Finally, something to do outside besides shoveling. We talked with our neighbor and decided to add to the alfalfa field on the prairie property. To do that we needed to take out about 200 yards of fencing.
Talk about memories. As a teenager, I spent one summer rolling up barbed wire on a farm Dad leased. I remember showing up for the job the first day in shorts and a tank top. In an hour, I went back to the house for jeans and boots. You learn quickly barbed wire and shorts don't mix. I had the radio blaring and would cajole that old rusty wire into a roll under the hot sun. There was an aged dump truck that I had to throw the wire in. That project was probably only about a week, but seemed to last all summer.
I was able to use my earned expertise and after several hours we had four nice rolls of wire and a pile of steel posts for other projects. Those tall weeds next to the wire is actually wild asparagus. I'm very excited about that. The whole time geese were flying over. It made for a wonderful day. There is still too much snow at our house to do much of anything. It was nice to get out and work in the sunshine. We enjoyed a picnic lunch by the river after the project was over. Then it was back to our snow filled world.
The weather is so nice we were able to start our Sunday walk tradition. We were amazed to find our favorite Whitewood Creek road melted off. I was also excited to see some bittersweet vines growing in the canyon. A few falls ago my father pointed them out around the prairie. Here they are growing in the hills.
After our walk, I started the process of cleaning the seeds I gathered last fall from the various annuals. It was great sitting out on the picnic table with a hot cup of coffee. It is a job best done outside in the sunshine, as it is a messy process.
To the right are wild sunflowers and below are lemon sunflower seeds.
My favorite are AJ's Black Eyed Susans. They were given to me by a neighbor and I always gather about half of them in the fall to give to friends. They are a pain to remove, but worth the effort.
I ended up with plenty of seeds to sow this spring. Just 2 more months:) What seeds do you save?
Wow! That's a lot of seeds. I do good just to get some of the food seeds I want for the following year - you must have great patience.
ReplyDeletei love the idea of seed sharing and "clippings" sharing, especially when the come from a friends garden. it makes my garden feel so much more special that way but most of my seeds come in packs from the garden center!!!!
ReplyDeleteI have 4 flats started with peppers. I joined a garden club in my new area andam going to a ground cover/potluck meeting Tuesday. I save zinnas, but hold off after about 4 seasons since they sometime will return to the parent plants. One year I ended up with all scraggly pink blooms.I saved a few castor beans, and a heirloom tomatoe from Czech republic.
ReplyDeleteI love that you have wild asparagus growing on your prairie property. How nice that you have that place to go to get out of the snow. I would love to have bittersweet growing wild. Your seeds look so great.
ReplyDeleteI save my sunflower seeds from year to year. I hope we will get to have more of a garden this year. I miss my rows of sunflowers.
Everything looks so pretty. I always enjoy seeing what you have been doing. I think that is a cute story about rolling up barbed wire. I tried that one year in shorts and chopping cotton. I didn't last very long either, and went and got a hat and long sleeves and jeans and boots. Even though it was hot and those rows were miles long. :) We did that for fun. :)
Rolling up fence wire is hard work. A couple years ago we had a fire and had miles of fence to replace. Jeans and boots for sure!
ReplyDeleteI'm envious of your wild asparagus. My DIL and I planted "tame" asparagus last year by seed and so I'm anxious to see how it comes back this year.
Seed saving: columbine, hollyhock, squash. I hope to save some heirloom tomato seeds this year after I see how they perform in my gardens. You've got tons of seed there!
What a contrast between where you were fencing and your own yard. Hope you lose some more of your snow soon! I don't save seed, but still manage to have a lot of self-seeding going on, especially black eyed susan and hollyhock. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteWild asparagus? I'd be in my glory...Yummmm! I don't plant many annuals, so I don't save seeds, but what a great idea! You sure have a lot! I have mostly perennials (although I got rid of my huge bed last summer, I saved a few of my favorites) and I'm enjoying walking around watching them peep through the dirt.
ReplyDeleteI save Black-eyed Susan's also and Foxglove. Love your photos of the prairie; your region has so many beautiful things to look at on walks--thanks for taking me along!
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