It Takes a Seed

I planted these lupines in the greenhouse last year. I used a dozen seeds from a package I bought on sale and now I have clumps of lupine popping up all over!

These are near the greenhouse. The first photo was taken last week. The second, just a day or so ago. Can you see how quickly they're growing? I am so psyched to see the gorgeous flowers. And, since these are perennial, I'll have flowers every year without doing anything more than I've already done. Does it get any easier than that?

When the flowers arrive, I'll take more photos.

So much enjoyment, and all from a tiny little seed...

Breathtaking

Happy Saturday!

The Plan

Usually I scribble my "master plan" for the various gardens on paper scraps. The scraps first get tacked to a ledge in the greenhouse, then they get stuffed into my pocket during planting. The end result is I have a bunch of wrinkled, muddied, half-shredded scraps to use as reference for the following year's gardens.

This year, because I want to share the process with you, I actually printed out a plan for the big garden. I say "big garden" because square footage-wise, it's the biggest space. Yeah, we're pretty basic when it comes to gardening! Anyhow, you can see how we plan to plant the area. I've calculated about ten feet between rows so there should be decent walkways once everything grows in. I'm going to mulch the paths, and around the plants, to cut down on weeding. Although the space is large, once planted it should require very little maintenance. And since it's being filled with only half as many plants as it can accommodate, there should be lots of air circulation between things. Hopefully we'll have a good yield. Fingers crossed!

So if you're planning to plant a garden, be it large or small, I suggest first making a rough sketch of the project before you begin planting. It's much easier to move a row of tomatoes on paper than it is to do in real life. Trust me, I know. I've done it both ways and the eraser has definitely got the shovel beat!

If you plant it...

it will grow.

Last year we put in a small (a dozen plants) asparagus bed. It is a separate space, up near the greenhouse. We plant onions on one side of the bed, and put the asparagus on the other.

I haven't gotten a chance yet to weed or top-dress the spot, but the asparagus don't seem to mind. Last night we cut the first stalks.

I don't care for asparagus, but Hubby loves it. He steamed the first home-grown produce of the season and, with a huge, satisfied grin on his face, called them "the best asparagus ever." Hmm...makes me wonder if I shouldn't give this vegetable another try.

And look! The onions are beginning to grow, too!

Bushels and Bushels

Call it one of my break-from-reality moments, but when we were in Agway a few weeks ago I sptted the seed potatoes. The were separated by variety, in nice, fat piles near the checkout counter.

You know what comes next, don't you? That's right. I had one of those impulsive twitches, the kind where my hand darts out, seizes something and, before the rational mind can stop it, heads to the cashier.

*sigh*

Seed potatoes.

Of course, Hubby looked at me as if I'd sprouted an extra eye at the bridge of my nose.

"Potatoes? Why grow potatoes when we can get a whole bushel from the farm stand in October for $14? All that work? For fourteen dollars?"

I didn't remind him that the potatoes in my sack cost $2.65.

Gardening? It isn't all about the dollars and cents.

This year I'm growing potatoes in bushel baskets. I cut out the bottoms of the baskets, filled them with soil (after removing most of the rocks from the dirt), then halved and planted the potatoes. I planted four bushels, with four more potato mounds between the baskets.

Come October, we should have our own bushel of potatoes. Then we'll see who sprouted what, won't we?

Mimi's Tulips

Aren't they gorgeous?

Yellow? We Laugh at Yellow!

It's daffodil time here on the farm. Over the years we've planted hundreds of bulbs and a variety of daffodils. I won't bore you to tears by taking photos of every clump, but I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites.

One of the things I like most about daffodils is that once planted, they're pretty much self-sufficient. Deer don't eat them, which is a very good thing around here. They multiply without any outside interference, another positive. And the variety of shades of yellow, white, orange and pink is stunning.


The contrast between the centers and leaves on these is much more pronounced that the photo shows.



These are so delicate, and the cup so ruffled, that they look like the edges of a ball gown. I love these!

Pretty much the workhorse of the daffodil gardens, these yellow blooms are the ones most of us remember drawing pictures of with our Crayolas. I know I did. Did you?

The orange daffodils are due to open any day now. I'll try to remember to snap a photo of those for you to see.

Next year I'm planting pink daffodils. We have just a few of those, and they're so pretty that I decided to plant more. They're already ordered, and will come right when they need to be put in the ground.

I predict the day we've got to actually plant the new daffodils will be frigid, with howling winds and a gray, stormy sky. How do I know it will be that way? Because it always is on daffodil planting day. But these gorgeous blooms? They are worth frozen fingers and chapped cheeks!