A Blustery Gardening Day

After yesterday's sun breaks, rain showers, hail and cold temperatures, we were promised a much milder day today. Well, they were half right. It was warmer, and the sun shone the first half of the day. But unfortunately, right around noon, the wind kicked up and blew hard all the rest of the day. It made it feel much colder than it was and also aggravated my tree pollen allergies too! But I really wanted to get a little gardening done, so we still ventured outside. I started by weeding two full trugs out of the first new flowerbed. As you can see, I have just started weeding this one and there is a lot more work to be done. But at least it's a start.

Then we moved onto the big flowerbed in the front of the house.We weeded maybe 1/3 of it today. It was exciting because we discovered a number of plants that we thought had perished during our cold Winter, are just starting to send up their first green shoots of the year. After weeding for awhile, Dad helped haul in 8 buckets of Nature's Best to fill in some low spots near the back of the bed.

Then we planted our newest purchase; "Pokey's Pink" flowering current. Mom and I first saw it a few weeks back at Down to Earth and admired its soft pink blooms. Later she returned and brought it home.

It is a nice contrast to our other current and its vibrant hot pink blooms. I noticed this last week, while it was still in its pot sitting out on the sidewalk, that the hummingbirds were visiting its blooms. We are hoping that in future seasons it is a big attraction to the hummers, as well as a lovely sign of Spring for us.

Planting the Lettuce and Sweet Peas

Our second lovely day this month and it fell on the weekend - hooray! That meant that I had no excuse to stay inside. It was time to get outdoor and get some things off of my "to-do" list. I started in the Kitchen Garden. Dad helped me bring a load of Nature's Best around and we added it to some low spots in the garden. Then I got out my seed stash and planted the two remaining raised beds with lettuce seed. I planted one bed with nothing but "Heirloom Cutting Mix" from Renee's Garden. Then, in the next bed I planted 3 rows of "Sea of Red" from Renee's Garden, 3 rows of "Green Oakleaf" from Seed Savers Exchange, and one row of "Yugoslavian Red Butterhead" from Seed Savers Exchange. It appears that the worst of our Winter weather is over, and I am hoping the lettuce will germinate.

After I got the lettuce all planted and covered, I couldn't help but take a peak at the Spinach bed. The spinach is doing great and I really need to thin it soon. 

The "Gazelle" plants, that germinated first, are just now producing their first true leaves.

Last Fall, when the builders were completing our new deer fence, it was necessary to move my chives from the Kitchen Garden so they wouldn't be trampled on as the posts were set in. Today I dug up my clump from its temporary home in the front flowerbed and settled it back home in the Kitchen Garden. It is growing like mad right now. My hands and the air were filled with a strong onion scent as I dug it up and relocated it. With a good watering in, I don't think it will even know that it has been relocated once again. 

After finishing up in the Kitchen Garden, I moved over to the Sunset Flowerbed. I brought out the Sweet Pea tower and set it in a bare patch of ground that had some fresh Nature's Best worked into it.

Then I transplanted the two six-packs of "Royal Family Mix" sweet peas from Hayhurst Nursery. I also dug up and moved 4 sweet pea plants that had germinated from last year's planting.

They look so little now, but will soon attached themselves to the tower and quickly begin climbing upward. I can close my eyes and practically smell them already.

I finished the day by beginning to weed one of your two new flower beds in the front of the house. Over the Winter, the new grass from the lawn has invaded the bed and is taking it over. I worked and work and managed to get a 1' wide strip weeded all along the front edge of the bed. There is still a lot of work to be done but at least it is a good start.

Sunset Flowerbed Weeding and Bulb Planting

Yesterday I tackled the project of weeding the Sunset Flowerbed for the first time this year. Fortunately, because I have been pretty vigilant the last few years about keeping this bed weed-free, it wasn't too huge a job. I really spent as much time cutting off last year's growth from most of the perennials as I did digging up weeds.

