dalthauser

Going to start recording garden notes again now that I'm back on Livejournal. Past notes over the years proved to be so helpful when I needed data.

This year the data may be skewed because of the wet spring we had. (I need to make a post with thoughts about this year compared to my first "magic" year in this garden - - it's a memory I want to keep)

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Noticed in the garden today:

Cucumbers and Pole Beans are flowering (Marcel said he saw the beginnings of beans on some of the vines)

Lettuce is starting to falter. Looks like the Batva is going strong, the Oak Leaf Salad Bowl still good - but can tell it's a matter of time, the Romaine has had it.

Tomatoes still flowering and fruiting. Might have some ripe maters in a week. I need to "treat" them with more epsom salt this week. With all the rain we've had - they might be running low on magnesium to prevent blossom end rot.

All my flowering perennials are flowering except the yarrow. I have not seen a bee on any of them yet, but they are all still rather small. I know the bees are here because they have polinated the vegetable garden and the blackberries.

Speaking of blackberries - blossoming is over, and now we have lots of starter berries on the canes.

Many Many blooms on the Pomegranate trees

Summer Squash are still flourishing. Both yellow and green have blooms and small fruit. I'm awaiting the dreaded vine borer death wilt any day now - - or will I be passed over this year? If I am passed over, is it a fluke or did my aggressive mulching work? These are things I lose sleep over.....

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Today I planted black eyed peas in the following locations:

Soaked for about an hour: 1st Row Right side main garden & Flower Bed closest to Play House

Unsoaked: 1st Row left side

In order to make room to plant the beans I had to harvest quite a bit of lettuce out of the rows. I brought it over to my neighbor Jerry - he has lots of friends that he can share them with. He, in return, gave me some deer stew meat, deer sausage, and pork sausage. Awesome!

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Most evenings Marcel and I end the day sitting on the swing under the tree. Right now it's hard to get up and go into the house because the fireflies (lightening bugs?) are EVERYWHERE. It's like being in a Disney movie. I love that Marcel appreciates these little things as much as I do (probably more). I wonder if the heavy amounts of rain we've had has something to do with the population?

We were blessed with rain this spring. We had yet more last night. Halleluja!
Rain means so much to me since how the plant life on the homestead fares is much influenced. There is a difference between rain water and well or city water. Rain water is not processed or treated, and it is designed by nature to hydrate life (mammals drink it - plants absorb it).

The homestead garden is looking gorgeous. We've harvested a huge amount of lettuce, radishes, and swiss chard. The summer squash, peppers, and tomatoes got a massive early boost. The blackberries, grapes, and fruit trees also have hit the ground running. EVERYTHING is just flourishing!

This spring we discovered that we have five total Mulberry trees. I knew I had the one over the chicken coop. I didn't even know I had that one until about 3 years ago. A couple weeks ago Marcel was walking the property perimeter and found the others along the fenceline. I don't know how I/we missed them before because they aren't babies - they must be several years old. My only thought is that they started producing fruit when we were down in Corpus Christi. Well, however it happened - we are thrilled. We collected enough to make a few pints of Mulberry Jam. Next year I am going to make syrup to add to water for drinking.

My friend Bea has a Loquat tree. We harvested a lot from it and processed them into juice. We froze it for now. Not sure whether we want to make syrup or wine from it. Loquats grow well here, and many folks have them in their yard. We are deciding whether we want to grow one or simply barter with people who have them already.

Marcel and I both share the same feeling inside right now - it's a blend of happiness, gratitude, enthusiasm, and a general feeling of well-being. Not just about the good weather. About everything. It's not that things are perfect. There are still daily challenges and setbacks. It just feels like we've arrived at where we are supposed to be in life. We are both looking forward to the future.