The three of us (Mike, Nellie, and I) made a day-trip to the farm yesterday. We took four baby fir trees that we planted in town last year in hopes of giving them a head start, and Mike planted them behind the woodshed near the upside-down outhouse. If the summer is long, hot, and dry, we will be able to water them and provide extra care.
The first thing I did was to check out the daffodils in the grove. Here you see that the first ones are just beginning to bloom. The process will take three weeks or a month as the various plants come into bloom. The more shaded patches will bloom last. These daffodils may have been planted in the beginning but are growing wild now.
Nellie amble
d up as I was taking this picture of my Crown Imperial Frittalaria. A relatively expensive bulb, it emits an odor that is supposed to repel rodents. I planted four and transplanted a number from a neighboring homestead that was being dismantled. However, I can't tell that the rodents are repelled. In fact, I think they were able to hold their noses long enough to chew up my bulbs!Until a few years ago, Mike cherished fond hopes of a beautiful, lush lawn, seeking advice as to how to go about seeding and caring for it. I finally suggested he leave well enough alone. You can work so hard in this environment and it all comes to naught in a trice. If the deer don't get it, the rodents will. The farmyard amounts to about an acre of ground, so keeping it manageable is important. I'd love to have flowers and vegetables, but my thumb isn't too green and we think of our backs when it comes to back-breaking work. (Or, maybe I should say, we think of Mike's back.) Still, we keep trying and it makes for experience. The soil is clay here, and yesterday we reminded ourselves that there's only a short window of opportunity in the spring when the ground is soft enough to be worked.
So, after we finished our chores – Mike sprayed the lane with ground sterilant and I cleaned out a flower bed and poisoned rodent holes – we took a 4-wheeler ride over the property, Nellie running along with us, before driving back to the valley. Today Nellie is tired and sleeping on her pillow in front of the fire. KW
3 comments:
Looks like it was a beautiful day. I love daffodils--they are my favorite flower, I think. Something about them has always made me feel happy.
A ride on the 4-wheeler sounds like the perfect way to end the day.
I don't have a green thumb either. I think mine's brown, and I tell Dan that if I mess with a plant it's the kiss of death. None of the plants around here, indoors or out, would be alive if it weren't for Dan.
When I garden, I definitely hope for the best rather than being scientific and ordered in my approach. Let's face it -- a good garden doesn't just happen. It takes work. And I always say it helps to be a good putterer -- someone who visits the garden regularly just to see what's needed and then provide it.
Can you smell that flower? Is it foul? I discovered a flower when hiking once that smelled exactly like poo. Can you believe it?! Poo.
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