Forcing Spring
This is the first year that I’ve been really good about continually cutting branching of different trees/shrubs to force blooms and leaves. So far, I’ve been able to have flowers in the house continually for a month and will continue to have them for at least another month. I cut branches of: lilac, apple, flowering almond, pussy willow, birch, wild cherry, red twig dogwood, and of course forsythia.
They don’t just have to be flowering branches either, the stems with leaves are just as wonderful when there’s no green in the garden. I’m also enjoying the process of learning how long each variety takes to bloom. Forsythias are definitely the quickest, so far lilacs are taking the longest. Forcing branches is definitely something I’ll be doing a lot of every single winter now that I have a wide selection of options.
Do you force anything for winter interest? What’s your favorite?
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Snug as Bugs
My greens are all snug as bugs in the low tunnel in the potager. After I transplanted them we had some really cold nights, down into the teens. I added an extra layer of agribon to my little lovelies and they came through with flying colors.
When I went out in the morning the temperature under the agribon was 10 degrees warmer than outside the low tunnel. It’s pretty amazing what you can do with a little bit of plastic. Hopefully I’ll be eating lettuce in a few weeks.
What’s the temperature like in your garden?
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UGH…..
Well, we found our first deer tick last Friday. I took Tara on a hike on and when we got back this was crawling up her leg. Luckily, all those wild turkeys I see gobble them up.
The cats always end up with lots of them, luckily they don’t get Lyme disease. I pick them off the cats almost daily in the spring/fall here. I guess it’s time for daily tick checks for the pets and for us, that’s the best way to find them early.
Do you have ticks in your garden?
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Spring Chores
Spring is an exciting time to be a gardener, there are seeds or order, tiny seedlings to tend, gardens to plan, and so much more. Then there are all the chores that come with having a garden. Things that sometimes get put off because they’re not as fun as other things. Like picking up sticks, raking leaves, tidying up, picking up pounds and pounds of rocks, and so many more things.
Yesterday, I spent the afternoon raking all the leaf/grass clipping back under the apple trees. I put them there last fall and the chickens kicked them all out this spring. I could have fenced them early, but I know they’re eating bugs and aerating the mulch. Spending a day raking it back under the trees is probably worth it. I also picked up what seemed like hundreds of sticks, dug all the soil out from around the rocks in the back of the house….all back breaking chores, but things that are perfect on these warm spring days before you can dig into the garden and really get going.
What chores did you get done this weekend?
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Love/Hate
I spent some time yesterday afternoon putting up the electric net fences around the chickens. We lost a chicken to a coyote last week, so they’ve been locked in their coop/run.
I have a love/hate relationship with these fences. I love that they keep the birds safe, I hate putting them up and moving them. After a frustrating hour, they were up, at least I can leave them as is for a month or so. I am glad the chickens can now be out running around and doing what they love to do.
Do you have a love/hate relationship with any product?
