Close Up Views of the Spring Garden

By the front door. 

Crimson Flowered Fava beans. I just love this plant! It is stunningly
beautiful, has the most heavenly scent and (if I am lucky) gives me
seeds to save for next year. 

Pipevine plant. I added this plant to the butterfly garden because
Pipevine Swallowtails use this plant exclusively to host their caterpillars. 

Overloaded peaches on the tree. I need to thin. I have been working
on it, but all the limbs are covered that completely, and it is
taking awhile to get it done. 

Overwintered Swiss Chard with garlic in the center. I covered
the Chard over and over during the winter, and am hoping to
save seed. 

In the Garden Now April 2014

Occasionally, I post pictures of the way the garden looks right now. The last time I did this was May 1, 2013.

It was a hard winter, and many of my garden plants died. I also added many things to our little property. I think it's time for another one.

The Butterfly Garden by the front door. Notice the butterfly stepping stones
my kids painted and the old bird bath at the back of the picture. That
old bird bath has been painted and contains two types of mint.
The green in the front left is all Easter lilies. The green in the badk
left is lemon balm. 

 

I added the border to this bed a couple weeks ago. The green at the top
is oregano (with dianthus in the middle). The rest of the bed had
to be completely replanted. I lost everything that was here. It has
daffodils, renunculus, freesias, echinacea from Melissa at Ever Growing Farm, and some
baby zinnias.

The most up-to-date view of the peach tree with the new strawberry bed. 

Braeburn apple. 

Paw Paw tree. 

Pineapple guava.

 Do you think this pineapple guava will live? It's hard to tell from the picture, but there is a lot of brown on the older leaves. I covered it every time it got even moderately cold, but it still looks very burned and weak.

Hazelnut tree. 

The newly added garden beds. The orange you can see
is potato grow bags. 

 The hazelnuts, pawpaw trees and the pineapple guavas are all really small. I have the tomato trellises around them to keep the kids and their friends from stepping on them.

Before and After: The New Strawberry Patch

Peach tree in my front yard before the addition of the strawberry
bed underneath it.

Peach tree in my front yard after the addition of the strawberry bed
underneath it. 

A close up on one of  the strawberry plants

My husband asked me to plant something under the peach tree so that he would not have to mow under the low-hanging limbs. I pondered it since last year and asked some other gardeners. I finally decided that a strawberry bed would be a nice addition.

I bought fifty strawberry plants from Pinetree Seeds.* They came last week, so I worked (and worked and worked) on the weeds in order to create a bed for them. I am not the greatest at circular math, so I cut 2 strings, one eight inches long and the other eighteen inches long. The eight inch long one was used to measure between plants and the 18 inch long one was used to measure between rows. I did one row at a time, planting the plants in that row, because I couldn't figure out on paper the exact amount of weeds I would have to pull. I would lay the 18 inch piece on the last row and the put the 8 inch piece to the side of the last plant I had planted. Then I would know where to plant the next one. It ended up looking circular, with 3 circular rows, so I guess it worked.

In case you weren't aware, planting under a tree is harder than planting in open soil. First, you can't stand up. Second, you can't just use a shovel or you will damage the tree. Third, you can't just dump a pile of dirt over the top and create a raised bed or you will damage the tree by burying it too deep.

So, I crawled around on my hands and knees for hours at a time, digging with a trowel to prepare the bed. (Oh, my back!)

The plants came looking like dead little thing with long roots. But after one watering they greened up like you see in the above photo.

It was a lot of work, more than I actually anticipated, but I am really happy with the result.

I am going to mulch with pine bark, add some round pavers to be able to reach the peaches, and edge it with some nice concrete edging. It is in the front yard, so I want it to look as nice as possible.



*(The link to Pinetree Seeds is not affiliate. I just liked their products and have been very happy with them as a company. I plan to shop with them again.)

Happy International Pi Day!

Pi(e) are square!

March 14 is International Pi Day (3.14, get it?)

This year, I taught the kids about circle math terms (circumference, diameter, radius and area). I taught them the symbol of pi. I showed them how to measure around any circular object, then cut the yarn into approximate thirds. Then I showed them how this always makes the diameter.

We talked about how the number of pi is a constant in mathematical problems, and talked a little about "Area equals pi r squared."

And I made my grandmother's secret homemade caramel pie recipe.

Pie. It makes anything a good day. :)

And you have to have a round one, since pi is about circles, right?

Peach Tree

My peach tree thinks it is spring.

I just love that tree. It is so beautiful in bloom.

Getting Ready

The newly cleaned out canning area. (This is where
I store my supplies when they are not in use.)

Top to bottom, left to right: The canning pot, canning lids and bands,
half pints with pints underneath, pints. Bottom shelf: hummingbird
feeders, and quart jars. 

On Saturday, I woke up with the desire to clean. This is not a common feeling for me, so I went with it. (I would much rather be in the garden.)

I organized my canning jar area, cleaned out the oven, microwave, and fridge. I topped off my staples (in my grab-and-go containers).

Now I am ready for canning season. My goal is to be able to use all the canning jars I received to can things this year. That's a big goal. I received 126 jars. And I have about 48 pint jars. I only have one 12 pack of half pints, and might need to buy more to make my goal work.

I am going to expand the garden. I plan to make use of my local farmer's market, and you pick places to try to make this goal a reality. And now I won't have to scrounge around in a mess to try to find what I need.

I Survived Ice in South Alabama

Talking with people who have lived here all their lives, I learned that there has never been this much ice at one time in any of their lifetimes. (The oldest one I talked with was almost 80, and she has lived here since the 1950's.)

We had over one inch of ice in our backyard. Because our local weather people predicted the storm, schools were closed, and many businesses closed. We didn't have the terrible problems seen on TV in Atlanta and Birmingham, where people were snowed into their cars, and had to abandon cars and walk home, students stuck in schools, etc.

For 3 full days the ice lay on the ground. Today the weather is shirt sleeve weather, but even today there are many places still with white on them.

These pictures show  the progression from sleet to freezing rain to over an inch accumulation
of freezing rain.

The birds stayed at the feeder.  (You have to remember that this is the
winter migration point for many birds.) This was the first day. 

This was the second day.  

This is my poor garden. I broke through the ice to try to show you how
thick it was everywhere. It is over an inch thick. 

My kids had a good time in the ice. It wasn't good for snowmen, but worked great
for sliding down hills. (Getting up them was another story.)

Here's another picture of my kids in the ice. 

I have 3 kids, so I wanted all of the kids in at least one picture.

We have only had five snow storms recorded since 1973, the weather man said before the storm came in. Well, they have never had one with this much ice (or one with only ice). This would explain the use of laundry baskets and kickboards to slide down the hills. :)

The pictures look white like this was snow, but it wasn't snow at all.

I am glad it is gone.