Things are looking pretty good now. I dug up both of the Asters and moved them to the back  of the bed. They were really pretty last year, but they were also extremely tall. This will be a much better place for them. I also want to move a Lobelia or two as well as a Daphne but that will have to wait for another day.

As I cleaned up and weeded, I made a few fun discoveries. The Peony root mass is covered in tiny, blood red shoots. It looks like we are off to a good start with that plant.

And I also found this sweet little guy. Last February, I bought this Ranunculus Ficaria "Citrina" up at Xera Nursery in Portland. As expected, it disappeared in late April and there was nothing but bare dirt until I saw leaves forming once again this Winter. And today I was reward with this soft yellow bloom. Yes, only one bloom this year but still, it means the plant settled in and survived.

Today, after Mom got back from church, we planted two sets of Fritallaria bulbs in this bed. The first group we planted were these 23 Fritallaria "Alba". Boy were they more than ready to be planted! Thankfully only two of the bulbs had dried out. So into the ground they went. We next opened up the bag of Fritallaria "Meleagris". They were much, much smaller bulbs and they didn't look good at all. But we decided to plant them anyway. If a few survive then we will be rewarded with their blooms. If not, it was worth the try.

Back to the Farmer's Market

Last Saturday was the official opening of the Lane County Farmer's Market. Although the Market is open every other Saturday during the Winter, on the First Saturday pf April it begins its weekly run. I was unable to attend last weekend, so this was my first visit of the year.

When we arrived, the skies were grey but the temperature was mild and it wasn't raining. There was a good crowd milling about. I do love the beautiful, old pick-up truck used as a display stand by this Farmer.

As expected for this time of year, there was an abundance of greens for sale.

This was a great display of well grown leeks. I over-heard a gentleman suggest to his wife that they by the ingredients to make potato & leek soup for dinner. Good idea!

A basket full of shallots.

An enormous pile of "French Breakfast" radish.

As always, the flower sellers were making beautiful, seasonal bouquets. The stars of the bouquets this week were the daffodils and the tulips.

An nice group of mixed color radish.

And it wouldn't be Spring without asparagus. 

After we got back home, and the rain & hail showers ended, I spent most of the afternoon working outside. I began by "re-weeding" the mudroom flowerbed. Beth and I first attacked this bed on February 24th. Since then many a new weed has sprouted! It was definitely time to give it one good going-over again. It really is amazing all of the growth that has occurred in the last 7 weeks.

The Cone Flowers were just barely beginning to leaf out back at the end of February. Now we have nice, big vigorous clumps. And for the second year in a row, the "Black & Blue" Salvia Guaranitica has made it trough the Winter. Our two plants are growing like gangbusters and I expect that they will become as monstrous as last year's plants. The hummingbirds will be so happy!

A Sunny Sunday for Some Clean-up

A beautiful sunny Sunday. That's two in a row. It makes the rainy, grey weeks much more bearable when you get a sunny weekend day out of the deal. I started today by going down to the big garden and filling up my bird feeder. I had customers waiting for me in the forest. By the time I had the feeder filled and raised there were chickadees already landing on it to feed.

Back at the house Beth and I decided to attack the mudroom flowerbed. I had already weeded about 20% of it a few weeks back. We set to work weeding and cutting back the perennials. Since it was a sunny day, we had cat help too! With both of us working it really didn't take too long to finish up. The bed looks much better. It's funny to know that by late Summer the plants will have grown so much that it will be difficult to see the soil anywhere.

Once we cut back all of the dead wood and old branches, there were lots of signs of new growth.

 The first "Tete-a-tete" bloom also opened in today's sunny warmth.

A Clean Slate

Today the weather was much improved over yesterday's. We actually had some lovely sunshine to enjoy for a good part of the day. I decided I had no excuse and attacked one of the outdoor projects on my "to-do" list. The front flowerbed was getting infected with bittercress weed so I grabbed my kneeling pad and hand claw and got to work. Just over two hours later I was done! There isn't too much planted in this bed yet as we don't have a deer fence in place. Right now we only have deer-proof plants in - hellebores and bulbs. With the weeds gone now, the spotlight can shine on the bloomers, few though they may be.

