LAST COVER

We've been busy getting the lower gardens ready for planting. Yesterday we moved the water tank into position and planted rye grass between the chicken coop and fenced garden. Today we will plant potatoes and get more wood chips.

After several days of cold freezing temperatures we lifted the fleece to check on our plants. Looks like they all survived and are doing well. Our homemade mini greenhouses seem to provide the protection we need to extend our growing season.

This bed was started several weeks after the one above and so the plants are not as far along. We wanted to stagger the lettuce so it doesn't all reach maturity at the same time.

These are our beds, wrapped and closed for the night. Not fancy but functional and successful. Today we will do something similar with our tomato beds and get those plants outside. It's amazing how humid and warm it gets inside the beds on a sunny day.

This hairy woodpecker is a frequent evening visitor. For some reason he likes our deck posts and tries to poke the sunflower seeds into the holes he makes. Like us he's thinking and getting ready for those cold days that will return far too soon.

Stay safe and well everyone and thanks for stopping by.

DOGWOOD

Sherri gave us some dogwood and currant bushes so Tuesday we spent the morning adding them to our gardens down by the pond.

The elderberry bushes we planted 3 years ago all have new sideshoots which is a good sign. Last year we picked 4 pounds or 1.8 kg of berries from 6 little bushes; this year we hope to double that harvest.

To plant the dogwood we simply opened the soil with the spade, inserted the stem and repacked the soil with our boots; simple, easy and successful.

The currant bushes came with an extensive root system so a proper hole had to be dug. I was impressed with the depth and health of the soil.

The pussy willows we collected a month ago finally got planted at the north end of the garden. Mary's dad grew pussy willows so this is a garden in his memory.

While Mary finished up in the gardens I went looking for a suitable tree to use as a beam in the chicken coop. Once I get the old roof completely removed I will use the bobcat to lift this beam into place.

It was a successful start to the day and we still had some energy to complete more garden work up by the house. When the sun is shining and the bugs are still hibernating we work.

Thanks for stopping by everyone and keeping an eye on us.

Safe travels and stay healthy.

WE HAD IT ALL

Today we had it all; sunshine, rain, snow and hail. Every hour it changed and if you didn't like what was happening just wait an hour and it will change again.

We have a pair of nesting rose breasted grosbeak visiting our feeders these days. This is the female easily identified by her lighter plumage. I'll try and get a picture of the male but so far he has eluded me.

Made a quick trip to Hamilton yesterday. Stopped here for lunch. Best burgers in town. Thanks for the suggestion Maggie.

The remainder of the week is to be warm and sunny so more outside jobs will be added to our list.

Trust everyone is staying healthy and safe.

Thanks for stopping by.

POTATOES and ASPARAGUS

We've been busy getting our garden beds ready for planting.

These bags of wood shavings come from our local lumberyard and help keep our beds and paths clean and organized.

With the wood shavings and cardboard underneath the amount of weeding we need to do should be greatly reduced.

Our asparagus beds got a thin coat of compost and we noticed the first asparagus spears are poking through.

The "heugal" hills were covered with black tarps to kill the weeds and will stay like that for a month. Then we will plant zucchini and pumpkin which do well.

This week I want to get the roof beam replaced in the chicken coop (you see in the background)  and start on the roof. Our chickens arrive June 24th so lots of time to get the job done.

As Dad would say' "Always something"

Stay safe and well everyone and thanks for stopping by.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Spring disappeared yesterday, buried beneath a blanket of snow.

Our gardens are dressed for winter, wrapped in plastic under an old blanket and a fresh layer of snow.

It will be a few more days before these seed potatoes get planted. Today it's -5*C, much too cold for working in the garden.

Guess it's back to splitting wood.

Fire is on, we are warm. Stay safe and well everyone.

VEGETABLE GARDEN

Here it is May 8th, 6:30 a.m. and ice covers everything.

We have four raised garden beds full of young plants that are somewhat tolerant of cold weather; lettuce, radishes, kale. So we shall see later this morning how hardy they are.

Yesterday we filled our tomato beds with fresh compost then wrapped them under a tarp to kill any weeds. It will be another month before the tomatoes go in and then this bed will  be wrapped in clear plastic to create a mini-greenhouse.

We also spread a fresh layer of compost on the potato bed and today we plan to put down cardboard around the perimeter then cover the bed with the tarp lying to the right. The seed potatoes will be planted next week when our weather warms up.

This year we have embraced the "NO DIG" approach to gardening which our daughter uses and has had great success with. I'll share more as our growing season progresses.

Stay safe and well and thanks for stopping by.

PLANTING ELDERBERRIES

Our days are busy even though Kate and Owen have gone home. This evening after supper we decided it was time to transplant the elderberry shoots. We collected these back in March and now that they have roots we can plant them outside.

Mary gave directions as to where she wanted each pot placed as she had more than 40 shoots to transplant.

.

I dug the holes .......................................

while Mary did the planting.

She also tied red tape to each clump so I don't accidently mow them down next time I'm cutting weeds.

Job is done, now it's time for a movie and some popcorn.

Enjoy the evening and stay safe everyone.