Three Days at the Farm March 10 - 12, 2023

 

This is a little Johnny Jump Up.  They are already blooming.  I was hoping they would be blooming during the crawfish boil, but that's still a month away.  Best laid plans...

I took Friday as vacation and drove up early.  Bert was already here.  

I worked all day in the Orchard.  I weeded throughout.  I sowed zinnias and Cosmos in the Jujube bed and several other beds in the Orchard. 

Spot watered in the Rose Garden and the Long Border.  I watered the Witch Hazel and Parsley Hawthorn in the Rose Edge Border. 

Leaf cutter ants stripped one of my Ballerina roses.  There wasn't a single leaf on the plant.  I spread ant poison on the trail and around the rose box.

I stayed in the Rose Garden until dark pulling weeds, deadheading roses and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Saturday.  Up very early.  Planted 7 chili pequin in the Herb Garden.  They are native, perennial pepper plants.  They take shade very well, and the spot that I planted them gets a half day of shade.  Birds love the little peppers (apparently birds don't have taste buds - who knew?).  

I planted some Blue Grama grass plugs in the pool walkway bed (10 or so).  They are a native bunch grass.  I have had them since last season, and I finally put them somewhere. The seed heads on the grama grasses are horizontal which is really cute and different. 

I turned the soil in one of my 4 x 4 beds in the Vegetable Garden and planted 2 eggplants.  I planted several of my cockscomb seedlings in the garden that I started in peat pots.

Planted 3 Stevia in the Medicine Garden.  Cleo loves to nibble on the Stevia when she comes to visit.  Stevia is a tender perennial, my luck is spotty with getting it to return for a second year, and mine has never returned a third year. 

Bert and I met Mom, Dad, Nancy and Lisa in Brenham for lunch and them took a scenic drive through the countryside to our house.  Lots of bluebonnets and, my favorite, Indian Paintbrushes.  Coffee and cake and a walk through the garden and then they headed home.

I spent the rest of the late afternoon and into the evening walking and looking.  While it was still light, I watered in the Rose Garden.  I have to keep those seed beds from drying out.  Weeded here and there.  Planted several of the seedlings I have been growing in peat pots.  I got a flashlight and continued to walk around in the dark.  The coyotes were howling and yipping. These are the good days - March, April and the first part of May.  Then, it's so hot and humid, it's no fun to keep the day going into the darkness.  But right now, it's absolutely heaven.   

Sunday.  Up very early again, working at first light.

I spent the morning in the Star Garden pulling up Purple Phacelia.  I left a bunch to re-seed, but I pulled it up wherever it was crowding my new plants.  The whole morning I culled and un-crowded.  I dumped a wheelbarrow full of Purple Phacelia in the Meadow.   

I soaked some sphagnum moss in water.  Then I amended the soil with it and sowed Hyacinth Bean seeds (that I soaked for 2 nights) on the front arbor, the small trellis and the large trellis in the Star Garden, on the chain link fence in the Star Garden, and along one of the conveyor belts.   Since I was sowing seed in dry spots, I thought it might be a good idea to add sphagnum to the soil because it holds moisture so well.  It's an experiment.  

I sowed birds nest gourd seeds in several buckets in the Vegetable Garden.  I planted an Early Girl tomato in one of the beds.  Did some weeding.  Planted 3 marijuana plants that I started from seed.  And I sowed some cotton seeds that Bert collected from a cotton field he was passing by last year.  I thought the grandkids might get a kick out of it.  Sowed 2 rows of grey stripe sunflowers in the narrow 16 foot bed.  Picked lots of asparagus.  It's a bumper crop.  I filled in blank spots in the Lima Bean bed.  I sowed some hot pink Cleome seed in the potato bed.  Planted a pineapple sage in a bucket.  Planted a sweet basil in the tomato bed.  Sowed a packet of red lettuce. 

I spent more time in the Orchard.  I spread Cosmos and Polar Bear zinnias along the grape vine bed.  Pulled weeds.  I set up the sprinkler and watered my seed beds from today, yesterday and last week.

It's official.  I have gone organic.  No more Round Up.  I'm using 30% vinegar diluted with water by less than half, salt and dish soap.  More on that as time passes.  I sprayed the vinegar mix in the Water Garden, the Star Garden and the Rose Garden.  

Monday, Bert and I headed to the hill Country with Nancy and Lisa for 3 days.