@ronaldajones61
Retired teacher, horticulturalist. Interests: life-long learning, organic farming, permaculture, long distance backpacking, camping, domestic travel, reading mysteries, baking, eating. Creating my little heaven on a century-and-a-half-old 2 acre farmstead.
Long row where sod has been removed from the vibrant green grass and young raspberry plants have been planted. Row is on the west side of an old unpainted barn, and some of the row is barely in the edge of the shade from the barn.
Planted 54 #raspberry bushes (ten different varieties!) today! Thanks to a generous overpack from Michigan grower #Hartmannsplantcompany I need to create more bed to plant 15 more!
Young apple tree showing new leaves against a deep blue sky. The tree still has its tag on the stem, plus white rabbit guard wrapped around the lower trunk.
Three young cherry trees with many new leaves. In the background are some woods, a silver barn, and a deep blue sky.
The newly planted young apple trees are leafing out now, with the peaches somewhat reluctantly following along, while the cherries are far ahead. My raspberry plants have arrived and will get planted today or tomorrow. It looks to be an absolutely gorgeous weekend in mid-Michigan.
Today we planted 13 apple trees. Still much to do to clean up the beds and protect them from those wascally wabbits. I expect my raspberries to arrive any day now, and I’m not ready to plant those yet. And my vegetable garden isn’t ready for planting peas either. Always work to do on the microfarm!
We have spent significant time & energy over the past several days to plant more than 90 8’ T-posts and hang more than 900’ of tenax fencing so that I can plant my two dozen fruit saplings and believe, perhaps naively, that they might not become instant deer dinner at dawn. Tomorrow is planting day.
I had a dear friend in college, Robin, with whom I have long ago lost touch, who could do this extremely well. She could wiggle her ears independently too.
Sweet pea seedlings planted in front of a silver wire trellis against a red barn that obviously needs some paint this summer.
I planted about a dozen sweet peas along the east side of the garage barn. I have another dozen, but I’ll wait until after these are eaten before I plant those.
A bed of more than one hundred bright yellow daffodils at peak bloom
It has taken awhile, but finally my bed of Rijnveld’s Early Sensation narcissi have reached peak bloom. @gretaknits #narcissi #daffodils #bloomscrolling #puremichigan #springbulbs #spring
I have exactly twice as many crocuses in bloom at my farm than I did last year. Here you see them all.
The most recent owners weren’t much into landscaping, but I’m doing my best to change that. I plan to add about a thousand more spring-blooming bulbs this fall.
This worker bee wandered around the outside of the cup of this Rijnveld’s Early Sensation narcissus for several minutes before discovering that the good stuff is inside the flower. But he finally figured it out. #narcissus #daffodil #puremichigan #flowercloseup #bloomscrolling #busybee #bee #bees
Yes, that’s snow in the background this morning. #daffodils #narcissi #spring #springbulbs #puremichigan #bloomscrolling
We’re getting close!
#daffodils #narcissi #bloomscrolling #middleofthemitten #springbulbs
Daffodils in Mid-Michigan!
These aren’t at my farm, they’re at my Mom’s in town much further south (about ten miles, lol). Mine are two or three days behind. #narcissi #bloomscrolling #springbulbs
The daffodil watch continues. Some are showing buds but no color. We’re expecting snow tomorrow and then much cooler for the next week which will slow them.
A closer look at a handful of purple iris reticulata
A closeup of a pair of purple iris reticulata
A couple closer looks at my iris reticulata #bloomscrolling #springbulbs #irisreticulata #iris #purpleflowers
About a dozen purple rock garden iris in bloom in front of tan lattice and white trim, with porch steps barely visible along right edge
Spring! Rock garden iris by my front steps!
Yesterday I planted seeds outside in Michigan. I don’t recall ever before planting outside in mid-March. I sowed bachelor’s buttons, larkspur, and sweet peas in my new border on the east side of my garage.
I know there are other seeds I could plant that tolerate or benefit from the cold.
First juicy pie, blueberry, out of the oven. Second, apple, apple, about to go in.
Happy Pi Day!
Additional progress: I staked out five rectangular beds ranging from 5x20 to 5x40 feet where in about a month I will be planting more than two dozen fruit trees using backyard orchard culture methods.
A newly dug garden border, in this picture about 15 feet wide by 4 feet deep, but extending out of frame to the left. Behind the border is the exterior wall of an old red barn raised on a couple concrete pillars. The bottom edge of the barn shows that it has not been painted in at least a few years (but maybe this summer?). At the left side of the picture is a shovel stuck vertically into the dark brown soil giving the viewer a sense of scale. In the foreground is grass that appears about ready to come out of winter dormancy soon.
Today’s garden progress: I started digging a new border on the east side of my garage barn. Within the next few days I’ll plant seeds for larkspur, bachelor’s buttons, and sweet peas. Then later I may add fragrant flowers like stocks, dianthus, nicotiana, freesia, moon flower, and sweet alyssum.
I realized this winter why I want to grow so many unharvested cuts.
My late wife was an artist including being an incredibly talented flower arranger. One of our retirement dreams was to have our little farm where we would grow flowers that she’d arrange and then paint.
I grow them for her.
I ordered about 50 different packets of flower seeds today from Pinetree Garden Seeds and Kitchen Garden Seeds to add to the two dozen I’d already bought at local retailers. I’ll have a wonderful cutting garden this summer even though usually I am content to enjoy the flowers uncut.
Just-sprouted tomato seedlings in peat strip cell packs beneath a fluorescent light.
Also, baby tomatoes!
Similar photo to one posted here less than a week ago, but now the daffodil plants are several inches taller.
Young daffodil plants against a nest stone house foundation. Plants were recently uncovered from their winter leaf mulch. Plants are etiolated (stretched and yellowed) but will recover and blossom soon anyway.
Daffodils are coming along nicely, including the ones up against the house foundation where I removed a foot of leaf mulch today.
I grew these particular columbines, McKana’s Giant Mix, from seed 40 years ago when we lived in a townhouse in A2. It took them two years to blossom but then we had complete strangers knocking on our door to ask about them. Worth the wait and a good way to meet your neighbors.
Today’s garden-related accomplishments: started sweet pea, carnation, and foxglove seeds, put lupine and delphinium seeds in the fridge for a week or so of cold moist stratification, and columbine seeds for cold dry stratification. Like the tomatoes from a week ago, just got to do some growing!
A patch of freshly raked bare earth with more than a hundred yellow-green sprouts of daffodils poking up. In the upper left is some mossy lawn and at the very top is the base of a large deciduous tree.
I raked the leaves off my daffodil bed this afternoon and look what I found! Spring!
My rather pathetic basement seed-starting set-up, with an old card table, a single heat mat, and some old jiffy strips. Started some mixed bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and jalapeños.
I don’t even care if these make it to the garden, at least I’m doing something spring-like and garden oriented.
Finally, signs of Spring in the middle of the Mitten! These are Narcissus ‘Rijnveld’s Early Sensation’, just about the earliest daffodil available, earlier by a week for me than others touted as the earliest like ‘February Gold’. They only last about five years, though, without heavy fertilization.
As we’ve learned more about apple genetics, we’ve learned that full early red color and good taste seem to be mutually exclusive.