In The Garden - May 14

 

You're looking at my to-do list.  lol.  It's about time to get that garden in!  At the moment, I'm taking a break while a little rain storm is wetting everything down.  I'm so excited to finally be getting the garden planted!  

One of the loveliest surprises in the yard this year is this little species tulip and its yellow cousin (which bloomed about two weeks ago.)

I planted the first of these over ten years ago around some stepping stones beside my patio.  They were cute, but they didn't really spread and multiply.  Whoa!  This year, they are all over!  We even discovered some coming up in the middle of a peony plant that we divided last year.  So, now I have cutie tulips in the front yard, near the patio, near the garden, etc.  The color is so lovely and intense.  Can't really take credit for any of this...it's one of those happy gardening accidents of design!

In The Garden - May 5

Between the aforementioned snow and a virus that laid me low, I haven't done much gardening over the last few weeks.  Luckily, all those seeds I planted indoors under the lights have been doing their thing so I'm not too far behind.  These little fellas moved outside today:

They'll stay on the patio for another week or two while they get used to the sun (and so that the frost doesn't get them. @$*&# weather!)  From left to right: eight Cinderella pumpkin plants, eight pie pumpkin plants, eight Sugar Baby watermelon plants and about a dozen morning glory plants in various colors.

We also made a trip to Lambert Floral today to get pepper plants (bell and hot), herbs and some flowers.  Most of which can't go into the garden yet, but I'll have them when the weather and I battle to a stand off.  I did plant the spinach plants that I bought as well as some cilantro for salsa. 

Beyond Description

Yes.  These were taken today.  Yesterday, it was in the 70s and so sunny that we worried about the new plants getting sunburned.  Today, the snow is 9 inches deep.  *sigh*

Salsa

Ever wonder what salsa looks like when it's first planted?

I planted ten of these little fellas today.  They're actually Celebrity tomatoes, the basis for my favorite salsa recipe.  And since it's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow (it is General Conference weekend, after all)...

...I gave them all a warm winter coat to wear until mid-May.  And yes, there are actually 12 plants hiding in there.  I also planted two Early Girl tomato plants so that I will have tomatoes to eat every day for lunch.  I can't wait for those poky Celebrity plants to get my fresh tomato fix.

I Looked Out My Window...

...finally.  Yesterday, there was one open bloom.  Today, there are a few hundred, literally.  This tree has bloomed as early as late February in previous years, so this is really late.  I was beginning to wonder!  And too bad I can't post pics with sound.  The whole tree is humming.  Although you can't see them in the picture, there were dozens of pollinators working their craft on the blooms.  Anybody want an apricot???  I think I'll have a few extra.  lol.

Charge!!!

Oops, I mean Charger.  Since my Jeep needed cosmetic surgery following my 'object lesson', I need a temporary chariot.  The insurance company usually agrees to a similar vehicle so I could have been driving an SUV of some sort.  Mike and I thought that it would be a good idea to get a car instead as we've been thinking about adding a car to our fleet some day (he still misses having a car.  The Jeeps are my obsession. lol.)  I was thinking we'd end up with some old lady car like a Malibu.  But nooooo!  We have a Charger.  A muscley sort of car. 

It feels sturdy, an important quality considering that I've been in an accident recently.  And it's pretty comfortable, too.

Here's its back view so you can see that it really is a Charger.

This is the problem:  it's not a Jeep.  It's not that I have an obsession with Jeeps, really. It's that driving around in a car makes me feel short.  And since, I'm not all that fond of being short, I'm not liking that feeling much.

When I drive my Jeep, I'm tall enough to see over most folks.  Makes me feel like I can see trouble coming before it hits me.  Didn't work the other day, I admit.  That guy just plain snuck up on me.  lol.

In The Garden - March 12

Perfect day for some work in the garden!  I found some signs of life.  A pansy just beginning to bloom...

A crocus...

Time to attempt to regain control of the orchard.  This supposedly dwarf apple tree has been giving me fits for a couple of years.  Last year, I gave it a severe pruning to completely reshape and resize it.  It retaliated by producing only two apples.  This year, I gave it a renewal pruning to get it ready for fruit production.  I'm hoping for a few more apples this year.  lol!

I also pruned the two peaches and did a little work on the apricot tree.  I usually do the heavy pruning on it after I harvest the apricots.  If we manage to dodge a late last frost, we may have enough apricots to make jam for the entire neighborhood on that tree.

One of my favorite spring projects every year is pruning the grape vines.  I feel a bit like Michelangelo as I remove all the parts of the vine that don't look like a productive plant.

The vine on the left is a Niagara white juice grape.  It is easily the most obedient and easy to care for grape vine that I have experience with.  The finished pruning job always looks just like the pictures in my pruning textbook.  It produces by the book, too.  Most years, it produces quarts and quarts of the yummiest grape juice.

The vine on the right is a Canadice pink table grape.  While it produces a very yummy seedless pink grape, the vines are just crazy.  Most years, all the growth will be on one side of the plant.  Pruning is difficult because the whole vine is lopsided.  It's the grandkids favorite grape, though, so I coax it into shape and usually it will cooperate by providing enough grapes to give each child a bellyache from eating too many at least once per summer.  lol.