Today was full of sunshine although not nearly as warm as yesterday. I still stripped down to my short sleeve t-shirt while working in the garden.
Papa Pea cultivated the whole field garden for me so now I can get those taters planted and trellises up and ready for pea planting.
He also ran the cultivator over the area that we've been prepping for two years for more blueberry and possibly haskap berry bushes. We have six blueberry bushes ordered that we should be able to pick up this Saturday. They will go in the cultivated area behind the third white stake you see in the above picture. The three white stakes mark our little haskap berry bushes we planted last year. I'm delighted to report they all made it through their first winter and are putting out new buds and leaves.
Maybe I should hold a contest to see what you all think these newly constructed frames are for. They will eventually go in the garden when they're completed. They still need to have screening attached to the sides and tops. Any guesses?
If you read in a previous post about our new (and hopefully successful) idea of protecting broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage from the dreaded cabbage moth that lays those dreaded eggs on such plants which hatch out into those dreaded worms that ultimately end up on my plate (eeeeeuuw!), you may have garnered a hint as to what these structures are for.
They will sit on top (and be fastened in some manner so they don't blow off into the next county) of 4' x 8' raised beds and the screening will keep the moths from getting to the plants underneath. Clear as mud? It will be more understandable once these contraptions are finished and in place. I promise more pictures then.
I have now reached the bottom of my glass of white wine and I'm hoping I can stand up and make it into the kitchen to heat up some fish chowder for dinner. Well, the chowder will be for my dinner. When the chowder was served the first time around, Papa Pea saw a bone in a piece of the fish and will indulge in it no more. (He had a really bad experience with a fish bone caught in his throat when he was a wee lad and it proved to be a traumatic experience for him.) He has requested a cheese sandwich for dinner which I am glad to make for him. If I can stand up and make it into the kitchen.
22 comments:
ok, I think I would have made them taller with a door, or short enough that 2 people could move them off to the side. Unless, you plan on harvesting all plants at once. We must have sent you some of our hot weather, can you believe it is overcast today and breezy and cooler feeling than the high of 80 degrees my thermometer is showing.
Oh Mama Pea, the garden looks wonderful. I too was reticent in making dinner for my beloved one this week, & it just completely slipped my mind. He didn't appreciate my suggestion of PB&J for dinner since I had just stopped at the store 2 hours earlier (for things to make later in the week, for company picnic). I swear, I didn't intentionally forget, that night's dinner just wasn't on my mind. Early Dementia?
Your gardens look fabulous! I wish I had a piece of land big enough to have some gardens like yours. My grandma used to have a huge garden and the cherry orchard along with many other fruits and berry bushes. But her first love was flowers so of course her name was Violet.
I hope your weather continues to be good so you can get all your garden work done. Then it's on to watering and weeding until they produce and then it's total madness until winter. LOL!
70's? I'm surprised you weren't out in your bathing suit!
So, exactly what is a haskap berry? Or are you going to make me google it??
I say get another glass of wine @;)
Love the garden pics!
Those frames look like the start of our chicken tractor
Tombstone Livestock - The fiberglass screening isn't on the frames yet, but so far with a person on each end, they are still easy to move. Hope that really does work 'cause I know I'll want to get to the weeds, etc. more than a couple of times during the season . . . and then there is the periodic harvesting. (If it doesn't work, I'm calling you to come for help!)
Wa-hoo for your tolerable temps!
DFW - Isn't it funny when you're the cook, PB&J sounds totally passable?? No, you're not suffering early dementia. It's just that with the 4,006 household-y things to be done each and every day, sometimes meals slip through the cracks. I know, sounds impossible but our brains cannot be expected to hold all we have to hold these days! (That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.)
Sparkless - You just gave a perfectly accurate synopsis of the whole gardening season! We really appreciate our little place here. Mostly woods, but we've carved out enough space to grow a lot. And we appreciate and enjoy it. A lot.
Carolyn - Bathing suit? Heck, Ah were buck nekkid! (Not. But I could have been since no bugs are out yet!!)
Haskap berries (yes, m'dear, go Google 'em) are like an elongated blueberry and just chock full of good nutrients for us. Have we ever tasted one? Nope. That's why we planted only three of them last year. They supposedly grow very well up here. Do you have wild (or domestic) blueberries by you? Or is it too warm in your climate?
Tami - I was so tuckered from garden work yesterday that one more glass of wine would have put me flat out. I didn't even want much dinner because of tiredness. 'Course, then you know my stomach was growling from hunger when I crawled into bed. Fortunately, I passed out right away and didn't get up to raid the refrigerator.
Kristina - For sure! Also runs for all kinds of ani-mules! Rabbits maybe? I commented that anyone seeing them would be wondering what new creatures were set to arrive on ye ol' homestead!
Nothing more disgusting than getting ready to serve some cooked broccoli and see the cabbage worms falling off...now that they are cooked! At least with cauliflower...you can see them in advance. Extra protein, right!! :)
Those frames are an excellent idea! So much easier than messing around with hoops, loops and covers. Which, of course, I do every year. Maybe I should put "Pea Family Frames" on my to-do list for next year? I would have been happy to share that fish chowder with you - I just love me some fish chowder. With white wine, of course.
P.S. How did your bees make it through the winter?
*sigh* I have such dirt envy....! Your dirt always looks so beautiful to me. Deep, dark brown all ready to grow delicious vegetables for you and Papa Pea. One thing about gardeners is that we have to be flexible, adaptable and ready to think-outside-the-box at any minute and your cages sound like a fantastic idea. Hope they will be successful for you. Those buggy critters are why I don't even try cabbage, broccoli or the like.
FoxyLady - My husband is non-fazed and claims the worms are protein, but that ends my meal right there!
Susan - Better wait to see how successful the Pea Family Frames are before putting them on your to-do list!
Lisa - The cabbage moth is one insect I'd like to see go away! They do such damage to so many yummy vegetables. Ain't fair, I tell ya, it ain't fair!
Hold on to your hat . . . new post coming up about D-I-R-T!
Susan - In a nutshell, we went into winter with 4 hives and 3 nucs. We now have 3 hives and 1 nuc. Not bad considering the poor bees had to make it through that awful, long, cold, snowy spring after winter. We did feed a little to help them make it.
Wow, love all of your gardening space!
The Weekend Homesteader - Thank you! It's all the more appreciated by us when you know it was one huge graveled parking area for trucks when we bought the place!
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