A Day at the Farm 03/04/2011

• Here are some more pictures of my pretty Erlicheer daffodils.

I cut back some more of my ornamental grasses. I am about halfway through with the task.

I sprayed herbicide in The Orchard and the Rose Garden.

I sprayed fungicide on my roses. I am worried that I added too much chemical to the mix. I'll show up next weekend and they will all be dead.

I caught some carpenter ants eating my Mdm Isaac Perreire rose. They were about halfway through with stripping it. I followed the ant trail back to the main nest and poisoned it. It was deep in the woods of the property next door. Hopefully I have deterred them sufficiently. I didn't have any trouble with them last year.

Planted 12 tomato plants: 2 Celebrity, 2 Betterboy, a Bradley Pink, 2 Beef Master, a Super Fantastic, a Pineapple, a Black Krim, A husk Red Cherry, and a San Marzano.

Planted a Golden Bell Pepper and a California Wonder Bell Pepper, a Fairy Tale Eggplant, and an Ichibahn Eggplant, a Hot Red Cherry pepper plant, and a Big Jim pepper plant. I have some beets growing. I plan to sow some corn, cucumber, patty pan squash, and pumpkin in the next couple of weeks. That will be my spring garden - along with the asparagus.

I gave my Kitchen Herb Garden a much needed freshening up. Planted several kinds of thyme, a Spice Island rosemary plant, 2 cinnamon basil, 2 kinds of oregano (Hot and Spicy and Zorba Red). In that garden I am also growing sage, mint, arugula, chives, marjoram, and parsley.

I spread a weed and feed in the lawn around the house.

I fertilized my peaches, plums, apples and blueberries with cottonseed meal. Six pounds around each of the six trees and 2 cups around each of the blueberries.

I also fertilized some of my roses - Bailey Red, Valentine, 4 Belinda's Dream, Bermuda's Kathleen, Lady Hillingdon, Living Easy, Champney's Pink Cluster, and Bluch Noisette.

Pulled weeds.

Fertilized the asparagus in the Vegetable Garden and the Columbine in the Shade Garden.

Cut away dead vegetation in the Shade Garden.

Moved around the sprinklers in the Rose Garden to get better coverage.