Garden Update

Our giant plastic covered hoop house was not a great success this winter.   I think it was primarily due to the extended below freezing temperatures (that and my unwillingness to trudge through the arctic wind and polar vortexes to water and weed).   The weeds definitely thrived but not much else.

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I pulled a handful of carrots and have two small batches of beets and chard.   The thyme and sage survived and are thriving.

That is all…

The second week of May brought roses, roses, and more roses blooming  in our garden and yard….

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Habitat for Humanity rose off the patio.

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An heirloom Yellow Rose of Texas which is truly an heirloom. This is from a clipping passed down from my great-grandmother through my grandmother to my cousin and then to me.

Joseph's Coat by the front door.

Joseph’s Coat by the front door.

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Climbing Ice Berg on the back of the house,

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Something new and wild growing on the back fence. ??????

The peonies are busting out as well.

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Garden fresh tomatoes are what we most look forward to every year.   Maybe it is our anticipation that jinxes us every time. Last year the plants looked beautiful—full and lush and tall and dark green.   What did we harvest?   One handful of cherry tomatoes…

That was it.

We are trying again.

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The garlic bed looks bountiful.

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And check out our baby peaches.

2014-05-10 07.30.40Hopefully I can update with positive and productive posts throughout the growing season!

 

And, finally….drum roll, please…

We are back in the bee business.

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The summer we had our original hive, I had more peppers production than I knew what to do with.

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We just got these last night and The Hubs opened them up this morning.   Look how active they are.  We may even have one more nuc coming.

Back in the bee business, baby!

I love ’em.

15 comments to Garden Update

  • Your garden is coming along beautifully my friend, so green and fresh!
    But I love your wonderful flowers as well, bouquet please? 😛
    And thats exciting, bee keeping is fantastic! Keep us updated 😀

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

  • wow Debra, is there anything that you can’t? It must be very exciting to have your bee business back :-)) Love that peach tree!
    Have a lovely weekend!
    Angie

    • Thanks, Angie. And when I say “bee business,” I say it mostly for the alliteration. The Hubs just likes keeping them and I love them as pollinators. Maybe in a year or two we can pull honey.

  • Thoe roses are gorgeous!

    I’m fascinated by bees. So cool you’ll have them!

    • Thanks, Laura. They are just cool to watch. And, seriously, when we had these little pollinators working, I had more garden produce!!!!!!!!!!

  • The roses and peonies are gorgeous! I bet they both smell awesome! Even with the late cold weather, your garden looks great!! My has been so slow because of the cold evenings, but at least it hasn’t frozen. My friend’s in Santa Fe froze just last week. she lost everything. Can’t wait to watch your fruit and vegetables grow throughout the summer!

    • We had a really late freeze (for us) here too. Finally getting the garden together. I would have hated to have lost everything like your friend in SF.

  • Taking On Magazines

    I’m pretty sure that your unknown plant is a wild blackberry. I guess you’ll know soon enough. Kudos to you for the bee keeping. You’re not just making honey but you’re saving a species (but I’m sure you know that). 🙂

  • teaandscones

    The weather wreaked havoc on our garden as well. I did an eggplant this week and the herbs are nice, but we lost most of our pears. *sigh* Anyway, your roses are gorgeous. And we want some bees as well. Your garden is great Wonder who will have the first tomatoes!!

  • Bees?!?!? Oh my – I can’t wait to see what happens with those! Your flowers looks so gorgeous – it reminds me of my Aunt Irene’s yard…………she and my Uncle Ray had an extensive collection of rose bushes along their fenceline. I can smell your flowers right now!

    • When we first started gardening, we planted a lot of Jackson Perkins roses on our fence. Few of them remain. We love the wild stuff now, like those wild blackberries.

      • Oh yes! Nana had this beautiful ruby red rose bush – it was a real bush – in her front yard. She said it came from a cutting on her grandmother’s place in SE Oklahoma…wish I had taken a cutting of it back then!