Garden - Spring 2014 (3)

SQUEE!!!! I have broccoli sprouts popping out of the soil already!!!

This one is a bit of a mystery, though I am pretty sure it is broccoli as well, as I forgot to write what it was on the side of the container! DOH!

I also found the marigolds staring to sprout as well! (there's a wee little green sprout smack dab in the middle of the pic)

Working steadily on the garden today.  I'm currently cleaning up the planting area next to the back porch.  The mint we planted last spring has gone a wee bit crazy and as much as we like mint, we don't need quite that much.  I've decided to plant some sweat peas along that back wall. I love sweet peas. When my maternal grandparents lived in the back house (its like what is called a mother-in-law house), my grandmother had some along the back fence. The scent was as strong as the day is long, but it just wasn't spring without that scent wafting through the air.

Our Aloe Vera plants are flowering as well.  We have a few resident hummingbirds that love to feed on the flowers.  They should be south at the moment but they will be back in a few weeks when its consistently warmer to build their nests.

We get a ton of butterflies as well, monarchs, swallowtails and a bunch of others  that I only know by color.  They should be headed back up here soon as well, as our clover is flowering like crazy.  I love it when our front yard is covered in a sea of green with the bright little yellow flowers dotting the landscape.

Speaking of flowers, somewhere on the property we have a bee hive.  We are pretty sure its in the oleanders behind one of the sheds.  Thankfully they don't seem to be Africanized bees as Mr B has mowed back there several times. If they were, we would have had to take him to the hospital. I'm tempted to get a box for the hive and start collecting honey, but I'll have to do some research first.   It would have to be something that I handled completely as Mr B is allergic to bee stings.  We want to avoid that potential issue.  I remember when my eldest was about 5 and we had a bunch of clover growing around the front porch.  She was watching the bees busily flying from one flower to the next and said, "Look, Mommy! Happy Bees!" From that point forward, they weren't just bees, they were "happy bees."

I hope you have a fantastic day!

Mrs. Bissinger

Garden Spring 2014 (2)

I've been plugging away at the "farm" so to speak.  My poor friends back east (well, anywhere east of here) have expressed some disbelief at our harvesting tomatoes this time of year.

Pay no attention to the little knobby on the top.....

Anywho, Yesterday I finished getting the planters ready and amending the soil.  Today I was able to plant:

Corn
Sunflowers
Spinach
Iceburg lettuce
"Garden Blend" Lettuces
Radishes
Garlic
Kaleidoscope Carrots (multi colored)

In the little plastic containers on the porch I have:
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Chives
Cucumber
Fennel
Green onion
Marigold
Marjoram
Mixed Flowers
Onions
Pumpkins
Tarragon
Thyme and a few others I am sure I missed

Hopefully a few will survive :-D

We have a few fruits trees on the property, oranges, tangerines, grapefruit (bleh) and figs. Plus somehow there is a grape vine that has been around for years.  It doesn't produce much and the birds get to the fruit long before I remember to go look.  The fruit vines/bushes should be in the stores relatively soon (if I remember correctly) so I am planning on not only getting another grape vine but at least one other type of fruit vine/bush and hopefully couple of fruit trees, even if it means the miniature type.  I would love a couple of lemon trees and lime trees.  We also have 7 pecan trees.  As kids (we lived a couple of miles away), my brothers and I would come over and rake leaves.  Plus, while we were raking, we had to get every last pecan unless it was obviously bad.  Some of my fondest memories were sitting at the kitchen table during the holidays cracking pecans for pies. I suppose there could have been a few that didn't make it in to the pies. *whistles innocently* The whacking sound was music to my ears.  While this is not the exact same nutcracker we used, its pretty much the same design (the whackin' starts approx 1:07):

*reminds self to find an inertia nutcracker online. We have a bucket full of nuts waiting on me and momma ain't opening all of those with a hand held type. No way, no how.

I hope you have a fantastic day!

Mrs, Bissinger