Things are filling in.
The lettuces, especially, look lush and spectacular, but the onions and shallots in the back, and the sweet peas in the middle bed, are also doing well. Those bright yellow flowers are the setting-seed TatSoi. I watched some bees on it yesterday who had so much pollen on their leg baskets that I was surprised they could fly. And notice -- we got a lot of the ivy off of that back wall. I'm going to have to paint that mural I keep planning! (Esperanza, are you there?)
Some of the old chicken yard fence came down, and the openness is nice. I may have to make a trellis for the small grape to the north of the apricot tree. That tree has lost its blooms -- let's just hope there was pollination because I saw NO bee activity on it at all. Humph.
In the alive hive, the bees were plenty active. I may have to pull a super soon, to get the spring honey off. Next sunny day. I thought they might have been thinking of swarming the other day, but I hope not. Guess I'll check carefully. I will also have to figure out a way to correct the drunken tilt of the stand, or make a new one. Always something!
And, jokes about being "a few bricks short of a load" aside, this is all that remains to be done on the reclaimed brick patio. Maybe 50-70 bricks. I know there are three in the chicken yard. . . We're enjoying the fireplace a lot.
It feels as though spring is really starting - like an engine revving right out of hearing range. So much fun.
20 comments:
Zoinks! Shall I send you a picture of my snow-covered garden to prove to you that, indeed, that's spring you're experiencing?
I love it when the brassicas bloom. I love the color, I love the lemony/stinky cabbage smell of them. And the bees just positively love them.
Good luck freecycling or Craigslisting that last load of bricks! The back forty looks very fun indeed.
The recycled brick patio is turning out really nice. And holy cow! That garden is really putting a move on!
All of that green growth makes me jealous! I was wondering what those yellow flowers were - even started to guess at it. Boy, would I have been wrong....I hope your fruit tree was pollinated.
Your spring is definitively further advanced than ours, but we're getting there. Looks good! Being restricted for space, like you, probably has the advantage that it concentrates the mind on getting as much as possible out of you space.
Your garden looks so lush already. I'm thinking of plastic on my garden to warm it up and dethaw the soil in the next couple of weeks.
Your garden is amazing. Just look at all that green, we are still in the brown stage. Very nice.:) What is that growing next to your Russian kale...carrots right?
Absolutely AWESOME! I had to enlarge the pics to get a laugh at the chaos in the yards around you, they look completely void of life, and the contrast with yours brimming with alive & healthy goodness is wonderful. I have neighbors to my side with garbage strewn about and an old broken down trampoline, they never go out there, so i always joke with my husband that I'm going to get goats or sheep and just keep them in the neighbor's yard, they would never notice, lol! Although the city would :) All those trellises you have would never survive in my daily 25-35 kt winds, but mine is strewn with twine and looks like big spiderwebs. I love the garden updates - out here we are still waiting to get started, another Nor'easter coming tonight, ugh!
el, I know, I know, it's hardly fair. I'll get the bricks, and then I'll mulch the paths, and we'll have parties!
kitsapFG, it is feeling like standing in front of a train, a bit. It's exciting.
EG, I know, it's hardly fair. What would you have guessed about the flowers?
Heiko, it may be elevation. I work well within limits.
Daphne, I'm so spoiled that if it froze, I'd probably run around flapping my hands.
Mr. H, next to the red kale are both Danvers, by the path, and Nantes carrots. Those were sown by trying to evenly broadcast them. You can see Granny's paper-sown ones in the lettuce bed in front.
Erin, that wind sounds hard to deal with. We get some, and the peas are leaning a bit in the back. I'd have to make sturdier structures. I had to laugh, as I think MY yard has lots of "trailer park" aesthetics. I hate the tarp on the chicken coop, but it leaks so badly I have to put it there as Eric isn't going to fix it any time soon. But I mentally block out the horrible shed-backs from the neighbors. The kids used to love that trampoline, but since that tree came down and hasn't been cleared out, they can't go jump (which is A-OK with me). I don't know what's up with them -- busy, I guess.
Beautiful gardens, your spring is definitely in full swing! Our Blenheim apricot is only just now starting to open...although with all this rain, the blossoms are likely to get knocked off before any pollinators find it. We're using Orchard Mason Bees as pollinators this year for our fruit trees, as they're generally active before the honey bees are up and about much. Though I'm not sure anything wants to be flying around in all this rain!
Oh the green! It's truly coming, isn't it. Right now the dog's sitting by the window looking at the snow outside. Even he's feeling the strain. Things look great!
Your garden's looking great, and I love the brick patio!
Everything is looking great, and you're doing a great job utilizing your space (singing "jealous" over here).
I hope your tree got pollinated too! Our back yard looks like it snowed from all of the plum petals the rain & wind have knocked off...
I love your description of spring; it's exactly how I feel right now too.
CVF -- orchard mason bees are pretty terrific. I don't know that I'm actually going to get any apricots at all. I never saw a bee on it. Oddly enough, the front yard apricots (Hello. My name is Stefani and I'm an apricoholic) bloomed later.
Ribbit, I wish I could box mine up and mail it to you. (And the dog).
Jan, I hope to eat out there but it's often just a tad too chilly. Hence the fireplace.
Momma_S, I did have to fight the children to "destroy" their backyard. They mostly play in the street, anyhow. Besides, they didn't do much yardwork.
Christina, are you ready?
Oh, wow. Wow. That is so impressive. Beautiful and rich and alive!
Allison, you should see the hills around here now. So green.
On the other hand, in September, everything is brown, so the South has that "lush" all over us.
Wow, it's all grown a lot! Looks fantastic. You commented on my blog that you thought you were in a similar climate to here, but it looks to me like you get warmer winters. Does the temperature go below freezing much? It does here at night in January and February.
You give me hope that spring is near. Oh, how I love the green ;-)
Oh, I'm so jealous of your garden - it's in full swing! I'm still weeks away from my garden looking like that.
Recycled brick patio is fantastic, and seems rather simple to do?
Chaiselongue, we get some freezes, but nothing hard and not every year. Mostly just rime on standing water and frost on automobiles.
Granny, it will come, as surely as every year.
Jayden, thanks for stopping by. The patio would have been easier if we'd known what to do. . . we excavated too much. Laid down crushed stone underlayment, then tamped it down, then laid brick, then swept sand on top. It's clearly NOT a professional job, but better than nothing.
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