Sunday, May 18, 2014

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. 

9 comments:

  1. Very nice to have the warm, I am a bit pink today. I have added 65 varieties of veggies and flowers to my yard so far and have quite a few more to get into the ground.

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  2. You've been busy! I hope no new snows bother your garden. The tiles look great!

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  3. Cute address sign!
    It's so nice that spring is here, isn't it?

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  4. Everything looks great! You really had a busy day. Yesterday was a big work day here as well, finally some nice weather. Sorry about the hive not surviving the winter, but glad you are able to replace it. Hope you have a great day today as well, Bonnie!
    Diane

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  5. It looks lovely. I do hope you don't have any more snow. We have snow forecast in the mountains here on Tuesday. We always have one more snow around Memorial Day. Then heat. and more heat.
    I hope you get beautiful weather. I like your orchard. I am so sorry you lost a hive. I keep thinking of getting another hive or two. I do miss having them. I need to make some orchard bee houses.
    We have a big bee that lives in the ground not sure what they are but they were really rough on my hive.
    Have fun gardening. I think it looks so pretty.

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  6. awwww, so pretty....no more snow!! we are having a wonderful, very cool spring!!

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  7. I'm glad your snow has finally gone, Why do you have potato cages - does something dig up the potatoes?

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  8. You've been busy! I have a flowerbed that needs quack grass pulled out of it if you have any extra time on your hands ... hint hint :) Gardening sure can be a chore some days. Then other days it's just such a delight to be in the dirt.

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  9. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you didn't any more snow. :)

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