Spring has arrived and plants that mean something to us
Also, started in the greenhouse are some Sweet 100 tomatoes, some yellow squash and some butternut squash, a few giant pumkins, some basil and chives and jalepeno and bell peppers. The spinach is coming up nicely, as are the carrots and another planting of beets. The beets we have growing now seem not to have done as well as we would like-- maybe the cold winter we had got to them. The kale, however is beautiful! D picked a mess of it, and we will process and freeze it. The swiss chard is also ready to pick. We have been eating turnip greens and roots, collards, cabbage and mustard greens since January. My bronze fennel has overwintered, and so have the marjoram and oregano and are spreading like crazy in the herb bed. The lemon balm is coming up from the root in several places. I have lost my valerian plants... I think maybe it was too hot and dry last fall, and then too cold this winter for them. The mint I planted in the small square bed is doing nicely, though. I have planted some red and blue morning glories and some white moonflowers along the edge of that bed, and they will show off in a few months.
Yesterday, D moved the strawberries to a new permanent bed. He put down black plastic, and then planted 27 plants through it. We will mulch it deeply and hopefully will get some nice berries this year. The seedless blackberries we got last year were big and juicy, and so we would like to start some more of those, as well. Our grapevine is still small but we are hoping it will produce in a year or two.
We have been busy planting tiny cedar trees *(well, D has been busy!) along the side property line where it looks right into the neighbors backyard. In a few years, it will be a nice privacy screen and the birds will love it too.
I cleaned up around the pecan trees, and started to pull the Mexican heather out, but then I noticed that it was trying to come back from the root in several of the plants. So I gave them a haircut and left them to grow. They looked nice in a ring around the tree.
Our azaleas are out and blooming in the front yard ( the east facing side of the house) and soon the daylilies will bloom. I love it when they come out!
The English dogwood we have transplanted from D's parents place is lining the lane leading into the house, and last year it showed off in the spring. I am hoping it does again this year.
List of things we have either started from cuttings or dug up and transplanted from his parent's farm down the road:
- Elephant ears- growing near the front corner of the house
- Tiny button mums in a beautiful deep maroon/brick red color- growing near the front steps
- Redbud tree- grown from a cutting I took from their front yard
- Wisteria- two nice sized ones I started from cuttings
- Blueberries- 5 blueberry bushes dug from around the parent plants ( which are HUGE and very prolific)
- Sand pear- I took a cutting and it rooted!! It is about 3 feet high now
- English dogwoods- they spread like crazy and we dug a bunch out and rooted them; they are growing out by the lane
- Cedar tree- found growing in the planter box at the "little house", now in our backyard
- Fig trees- 2 that we dug and started from their place
- Mulberry tree- a pretty big tree we dug from their place and is now growing near the work shed
- Cedar trees- a line of about 20 that are on the property line
- Spider lilies- growing near the shed
- Spirea- growing in the front yard
- Crape myrtles- we took a bunch of cuttings and rooted them, and they are growing all over here
- Live oak- out near the lane and our signpost
- Red oaks- 3 growing in the memorial garden
- Wild cherry tree- growing out by the lane
On a trip to Eufaula one weekend 2 years ago, we found a little country store selling fruit trees. We lugged home a persimmon, a peach, and our muscadine grapevine.
D's cousin gave us a bunch of loquat trees, and a plum tree. My friend Shelley gave me some ferns, which are now at home in the north bed, alongside some hosta and some Gerbera daisies, a hydrangea and an aucuba Gold Dust. In the west beds, we have some Lantana growing near some obedient plant and scarlet sage ( which the hummingbirds love!!) . The obedient plant and sage, D's sister gave us. In our front beds are some white Iris his other sister gave us.
We have a row of small lorapetalum shrubs down in the lower yard, which D received as a gift from one of his lawn customers.
Two small pine trees have seeded themselves out near the lane, and we will let them grow there.
Big red amaryllis are growing out near the shed, and the 3 small citrus trees we planted on the south end of the house are doing well, considering the cold winter we had. We have one Meyer lemon, one Satsuma ( which had EXCELLENT fruit this past year) and one little kumquat tree.
Our plans for the summer include, in addition to gardening itself, of course,
- digging out and finishing the small pond near the greenhouse
- installing a larger pond down in the bottom for irrigation purposes
- rigging up a passive solar water heater to cut our ridiculous electric bills down
- finishing the screening of the front porch
God is good. We love our little 3/4 acre, and eat well from our gardens. Each year, we try and incorporate one or two new things that we can make for ourselves instead of buying. This year, I would like to try making yogurt, and we are going to be growing some amaranth for greens and flour.
Of course, working full time doesnt leave us a lot of time for doing what we love ( gardening, birding, camping, etc.) but we are working towards self-sufficiency.
Next post, chickens and rabbits to enter the picture...
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