Blueberries

A few years ago I brought the

garden club to a local blueberry grower so

he could teach us the art of trimming

blueberry bushes.

That year even though it was late in the season to trim I

gave mine a go.  My main older bushes had never been trimmed.

EVER!

And they were over 25 years old.

I remember he told us, if

you're not crying while you're trimming

you're not doing it properly.

Well I did cry, but it needed it

and the plants were better for it the next year.

Tonight I was a bit bored and I know, 

it's late in the season to trim the bushes but

I decided to give the larger bushes a haircut.

I took a picture of the before, but I didn't

take one of the after since you really wouldn't be 

able to tell the difference.

I really only trim the dead branches, branches that

are crossing and will rub and diseased branches.

And also these nasty appendages.

Witches brooms!

What a pain in the butt they are.

And you need to take them out. Pronto!

They suck the life out of your 

plants. 

We have about 15 high bush blueberries 

here on our property. 

We love blueberries.

Our soil and temperature in this area is

perfect for blueberries or anything that

needs acidic soil.

As I'm trimming, my shadow is following me and keeping

the rodents at bay.

Duke is my garden buddy.

When we're outside he's not far.

We also have a new couple that moved in with

Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth.

Canada Geese.

It's cool to watch them.

Mr. Goose makes sure his

lady is well protected when she eats.

He stands guard so she can dine in peace.

I hope they stay and raise a family by our lake.

I just hope they don't bring all their friends.

Because geese poop is HUGE!

Holy moly, it's bigger than our dogs' 

poop! Dave tells me I'll have

to start pooper scooping the geese poop

while I scoop the dogs' poop.

Ya, I don't think so. 

I found a place that sells Hellebores online!

So I ordered two, a black one and a white/pink one.

We are also going to start blackberries and raspberries

this year. We have the wood ordered for the beds.

I can't wait.  

We have also decided to raise meat kings again this year.

We haven't raised some in a long time but we're going

to raise some this year.  

The meat is so much better.  It's not necessarily

cheaper than the store but it's tastier.

That's about it for today. 

Have a Blessed evening.

Lisa

I've got sunshine....

It was a beautiful day today.

Birds are chirping away

I was able to go outside in just a light

spring jacket.  

And....

It's time to plant the seeds in my basement

grow-op.

Ya ya...don't worry the only thing I 

grow in there are tomatoes, peppers, 

pumpkins, flowers and squash.

This year I decided to try my hand at Echinacea.

A few years ago I saved seeds from my

flowers outside.  I knew they needed

stratification so I stuck them in the fridge

and promptly forgot about them till

last week.

Baby echinacea!

I planted the seeds and read in my seed book 

The complete guide to saving seeds which I 

recommend highly, if I did the correct thing.

Well I guess I didn't.  For echinacea I guess

you have to stratify the seeds, like I did,

but also plant them at a certain temperature for

two weeks, then another temperature

for another few weeks, howl at a waxing moon

while Haley's comet is in it's third orbit in the middle of

a snow  storm.  

Needless to say it's a snowball's chance in hell these are

going to germinate!

Well low  and behold!!  4  are popping out! I'm beyond

ecstatic and over that waxing moon I was supposed

to wait for.  

There's nothing better than whipping out a brand new pair 

of garden gloves. I recommend these ones

highly.  They are tough as nails.

The weather is so nice that the fan is going in the greenhouse.

So I figured that I'd give the greenhouse

a cleaning also.  We tried to get the water going

but it sprung a leak. There was probably a spot that

didn't drain and froze last winter. Dang.

One thing I did discover in the greenhouse

is if you plant marigolds, please take the seed heads

off the plants before the winter.

I don't think I'll  have to plant marigolds

this year...whoops.

Going to need some dirt in them thar beds.

Today was the  last sapping day.  We had a good run

but it's time to stop so we pulled all the splines out of the trees.

It was so nice today that I did a walkabout in our

backyard. My Hellebores is gorgeous, I'm so proud of them.

The goldfish all survived the winter except for one.

And I think Mr. and Mrs Duckworth are back!

Every year we have a mated pair of mallard

ducks that stay in our back yard  for a few  months

I chose to believe that it's the same 

pair  year after year, but since

they never show us their passports I can't be certain.

I tried taking a picture, but they were a bit camera shy.

If you look closely you can see Mr. Duckworth.

The bees are just a buzzing around and a bit cranky. 

So we're not bugging them too much these

days.  We need to give them some

pollen patties for a few weeks. 

The silver you see on the hive is insulation.

That will be coming off in a few weeks.

 Garlic is growing well. I hope we don't have the same problem as last year.

We had some type of bug chew little holes in most of it.

Didn't hurt it any,but it was unsightly

and we sell it. So we don't sell

products unless they're perfect

so we had a lot of left over garlic.

Well it's been a pretty productive day.

Tomorrow is chicken coop cleaning day

if the weather holds.

Have a Blessed evening

Lisa

Planning ahead

Someday, yes someday spring will show up.

We've had a very mild winter...so that means a frikken cold spring!!!

Holy shoot.

My Hellebores is growing well despite the snow and freezing temps.

But we're planning ahead. The picture below you might recognize.

 It's where the goats used to graze.

We've brought fill in and soon we will be putting up a greenhouse.

Maybe even two. Not sure yet.

It's a perfect spot for growing plants. 

Not far from water and nice and sunny.

Simonne and Grenouille are doing well. I had to take a picture of them 

to send away for a contest. Hopefully we win!

Simonne is growing older and we think she's also going deaf. 

We do know that she's got cataracts but the last month or so we've noticed that she's

getting hard of hearing.  Oh well I guess it comes with the territory when you get older.

We love her anyway.

Since we're planning ahead that means Jamie is growing older also.

Yet, I seem to stay the same age...how is that? Hmmmmm

He's going to be 17 this month!!!

Ack! He's got a part time job and a car. He's living the teenage dream.

He's also planning on becoming a firefighter after he graduates next year.

He's become a volunteer fire fighter at the local fire hall. We're super proud of him.

Since the paid departments are few and far between, that means he'll have to go 

away to get training and move away to find work.

I'm hoping he won't go further than Halifax.  I could handle that....but Ontario?

Too far!

Since competition is pretty stiff to get into firefighter school, 

he said if he doesn't get into it the first year, he'll either work for a year and reapply or go to plan B 

RCMP!

EGAD!

We'd be really proud but worry a lot.

Oh well that's why we raise our kids, to hopefully 

be happy, healthy productive members of society.

Right? Right?

Have a Blessed Day!

Lisa