Gardening With The BeesWatch our garden (and knowledge) grow!

The month of April is sure living up to its name as far as rainfall, but my inner gardener rejoices in this because I don’t have to haul watering cans all over the yard.  This was the easiest (cool veggie) seed-starting weather ever!

This morning we got up unusually early (before 8:00 am – wow!) and started the day loading the pickup truck with metal recycling.  We like to do the most errands possible on a truck run, so we managed to get rid of junk, pick up a load of free compost and mulch at the Compost Dump, eat lunch, plus stop at Menard’s for carpet tack strip… all with Benji along too!

The carpet project was easy and ended with AMAZING results.  We finished the edge of the hallway laminate flooring in the 2 bedroom doorways, then measured and cut tack strip for both transitions.  It was super-simple to install, and using a handy instructional flooring book, we followed the directions to cut the bedroom carpeting to the proper length and tucked it in to the appropriate crevice.  Voila!  Beautiful carpet transitions on both bedrooms, and one step closer to actually installing bedroom doors.  (The office transition will have to wait until we have access to a 4″ circular saw again.)

After that was over, we were ready to work outside again.  (Just some minor sprinkles…)  Ryan shoveled compost onto the garden straight from the truck while I planted 4 more patches of day lilies dug up from the well area.  (There are still more left!  It’s unproven, but I think they are multiplying in the bucket.)  We ended the day by spreading mulch over several flower beds.

Good job team!

Just a quick note to document that we spotted the first itty-bitty lettuce and spinach seedlings tonight.  Yay!  We picked up some fallen branches in the front yard in preparation for the first mow, and then ordered carry-out fish.  A simple, enjoyable night.

On Friday, I used a half-day of vacation to get some yard work done.  I started with the day lilies around the well.  They were so full of grass roots that the little lilies had no room to grow.  (I touched on this in the last post.)  Below are middle and after photos.

After that was done, I began work on the rose bed.  On the way home from work I purchased one more rose to have a total of 5.  They are a variety of colors: Peach, Lavender, Red, White, and Yellow.  After an amazing rebate, they were only $.50 each!  We’ll see how they do.  At that price, if we only enjoy them for a summer or two, it’ll be okay.

I moved the sod to the back yard to even-off a sunken trench leading to the new mound system.  It was 5 wheel barrow loads – hard work!  I tilled compost into the bed and added rose food to each hole as directed.  We’re both looking forward to the first blooms!

Mom came over last night with an amazing roasted veggie pasta topping – yum!  We started off the gardening season with the best reason for having a garden… fresh veggies.

Together we planted spinach, lettuce, radishes, onions, and garlic.  She showed me how she mixes the lettuce seeds with corn meal to help evenly disperse them.  We watered everything thoroughly last night and again this morning, and with a 70 degree sunny day, the little seeds should be off to a good start.  We’ll see!

Mom pointed out how the day lilies around the well pump are in need of help.  We dug up big clumps of them and pulled out grass roots and weeds while separating the little bulbs from each other.  She was right – they were packed really tight and showed stunted growth.  I’ll finish that job tonight.

A few weeks ago Ryan brought home 4 rose bushes for us.  I was afraid to put them out too soon, but I learned that they need to get in the ground ASAP!  They are bursting with new growth already – very cool.  Add “create rose bed” to the list!

I forgot to say that I got some herbs planted in pots last night!  So far I have basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, and lavender.  (I have perennial oregano, thyme, chives, and rosemary.)

Also, the “fall bulbs I planted in spring” are coming up!  Success!  And the tulips and daffodils are about to pop open any day already.

Last night was a team effort.  I worked in the garden, digging out early spring weeds, while Ryan managed the compost rotation.  He removed the freshest layer of organic matter off the top of the first bin and brought the rest to the garden in wheel-barrow loads.  Around 10 loads of gardener’s black gold were shoveled from bin #1 onto the top of the freshly-weeded garden.

With bin #1 empty, Ryan was able to start a fresh pile of matter composting.  Yay!  Two more compost bins to go, plus the remaining composted manure.  We’ll get there.  My goal was to have at least enough transferred to the garden so I could work a plot big enough for the cold-weather veggies.  They’re going in tonight!

This is exciting.  I love this time of year.

After feeling like the last house on the block with Christmas lights up, I finally cleared all of last year’s tomato plants, corn stalks, egg plant skeletons, and sunflower scarecrows from the garden last night.  It was my first time working in the garden since the day our dog Charlie died.  But with most activities lately, I just have to DO it.  Jump in and work through the pain.  It was nice.  I kneeled down and raised the earth in my hands and breathed deep… it was a wonderful smell.  Healing.

Anyway… just have to pull out the bean & pea fencing and we’re ready to put on a layer of compost tonight.  I hope to turn over a plot big enough to get my onions, lettuce, and radishes started on Thursday!

Got a lot done this weekend!  I finished pruning the remaining fruit trees – my count was incorrect… there were 3 apple trees remaining, plus the plum.  That was a lot of work.

Ryan backed our cars out of the garage and set to work improving the rickety shelves in the garage.  Two 12-foot shelves are done… 2 more to go!

Besides pruning the fruit trees too late, I broke another rule this weekend… I planted fall bulbs in spring.  We’ll see what happens.  I ran out of time last year to get them in the ground.  I kept the bulbs in the garage so they would be nice and cold all winter.  I saw them beginning to bud already, so I figured I may as well give it a try – I hope they do okay!  I accomplished this by digging the first few inches of unfrozen soil from the bed on Saturday, and letting the sun warm the ground for a day.  This worked well – come Sunday, I had a few more unfrozen inches, so I amended the soil and dropped the bulbs in with some fertilizer.  I’ll let you know how it goes (grows).

On Sunday, Ryan got the chainsaw out and helped me trim a shrub (fun stuff!) and then cleaned up the lower dead branches on a big pine in our back yard.  Looking better every week!

We took the dogs for their first morning walk of the season this morning.  Yay!

Our house came with a brand new mailbox on top of 3 rotting boards on top of a rotting post inside a rusted milk can.  UGLY!  But again, the mailbox is very nice looking, black, sturdy, new.

This was a rough winter for our mailbox because every time the snowplow would drive by throwing tons of heavy snow against it, the rotting boards would pull apart and tip just a little more.

Well, Monday’s snow was the last straw.  I came home to find the brand new mailbox in the ditch, still attached to the 3 rotting boards.  The rotting post still stood proudly in the rusted milk can, having won the battle with the plow.

Ryan planned the solution Monday night and got the mailbox back on the rotting post Tuesday night (thanks to Daylight Savings).  Just an interim solution until warmer weather, but it sure is sturdy.  We got our first mail for the week on Wednesday.  Yay!  Netflix can now resume.

We got to it a little late, but at least we got to it.  Ryan and I managed to prune 2 apple trees and the pear tree before we were caught in a complete white-out of snow today.  We have 2 apple trees and 1 plum tree left to go.

The pruning should happen while the fruit tree is still dormant – I could tell we were late because there are already buds all over the tree!  Very exciting to see.  (But I did feel bad lopping off branches with buds.  Gotta be cruel to get the best fruit.)  

I’m new at this, so if anyone has any info on pruning fruit trees after buds are formed, please share.  Otherwise I’ll finish the job next weekend.