Mulching

 On Saturday we finished up the far west lawn edging and freshened up the gravel.  For future reference, we cut the edge at 23" from the walk and fence which, if I remember correctly, is an inch further out than we did last time.  It has been three or more years since we cut this edge and added gravel.  

Now that whole side yard is spruced up and ready for summer.

Today we edged and mulched the front fence line.

One hundred and fortyish feet.  We measured out 16" and went along the old edge which was easy digging.  Everything that came out went into the fill area where the 2021 tree cutting project was.

I dug out any weeds, loosened the old mulch and we added new mulch along the edge.  It was 58F and sunny with a stiff northwest breeze.  Perfect weather for mulching.  

I feel... windblown

I also got my broccoli, cauliflower and cabbages transplanted and tucked into insect mesh with a shade cloth.  The shade cloth will come off in a few days.

Mending

 As I have been going through the perennial beds pulling weeds and checking on things, I noticed that despite the mild winter, I lost one of four little Geum plants in the front flower bed.  That would leave a big, threadbare hole right in a prominent place.

These are one of my favorite plants but I really do not want to spend $20 to mail order a replacement.

 

Yep, very dead.

 Last year I was thinking that they were almost getting big enough to divide and spread around.  I don't want to divide the two nice ones in the middle.  

But this one off to the one end by the rock...

If I set this one back it won't make me feel as bad as I would if I lost another one in the middle.  This job of extraction is one for the Hori Hori knife.  I don't want to just go in there with a spade and dig a big hole, disturbing the spring bulbs around it.

It was still tough cutting, but I scooped out half and transplanted it.  I watered it in well, and we are having cool, damp days so it ought to recover without too much trouble.  It is actively growing now so it ought to put out some new roots pretty quickly.

It's Go Time!

 Let's get this (garden) party started!  So much to do.  Planting and pruning and mulching and mowing.  We had three beautiful days and we made the most of it.  Now we are entering a cooler, rainy period and we will be resting and recuperating for the next push.

I seeded my garden peas and lettuce on Monday the 15th.  I have discussed my pea planting theories at length in the past.  This will be the second year that I have covered them with burlap.  That is more for the benefit of the lettuce than the peas.  In two weeks when the peas are up, I will remove the burlap because the lettuce won't need protection from scavenging birds anymore.

Under grow lights I have some awesome sweet potato slips, hot peppers, dwarf tomatoes and micro tomatoes.  I figured I could start those tomatoes early and not worry about them getting too big.  I seeded my indeterminate tomatoes on Monday.

The cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage is almost ready to set out.  I booted this tray out to the cold frame today to harden off.  I already have some things out in the cold frame.

Due to the lengthy tree project, we are getting a bit of a late start on our edging and mulching.  We usually start mid-March and one year we had it all done by the end of March.  

We always start on the side with the neighbors and work our way back towards the house.  That way the new, fluffy load of mulch is in the beds that we walk by every day.  This old mulch leftover from last year is fine, but is harder to work with.

We had to put plywood down so the tractor wouldn't rut the lawn, but it was dryer than usual.

It was already nice sitting in the partial shade of the trees.

We started cutting a fresh edge on the rock mulched fence line.  This only has to be done every two or three years whereas the shredded bark mulch has to be edged and refreshed at least once a year.

My tulips are beginning to bloom.

This is the time of year when I walk around and look for bare spots that need spring color.  Below there is a large blank spot where the lilac bush was.  If I have to move or divide any daffodils, they can go here.  I almost always have some daffodil bulbs looking for a new spot.

Due to the mild winter, my arborescens hydrangea that only blooms on old wood, is putting out new leaves on last year's canes.  This means it will be one of those rare years when I have a lot of hydrangea blooms.

Spring Flowers

 It finally stopped raining and the sun came out.  It was a perfect day to enjoy all of the spring flowers.  We've begun our yard work and at the end of the day I do not have many words, but I do have pictures.

Primrose

Hyacinths

Hyacinths

Hellebore

Itoh Peony

Lemony Lace Elderberry Bush

Tulips

Tulip

Apple Tree

Winter Sowing

A peek inside

And that tree...

We put a chain on it about 10 feet up and pulled with the tractor until it snapped.  Don't worry, we were well back.  We used every chain we had to put the tractor about 75 feet away on firmer ground.

Then we cut it up and hauled it away.

Wind

 For days now we have had a lot of rain and now high winds.  It is nice to have all of those dead ash out of the thicket.  All of the dead ash are now in the woods.  But there was one more back by the burn pile area.

Well....... shit.

Total Solar Eclipse 2024

So much fervor has surrounded the coming of the total Eclipse.  Luckily, we were in a perfect spot to view it from our backyard and did not have to invest any effort or money into finding the perfect spot for viewing.  Yesterday would have been the perfect day for it, sunny, clear and warm.  But today was supposed to be cloudy and rainy.  And by 5 pm the clouds departed leaving us with a perfect, sunny evening,

During the actual eclipse, we were mostly cloudy here, thick, dramatic clouds, but with enough breaks of clear sky to really enjoy it. I think the clouds were actually more interesting than blue skies would have been, and the anticipation of the next cloud break was fun.  

The birds didn’t quiet down entirely, but the peepers did start up.  What surprised me the most was even with only a sliver of the sun showing it was still bright daylight.  These were just with the cell phone through the clouds.

The cloud cover was heaviest just as totality kicked in.  Luckily, with three minutes of totality, we did get a brief break in the clouds at just the right moment.  And then it was over and the light came back like dawn fast forwarding.

Spring Training Continues

Its hard to believe that this all started a whole month ago.  Right after we completed the first round of tree clearing we had a decent sized pile of unwanted Poplar wood.  We sorted that out of the "good wood" and posted it free on Marketplace.  By the end of the day we had given away the firewood and located and purchased a log splitter.  With the original stack of firewood that we had been burning a the firepit, we borrowed a log splitter.  Now we're all set up.  Last Monday we split our pile of Oak and Ash and today we stacked it neatly near the firepit.  That's a pretty nice looking stack of campfire wood.

In between the stacking, I also got back into the Thicket to pick up more sticks and cut Multi-Flora Rose.  Its looking pretty good in there.  I will take one more pass at it and then it will be time to plant some bareroot shrubs.

I am weary of being tangled up in rose bushes.