Spring Has Sprung

It’s Good Friday and the sun is warming the soil. We are hoping to be able to till this weekend and get those rows going north to south to maximize the sun exposure. There is one area of the garden that is still very wet because it drops off a little and I was seriously considering bringing in some additional soil and supplements for that area. There is also a scrub tree that is on the east side of the garden that we had left last year in our hurry to just get established. We will be removing that this spring. Forecast is for sunny and in the 50’s. Let’s hope it follows through. One never knows living in this area of country.

The blueberries have buds swelling and I will gather the pine needles from the front of the property to spread around them for some additional nutrients.

The seeds that were started have now begun to sprout. I have them nursing themselves inside the 3-season porch that is south facing. Help from two large grow lamps help keep them warm at night. I started several varieties of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, brussel sprouts, squashes, dill, parsley, basil, eggplant, catnip, cauliflower and broccoli. In two weeks I will sow another crop of lettuce.

There is no greater feeling than watching those young plants stretch themselves upwards. It is like a rebirth each time one pops up. We will hold their hands and keep their feet firmly planted until they bear their fruit. Then we will save their seeds and bring them back to life again next year.

So many people are planting gardens now. I was seriously thinking of organizing an organic seed swap in my area. I’ll have to put it out on my Facebook and post up some signs. I’m so excited that a friend of mine has organized a CSA (community supported agriculture). She is including fresh eggs, fresh soap, and fresh chickens with her fruit and vegetables. I wish more people would do this. To expand the CSA movement across the country would help eliminate the need for trucking our food supply and lessen our carbon footprint.

Seeds, seeds and more seeds

Exciting time for the garden. Even though the snow is falling like crazy, March 1st is only 2 days away. Time to start our seeds to accommodate our very short growing season.

Today I will be pulling out all of the seed trays, making sure they are clean and free of disease (a very important thing to do). Looking forward to getting the fingernails dirty.

What I did this winter

First I must throw my apology out to all for not uploading my blogs this past fall. I took pictures, wrote them and never posted them. Everything happened so quickly with the harvests coming in, the freezing, baking, drying and baking. It was an awesome first season with my northern garden.

This winter has brought us the enjoyment of savoring the fruits of our labor. They have certainly saved us lots of cash along with the satisfaction of knowing we grew it ourselves and they do not contain any unnecessary preservatives.

That brings me to today. A cool, crisp winter day where the sun reflects brightly on the raised beds so it feels like spring. Maybe it is the birds singing or maples beginning to run. I’m sure it is the seed catalogs and seedling trays that I’m looking at that are making this an exciting time. I don’t know about everyone else, but those seed catalogs really get me anxious to get the garden going.

The time this winter has been used well. Some bird houses have been rebuilt. The roto-tiller has been serviced. As well as both lawn mowers. Inventory on the hand tools has revealed that some of them needed some repair and reinforcing which was done promptly. Hopefully, this will leave us with an uneventful planting season.

I’ve taken a good look at which plants did well up north and which ones I want to leave off my “honey-do” list. Visions of fresh peas, spinach, herbs, tomatoes,and italian peppers are running through my brain. I shall work on my calendar this week and begin to start some seeds. I will post which kinds I have chosen as I discover them myself.

Blueberries, Beans and Hail OH MY!

What an incredible week! We’ve had very high temperatures and the late tomatoes are finally beginning to ripen. When it hasn’t been hot and humid, it’s been torrential thunderstorms.

We had a hail storm with very heavy winds come thru the other day that cause some severe damage in our area. We only lost a large limb off of our maple tree. But the remaining peas were blown over and the hail did considerable damage to the leaves of many of the plants.

I picked 3 gallons of green beans to put up. I will freeze some, can some with red sauce, and also make some “dilly beans”. We still have plenty of beans coming. And the late sowing of the red ones is proving successful. The plants are full of blossoms. One of those summer pop up late day thunderstorms interrupted the cleaning efforts. We completed those today.

Today we also planted 6 blueberry bushes and 4 rows of very hardy raspberries, which I call the 'Aunt Angela' variety. They were shoots from the raspberry patch at our family cottage in Maine. They make it through those winters and just keep coming back stronger than ever. I’m hoping for the same results. I had Joe digging holes and mixing compost/humus all afternoon. This is also in an area that gets full sun from morning to evening. It is protected on the north side by a fence and flower bed from any heavy winds and snow. Wow! I can't believe it was 86 degrees today and I'm thinking of snow already!

We should have known another storm was headed in when we saw this cardinal on the post in the garden. LOL. It is coming down so hard I don’t think I have to worry about watering the newly planted stock.

Tomorrow I will tackle the remaining peas. What do you think I should plant there for a fall sowing? Hmmmm Maybe some swiss chard.

Blueberries!

Took some time yesterday to pick over 8 pounds of blueberries. Some to freeze, some for jam, and some to just plain eat with fresh yogurt. So glad that I got them in before all this rain today. The rest of them will nice and plump after a few days of rain.



Had to really dig underneath all the foliage to find the wonderful clumps of juiciness!

Highbush varieties of Blue Boy, Patriot, Elizabeth and Collins.

Mud Can Be 'Heaven On Earth'

So while we’ve been busy with the garden and beginning to put up the fruits of our labors, we paused to ‘put up’ some mud. That’s right! MUD! Writing about “Gouldsboro Glow” appears appropriate since it is also located above 44 degrees latitude.

Our visit to the family house on the coast of Maine is always such a welcome reprise. Full of fun, family, relaxation and mud. As children we would go play in it at low tide slathering our bodies with it, letting it dry, and rinsing off in the cold salt water. Then each of us having one bucket of fresh water from well (now we use the water from the cistern) to finish the cleaning job.

We have such a special mud to be found there during low tide. It is the most perfect sea mud for facials. It is on the cleanest portion of coastline according to National Geographic. A small bay protected from the pollution of industry and cities and fed by various local mineral springs. This has resulted in the accumulation of many natural sediments over the years. The mud has a very high concentration of magnesium, calcium chloride, potassium and salts, which provide the skin with both healthy and beautifying effects.

I’ve always claimed that I would bring mud home with me each year because the one or two facials I get in while there just doesn’t seem to be enough for the entire year. And as each year goes by, the mud has been left in place. This year was different. Low tide worked out perfectly with the timing of our departure and I gathered an extra large Glad container of this wonder mud.

I mixed it with distilled water to loosen it consistency in order to strain out the seaweed, small pieces of clam/mussel shells and small rocks. The simmered it down to original consistency and introduced some myrrh and lavender oils to it. Put it up in some 4 oz jelly jars and water bathed it.

Heaven on earth!

Second crops and finding treasures

I should have posted this almost 2 weeks ago. But was not very diligent with the computer time.

I’m so happy that the second crop of peas is blossoming out. I wasn’t sure if they would with all the heat we’ve been having. These blossoms are so pretty. I wish they would last for flower arrangements.

We hated to do this but had no choice. With the amount of overgrowth between the garden and the picket fence, there was no telling what was a “good” plant and what was a weed. And then there would be the issue of getting to it! So Joe weed wacked the entire bed. I’ll be waiting another week or two to see what begins to sprout and leaf out; dig up and pot what I want to save; then we will dig up all the roots in this area and replant. It is the only way to get through this bed that was neglected for 12 years. I’ve already found some lupine, a rose bush (which he didn’t whack and will remain where it is), chives, irises, some variegated euonymus, and phlox. It is truly like opening boxes on Christmas morning.

Tomorrow I will get caught up in the garden after being away for 10 days. Thank you Joe for keeping up with the watering and weeding. I knew there was a reason I loved this guy. :-)