Monday, May 16, 2011

Hello from sunny Wisconsin!

Good morning! I am so glad to sit down and have a quick cup of tea and catch up with what is going on in your area. I have heard that the rhubarb is really growing for some folks, ours is alittle behind but it has kicked into gear now that we have had some warm sun on them. The transplant from my friend Linda is actually bigger then the one I planted 2 years ago, so I am hoping with some compaby the little plant will take off this year! Plus I put some manure on them and stuck tires around them to warm them up some. I couldn't even find them at first because the grass had taken over that area! I  bought some more Rhubarb, in a bag ( never done that before) and so I planted that out there as well- guess we will see if it grows. I love rhubarb and would love to get some from my own yard ...... someday!

The peonies in some folks yards are really BIG!  Mine however are not! I did see that the main peony that was here when I moved in came back this year. It has never gotten  big or flowered so last year I took some off of the root and put them in the back garden. I see the one transplant came up this year, I still have to find the other  one. I really have not spent to much time in the back garden yet as I am trying to get the side garden put in! I really want big peonies as my great grandmother always had beautiful peony bushes. Matter of fact my Aunt Claudia ( her daughter) has peonies that came off the original plants.

Yesterday I did get the front and the side lawn mowed. I have to brag - I was the first in the neighborhood to mow!! That really is bragging rights because I never am the first to do it, my lawn does get alittle shaggy at times, and when I was working fulltime I did not have the time to mow! So anyway the Lampert family beat the guys to it yesterday and then I think they felt guilty because they came out looked over here and then when and fired the mowers up!

After mowing the long side of the driveway where the garden is going in I went and started laying down the weed fabric. Not as hard as I thought it would be, although the breeze did not help things out at times. It is putsy tho, which is a little irritating, but if it helps me to keep the grass and the weeds down I am game for it. I am putting the fabric down because the grass in this lawn is super thick! I would kill myself if I dug it up, I did try tilling it with a tractor,- which got me one planting season that  I pulled grass and weeds all summer long! This year I am doing the fabric to control the weeds, and mulch the grass underneath the fabric, less work hopefully for me. Like I said in earlier post this is a year of trying new things out, the fabric is a new thing. I have heard about those that use it and I see bigger veggie farmers using it so I am going to try it. So far the 8 tomatoes, 4 cabbage, 4 cauliflower look really nice. As you can see in the one picture there was no fencing up yet, and the grass has been cut , but you see what I am working with- land that is just grass. That is why we are doing the weed fabric- this will be garden( whatever is mowed).


                                              starting the planting of cabbage,tomatoes, cauliflower in the weed fabric.

a close up of the plants in this area right now


2 tires of onions (left) 4 of potatoes

Some things I am trying are working good, the onions in the tires are growing and have broken through, the potatoes are growing in their tires as well. I did fence these in yesterday as I have some geese and chickens who are helping me garden!!  I threw the grass right on top of the spuds to mulch them. So far the tires have soil, manure, wood pellets that got wet and grass- sort of like lasagna gardening.

As you can see we added the planters that have flowers in them for some color. The flowers will get moved around as the garden expands, but we needed something out there to make it look pretty. Plus we planted the dahlias that I bought from the greenhouse in there as well. I have to look to see if these are dahlias that will grow the tubers (like the dahlias I don't have planted yet) or if they are just annual flowers that will not reproduce. Anybody know anything about the difference? I felt themas they were planted and I felt no tuners so I am expecting them to just be a seed flower. Anyway they are pretty ad they are planted!

marigolds and litttle flowers that look like daisies


3 different dahlias

Well that was yesterday getting things "growing" around here. I am off to work in the yard. I will post pictures of the tires at the end of the driveway that we got planted yesterday. Any other pics I might take today. Go have fun in your gardens!!
Remember plant acouple extra rows of food to share with someone, you'll both be better for it.


Just another so you can see it a little better








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