.
My apple tree in bloom.
It's a rainy, dreary day and I'm feeling rather relieved about that. It gives my body a chance to recover from all the yard work I've been doing, plus I know this is the day I'd better write my freelance assignment since i start training with the Census Bureau on Tuesday. Plus, with the rain, I get a break from my twice daily watering schedule for the grass seed I sowed. It's finally coming up in one section, not in the other, which gets less sun.
Yesterday I accomplished a lot. In the morning, I transplanted a corkscrew willow that had languished for several years in a spot that got plenty of moisture but not enough sun, apparently, and moved it, well, just about 25 feet further inward toward the center of the front yard. Basically, I'm running out of space to plant things, and I know this corkscrew willow can reach 30 feet in height, so I have to be careful not to put it in a spot where it shades out other things I've planted, including my vegetable garden and 5 different viburnums.
Anyway, I dug the new hole, poured some well-aged horse manure it it, then moved and re-erected the deer fencing around it and watered it.
Bleeding heart
Onto the veggie garden. I finished shaking out all the clods of grass, hauling them in a wheelbarrow to the brushy perimeter of the yard and heaving them in a spot where no one will see them.
Then I brought out from the garage 4 more 7-foot-high metal posts and the last of the fencing I'd bought last spring, to expand my veggie garden by about 50%. Becus other shrubs I planted are sort of in the way, I was forced to expand in one direction, and it now makes my garden an L-shaped affair, not a typical square or rectangle.
I put the fence up without too much trouble. (I had laid it out flat for weeks in my garage so the thing wouldn't instantly spring back to a rolled position if I let it go. Having a helper would have made that unnecessary, but I managed.)
I dug up 1 row in the new section of the garden and planted cut up organic red potatoes I had stored in the basement. Hadn't planned on using them as seed potato but they were rapidly sprouting, so I thought what the heck. However, I wanted more potatoes, so I got in the car and headed for Wal-Mart where I remembered seeing small bags of russet seed potatoes the previous week. (I am still learning, and impressed by, the competitive Wal-Mart prices on all sorts of things.)
Brought my russets back home and after reading the package directions, realized i should wait a day or two before planting to allow the potato sections i cut up (1 or 2 eyes per section) to callus over. Not sure what that does, and I'd forgotten to do that with the red potatoes I'd already planted, but oh well, guess we'll see.
I shoveled up a wheelbarrow full of mulch (left over from a pine tree i had taken down, mulched and left in a huge pile of my yard, near the driveway) and shoveled it out parallel to the potatoes I'd planted. The mulched section will be walkway; I wanted to mark it clearly so i don't accidentally step on where I planted. I'll have another walkway in this section with a 2nd row of potatoes against the fence on the other side and a row of tomato plants (4 to 5) going down the middle. So there'll be two walkways in between. I hope to plant the rest of the potatoes on Monday, weather permitting, and the string beans, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, zucchini, etc. will go in 1st weekend in May. They are either seeds or little seedlings i have started.
I will buy the tomato plants, and maybe the bell peppers, and put them in last.
Crabapple in bloom.
Twisted old crabapple.
Lungwort in bloom
My basil seedlings were looking so poorly i bought 2 basil plants yesterday for $2 each and potted them up already. I also potted up 2 elephant ear tubers (another Wal-Mart find, $3 each) in large pots and will be excited to see what they look like. Right now, they look very much like small coconuts!
Wild turkeys have been wandering through my property, sometimes 1, sometimes 2. I can often hear them gobbling in the woods.
Spring is for yard work...and gardening!
April 25th, 2010 at 01:18 pm
April 25th, 2010 at 01:51 pm 1272203465
I am glad you posted the crabapple picture. I have always heard they were gorgeous but didn't know what they looked like. They are beautiful!!
April 25th, 2010 at 02:45 pm 1272206723
You have inspired me to look into planting potatoes for our garden this year. I like to try at least one new thing each year.
April 25th, 2010 at 04:24 pm 1272212661
My BFF who lives in Salem, Oregon spent yesterday tilling and planting her little acre of paradise. At least I can live vicariously through posts like yours...my bleeding heart has not even poked it's head up yet..... nope just got up and checked again. Only 2 phlox in 4 pots is coming up. Sigh.....
April 25th, 2010 at 05:09 pm 1272215355
Hey, I'm 50 now, I think i'm entitled to take an Alleve every once in a while if I'm feeling achy. (I never do, but I hear it helps.)
The only reason I'm able to do so much is becus I'm unemployed, and that, of course, presents its own set of problems.
Yeah, i've noticed it's my back that's killing me much of the time because of all the bending over. I think I have a strong back, but even then, it's very tiring.
Once it gets to be early summer, I'll be in the "maintenance" phase of yardwork. Meaning, a lot less hard labor, due partly to the heat and humidity and due also to the mosquitoes that make it unpleasant to be out too early in the morning, or in the shade. so this is my busy, busy time.
Maybe put some dwarf tomatoes, or cherry tomato plants in containers. Basil does well in pots, too.
April 25th, 2010 at 06:36 pm 1272220607
April 26th, 2010 at 03:13 pm 1272294826
April 26th, 2010 at 05:29 pm 1272302968
April 26th, 2010 at 05:37 pm 1272303437