more to fill in the gaps where nothing seems to have germinated
  

Happy Garlic, 6 April 2008...

Raised Bed No. 3 & In Ground Garlic Bed

• Watered both
  
• Both are devoted just to garlic - mostly hard necks
  
• The garlic in the south west corner of the in-ground garlic has "split" and has two stems - I don't think it will form a good bulb - I heard that water stress or cold stress can cause this. The others appear to be fine.
  

Obviously, I should probably be posting more regularly as a lot is going on right now - like the weeds are very happy and such...sunflower seeds planted a little over a week ago have germinated... I planted more sunflower seeds this afternoon... and, well, I'd rather BE in the garden than write about it...

Ok, a few more weed photos and that's it for tonight...

The flowers for this one are particularly difficult for me to get in focus... not sure why, but this is the best one so far...(4/6/08)

It comes in yellow, too...(4/6/08)

Ok, that's it for tonight. Good night.

Spring is Sprung

Nectarine bud ready to unfurl. This is it's first Spring in our tiny orchard and I did not expect it to actually bloom. Of course, it is only the beginning of April, so I suspect we will have several light frosts and at least one more hard frost before the cold has left us for good - meaning that any fruits formed of these flowers will probably be frost blasted and killed sometime between now and the middle of May. Since the tree is not yet really established, even if it did set fruit that survived, I suppose that I should take them off, any way, so that the tree can spend its energy getting better situated.

The weeds are starting to bloom, also. This one has delicate lavender flowers. The color shows up a little washed out in this photo.

More weed flowers.

Something new that is now germinating.

And finally, some action in the garden area. This is a close up of a sugar snap "edible pod" pea seedling. I've planted about 200 of these babies, so far, but only about 20 have germinated as of today. Hopefully more will soon follow their lead.

Other action in the garden are includes: Bearded Irises have broken dormancy and are about 6 inches tall, Garlic is growing like a weed, Cherry tree leaf buds fattening up, Apple trees have little leaves, daffodils are blooming, crocus flowers are all gone.