Blossoms, fruit, and shoots

All the plants are really enjoying the warmer weather we've had over the last week.  Here's a bit of what we've got growing.  Happy Friday, all!


Strawberries are starting to color up.

Little apples are forming on the old apple tree and both of the columnars.

Some of the beans are up...

And some are still trying.

Some baby peppers are forming.

My thornless blackberry is starting to bloom.  This was a gift from a dear friend who passed away a little more than a year ago.  I also have one started directly from his own thornless, and a couple grandbabies of that baby.  I remember my friend fondly every time I see these.

Blueberries are still blooming.

Chives are tasty AND pretty!

Currants are doing well in their new home.

Hops are growing rapidly.

This lavender was here when we moved in, and has come back from the dead with a little bit of care.

LJ's potatoes are peeking above the soil.

And we may get a few raspberries this year.  Woohoo!

We're going to finish up the icky chicky's chicken tractor this weekend, and I'll try to post pics next week.  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Weekends and growing things, happy thoughts

What a week! My car was rear-ended on Tuesday (everyone's fine, and totally not my fault). Work was SLOW... Lots of filing and forms. Rain started again. I got lost downtown and thus was stuck in construction traffic for an hour yesterday (I despise downtown P-town). It is going to rain all weekend. BUT...

The weekend is here. I'm sleeping in tomorrow. I'm going to cook a ham. Then, I'm going to make split pea soup with ham. Mmmmm... The old beat up apple tree finally has flower buds showing (yay). The columnar buds are getting ready to open. The barerroot trees I planted a few weeks ago are covered in leaves. The rabbits haven't figured a way through the fence around my peas. The juncos didn't eat all the grass seed, as little green spikes are starting to break through the dirt in the future goose pen. The wisteria finally has some buds showing, as do the lilacs. The water is beading up on little goose backs. I'm going to enjoy our most awesome place this weekend. I'm going to plant flowers. Rain or shine. Break time is over. Gotta finish up the workday. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Apple transplant, beautiful day!

So, I have two columnar apple trees. I bought them bareroot around 3-4 years ago, and got my first apples off of the Golden Sentinel last year. I'm hoping the Northpole will fruit this year. I had them in large plastic pots from Home Depot that turned out to be the crappiest pots on the face of the earth. The pots weathered quickly in the sun, and went to pieces. One of the pots had crumbled well past the soil line. Soooo, I wanted to repot, and we bought a couple wine half casks. The trees have quite a few leaves, and lots of buds that haven't yet opened. I didn't want to disturb them so close to blooming, but they desperately needed new pots. So, I bit the bullet and went for it. A couple whacks with the shovel, and the pots disintegrated. LJ and I managed to wrestle the trees into their new homes without too much difficulty, and without knocking off any of the pending blossoms. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they weren't rootbound. I couldn't see any roots around the outside other than a few thread thin bits. Good to see, as I hopefully haven't disturbed them too much by repotting. Fingers crossed! We placed the new planters out near the big apple tree, and perhaps they'll help each other out.

Was a beautiful weekend. I went to the spring garden fair with Paula, KT, David, and Mallory. We had a great time, and I'll detail later what I brought home. Got the lawn mowed this weekend, and the front yard is now fenced for the geese. They're loving the chance to stretch their legs and munch on some spring grass.

Anyhoo, time to get some steaks a grillin. Lovely weekend!

Goslings growing, piggy injury, springtime fun

Not too much going on lately, so not much to post.

Arnold turned up limping a couple days ago. He wouldn't put weight on one hind leg unless he absolutely had to. He was eating well, and we couldn't see any obvious sign of injury, so we gave it a day to see if it improved. Luckily, he was better the next day, and is just fine now. Must've just pulled something trying to leap over a log. :)

The pigs have rooted through the woods to the back of their pen, and many places in between. They're doing a great job of clearing the area out, and must be eating the baby blackberries, as I haven't seen masses of them in the pen (they are nearly everywhere else on the property).

The goslings are growing nearly as fast as the blackberries. They are almost fully feathered now, and getting a bit heavy to lug outside every afternoon for their grazing time. We are going to try and get a fence up around the yard this weekend, so they can start spending most of their time outside. Their oil glands are up and running, but they haven't yet preened themselves all nice and water resistant yet. Still end up totally waterlogged. They've been bathing in a tub every day when we take them out. Afro absolutely loves the water, and totally hogs the tub. She has a mohawk Afro now, as her cheek and most of her neck feathers have come in, except for the top of her head and down the back of her neck. It's pretty funny. The goose babies will soon be spending all their time outside. Sweet Boy has proven that he is willing to protect his girls. He lets them know when he sees a hawk, and even went after the cat (hissing at her). Skid appears to be appropriately afraid of the crazy feathered monsters. :)

Everything is finally starting to bloom. There appears to be some sort of cherry tree in the back yard. Go figure. I guess we'll see if it fruits. My columnar apples are just about to bloom. Hoping to get fruit off of both of them this year. The poor old apple tree in the backyard seems to be doing well. We liberated it last fall from the blackberries that were engulfing it, and cut back the trees that were around it so it would get some sun. Poor thing was covered in moss, had very few leaves, and desperately needed a heavy pruning.

Now, freestanding in the sunshine, pruned, it is covered in leaves and getting ready to blossom. We only saw one little lonely fruit at the top of the tree last fall. Perhaps it will do better this year. :)

Heading to the garden show tomorrow with KT and Paula. Should be lots of fun, and I'm probably going to spend waaaaaay to much. That's alright, though. Not like we don't have the room for more plants!

I'm spending the last bit of my day helping out another department, answering phones. Answering phones, staring out the window, and reading blog posts. Not the worst way to end the week. Not the best, but it'll do. Happy Friday!