Inside My Secret Garden...Day-to-Day Living at Cairnwood Cottage: Spring Marches On

I've been so busy working in the garden lately that I haven't had the time to sit my rear end down and update my gardening progress. Well, that's not entirely true, because one day last week it rained and I made an entry here with tons of photos. Then, the power went out and apparently the"auto save" that occurs didn't work because none of it was saved. So there I sat with a blank screen.

I'm uploading the photos again. Of course now everything looks different because that's the way of spring...it changes faster than those little peeps I got on the 15th.

Ameraucana peep roosting on the food trough

Welsummer pullets roosting on the food trough

Speaking of the peeps, they're growing and changing fast! The one little Welsummer pullet that had been acting sickly did eventually die, sadly, though she is the only one I lost. The rest seem to be thriving. They're at that awkward stage now where they're sporting feathers but still have a lot of their "fuzz". They take turns flying off the top of the feed trough; they remind me of kids on a playground lining up to go down the slide, one after the other in swift succession. Zoom, zoom, zoom, off they go flying into the crowd below which causes an uproar of chirping from the ones that just got crashed into. I could watch them for hours.

The forsythia have been in bloom for the past three weeks, as have the daffodils. The dogwoods in the woods began blooming this past week, and just in the last two or three days the pear tree has burst into bloom. The little apricot tree that I planted two weeks ago is sporting about a half dozen blooms. The redbud is on the verge of blooming. Redbud flowers are edible, and I can't wait to add those to a salad...imagine how gorgeous that will be!

Redbuds preparing to bloom

I picked up my order from the Conservation District on April 22. From them I received 4 Niagara grape vines, 3 Concord grape vines, 6 blueberry bushes (3 Blueray and 3 Bluecrop), 5 Black Satin thornless blackberries, 25 Tribute (everbearing) strawberry plants, 25 Cavendish strawberry plants, and a rain barrel. I got the blueberries and blackberries planted the same day I picked them up. The grapes I've potted up until I get the vineyard prepared properly, and the strawberries are still languishing in their little bags. I need more time.....

On Thursday the 23rd I planted my potatoes. One raised bed was planted with Yukon Gold, approx 25 hills. Another raised bed is home to 8 hills of Shepody, 12 hills of Russian Banana, and 7 hills of Red Gold potatoes. A third raised bed is half full of 12 hills of French Fingerlings.

The Alaska peas I planted on the 13th are beginning to break through the soil and reach for the sky. I can't wait for those guys to reach the edible stage! And I've been enjoying fresh asparagus since the 21st when I harvested my first spears of the season.

On that happy note, I will leave you with a few more photos of Springtime at Cairnwood....