One Busy, Busy Saturday!

We started our day out at the Farmer's Market. I tried one of Mazzi's pizzas for breakfast and it was very good! There was a nice crowd at the Market, even though the day was cool and overcast. I am still waiting for the first day that I can wear shorts and sandals and complain that it's a bit hot out! After eating we did a little shopping. I picked up my second Sweet Potato plant.

This was an amazing display of new potatoes. Six different kinds to try!

As always the flowers were beautiful . The bouquets are slowly changing with the calendar. Peonies, fox glove and bachelor buttons are replacing lilacs and iris.

This was a stunning peony plant for sale in a 5-gallon bucket.

Once we got home, Dad and I headed down to the garden. Our task for the morning was to take the piles of dirt left over from last summer and fill in low areas of the garden. He used his bucket to transport the soil and I helped point out areas of need. He then used his tractor blade and tried to level out the whole garden in preparation for our first tilling of the year. Everything went really well and we have plans to till the garden after I get done with work on Monday. Finally!

When we finished that big project, I returned back to the house and worked on the vegetable bed. I planted my new "Georgia Jet" Sweet Potato in the empty grow bag. Then I planted the four "Mixed Colors" Morning Glory plants that I purchased at Down to Earth. This mix promises blooms of Purple, Magenta & White. Now my only concern as they get settled in are the birds. I sure hope that they leave the tips of the climbing tendrils alone.

Then I brought in some more Natures Best Soil and built a hill for the "Marina di Chioggia" Winter Squash.

As you can see, the plants that I started from seed are doing really well. I decided to cover the hill with remay, just for a few weeks. It will keep the plants a bit warmer but more importantly it will give them protection from the birds. Once they have 4 or 5 of their true leaves out, I will feel better about removing the remay cloth.

After I finished working in the vegetable garden, I turned my attention to the mudroom bed. I don't have a "before" picture, but I can tell you it was a mess. It was overgrown with grass and Canadian thistle. I planned to get half of it weeded, but once I got going there was no stopping me! Actually, I just really wanted this off my mental "to-do" list. It looks so much better! Now we need to add a bunch of soil, especially to the back of the bed.

Right now the star of this bed is this salvia "La Trinidad Pink". We bought a small plant of it at Xera nursery last summer and it has quadrupled in size this year. It is getting just smothered in hot pink blooms, which the hummingbirds adore. And while I worked so hard outside, Padma supervised me from the mudroom bench indoors.

Finally, A Sunny Sunday

After too many wet weekend days to count, we finally had a reprieve. Today was mild and the skies were mostly blue. It was so nice to be able to work outside again. And goodness knows, my "to-do" list is a mile long at this point. I started the day by weeding the flowerbed directly to the right of the front steps. I was pleased to find that everything new that we planted last year had survived the Winter and was starting to put forth a lot of healthy new growth.

I particularly like how these "Jet Fire" daffodils look as they mature, with the petals pulling back, away from the trumpet. They almost look like they have been caught in a windstorm.

After finishing that project it was time to move to the back of the house and tackle cleaning up the vegetable bed. Each Fall, I make a concerted effort to get all of my gardening areas cleaned-up for the year. This last Fall however, it started raining in September and never really stopped. I was lucky to get one nice weekend where I harvested all of my Winter Squash and pulled out many of the tomato plants. But that was as far as I got. Soon it was time for the Holidays, and then Winter really set in. So today I set out and finished what I had started back in October. I thought it might take me an hour or so. Well, three and a half hours later I was done! I got all of the old plant debris put on the compost pile. I then weeded the whole area and picked up all of the plant cages that were still there. Then Dad helped me and brought in a load or two of fresh Natures Best blend on his tractor to fill in some low areas. He also helped me do some fence repair where the zip ties had broken over the Winter. Finally I raked the whole area smooth and I am now ready to begin planting! Right now the 10-day forecast show next weekend as mostly sunny and dry - fingers crossed!