Thursday, March 31, 2016

Homestead Update: Spring!

The sun is out and the days are getting longer.  It is warming up, and the world is turning green again.  That makes us happy up on our little hill.

Mr. Marvelous is in charge of the plants, and he has been getting the garden areas ready and the seeds in the ground.

He cut down a lot of saplings at the bottom of the back hill.
Then he cut the saplings into manageable lengths
and dragged them up the hill,
and into the front yard.
Shall I tell you what he is going to do, or shall I let you be surprised?
Very well, surprised it is.

We recreated our Great Potato Experiment again this year.





(It's OK; they are supposed to look droopy.  That's how we know they are ready to harvest)
It was quite successful again.
We had potatoes with the green beans for Easter Dinner.

The chickens were finally moved into the front so that they could till
~ and fertilize! ~
the front garden for us.

Well, most of the chickens were moved out front.

Mr. Marvelous had a special job for the three Princesses.

He built them a special tractor
that fits over the raised beds in the back.
Those girls are busy getting those beds ready for planting.
When they aren't laying eggs and showing off, that is.

So far Mr. Marvelous has planted potatoes,
(with a little help!)

and corn.

He has gotten beans planted in the back
with the help of the Princesses

He has gotten carrots, beets, parsnips, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, squash out too.

We overwintered some peppers, both bells and ridiculously hot.
They have been moved from their winter pots back into the ground.

The small onions and the garlic that were planted back in the late fall are thriving
*ahem*
So are the weeds, apparently!

The winter potatoes that were actually put into the ground are doing well too.
Hopefully they will be ready with the beans.

We got the herb beds cleaned up and planted:
 Mint and catnip,

Lemon balm, parsley and basil,

Cilantro.
Please call me if you want any cilantro.
Or if you just think you might possibly one day want some cilantro.
 I am worried that it is going to take over the whole front yard.

The sage plants finally died after five years, so I will be getting some new ones.
Lisa at Green Up Garden Shop is my plant lady.

This was a bit of a surprise when we were cleaning out one of the beds.
Yes, that is an asparagus stalk.
I have no idea how it got there!

While Mr. Marvelous has been busy planting vegetables and herbs,
George and Smoochie have been busy having babies.
 George had four, one of whom is bashful.

Smoochie has five.

Poor "little" Woolly Bear is due any day now.
She is ready to get this over with!

That is what is going on around here lately.
We are planning to start another batch of eggs in the incubator next week.
And do some more planting.
And make that big surprise with all those saplings out front.

Stay tuned!





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