Time at the Farm June 7 - 10, 2021

 

I love these gorgeous red cannas with the purple foliage. The skippers have been munching away on the leaves which makes the leaves look pretty raggedy.  That's okay.  We love insects around here.

• Monday.  Worked. 
• I sowed zinnia seeds throughout the Rose Garden in every empty spot.  And sowed some in the front bed.
• Picked several tomatoes in the Vegetable Garden.
• During the lunch hour I sprayed herbicide in the Orchard paths.  That was the last of my must-do activities to clean the place up in time for the next Airbnb guests.
• Weeded in the Dining Room bed.  There is a huge ant pile in there, so I ended up laying down some poison and retreating. 
• I erected a few chicken wire barriers in the Rose Garden.  
• Tuesday.  Worked.
• During the lunch hour I weeded in the Orchard.  And I pruned back the grape vines nearest the beehive.  I didn't do that section last time I was pruning grape vines because it was a cloudy day.  Bees are aggressive on cloudy days, and I didn't want to get too close to the hive.  I only cut away long vines that have no grapes on them when I prune in the summer.  I think it allows sun to get to the vines with grape clusters on them.
• I weeded in the Boardwalk Gardens close to the Orchard entrance.  I pulled up lots of blackberry canes that had sprouted up everywhere in there.  I weeded amongst my native lantanas and around the Victoria Falls iris and Red Wave cannas.  
• Watered lightly here and there in the Rose Garden just to keep my Fruity Pebbles lantana transplants moist.
• I watched butterflies for a while.  So beautiful.
• Drove around the property to see what I could see.  Lots of erosion in the trails from these latest rains. The Purple Pleatleaf are beginning to bloom.
• Wednesday.  Worked.
• I sprayed a little herbicide in Mom's Garden.  Filled the fountain with water.  
• Watered the hydrangeas in the Greenhouse Gardens.
• I harvested some more white larkspur seeds and spread them in Mom's Garden.
• Only one more day before we have to go back to Houston.  I miss this place so much when I'm not here.  
• I weeded for a bit in the Orchard.  It looks pretty good in there.  
• Weeded in the Dining Room bed.
• The old-timey hot pink phlox is beginning to bloom.  Sadly, since I will be gone over the weekend and through next week, I will miss its peak.  Perhaps I will come back on Sunday after our guests leave and drag the hoses around and check things out.  It will be a quick turnaround trip if that happens at all.
• Thursday.  Worked.  Drove home after the maid left.