I believe spring is finally here...

Finally, spring has arrived.  I took full advantage of it, in case it snows again.  I promised to post about the orchard.  Thankfully, everything seems to have survived.  Though the shrubs suffered some broken branches, they also managed to keep a majority of them in tact.   Some of my newer apple trees had to be pruned almost in half, but they should survive. 

 I got two pears from the county extension agency.  One is a Patten and one is Parker.  It is a bit of an experiment, since I've never heard of pears at this altitude.  My partner helped me perfectly place the pair.

The beekeeper stopped by.  I knew I had lost a hive.  He plans on bringing me a new one latter this summer.  The other hive is thriving.  In fact they made planting my pears a bit difficult.

After tackling the orchard, I turned to the gardens.  I planted peas, carrots, lettuce, spinach, dill, cucumbers, eggplant, and pumpkins.  I also tried my raised potato cage again.

 These aren't very good photos of the raspberry and strawberry beds.  I made a huge mistake and put wild raspberries in the with ones I got from my neighbor.  They took over the bed and had very few berries to show for it.  I tore the bed apart, added compost, and ash.  Then tossed anything that looked like a wild raspberry.  There were very few strawberries left, so I moved them over there also.  I am going to try cut flowers in the the strawberry bed.  It should be an interesting endeavor.  The drain pipe in the middle has a bowl in it.  I add fruit and other things for the butterflies and bees.

 

We will see what the weather brings.  We might have a snow or two left, but I feel spring is here, so I changed the tiles on our sign.