Oops, not doing such a great job with my blogging resolution -- the last blog entry was almost two months ago! My excuse is the gardens and our frantic scramble to get as much planted as we can before the hot weather (and the need to water, water, water) arrives. We have really accomplished so much, but the "to do" list seems to never shrink. We have planted all of the new fruit trees in the back orchard -- three figs, three peaches, four plums, one pear, one apple, two grapes, and six blueberries These join one fig, five pears, two apples, one peach, nine grapes, and many blueberries that stood fast during the ground remediation. In the front orchard, we have 36 blueberries and fifteen blackberries planted. We have three figs, a persimmon, several grapes, and four new apples to plant up there yet. In the veggie garden, we have planted four of the eleven beds. One bed is devoted to strawberries, the others contain winter veggies and salad greens. The peas are finally coming up -- had some doubts about them because we planted before a cold, freezing rain arrived -- but they just sat tight and waited for warmer days and are now pushing their little green shoots up. As we plant these beds, we are clearing the pots of plants out of the paths, laying down the new landscape fabric, and putting leaves into the paths. These plants were "warehoused" in the paths of the remediated garden as the rest of the ground project proceeded. As I move them out of the paths, I am trying to place them in the beds where they will be replanted. The other big accomplishment in the veggie garden is the new arbor/arch that Michael built for the front entrance. Will post a pix with this entry soon. Outside in the yard, we have planted about a dozen new camellias and assorted azaleas. Along the fence in the new "hedge garden" we have planted forsythia, deutzia, Chinese abelia, and one star magnolia. Still have lots of potted shrubs to plant in this area. I will also start lots of cutting flowers (zinnias, coreopsis, etc.) from seed to plant here. We have gotten four flats of the daffodil/narcissus bulbs back into the ground. This will be the big push for the next few weeks as the whole front porch is covered with flats of bulbs that need to be replanted. We dug them up before the ground remediation and it is taking a long time to get them replanted.
After re-reading this post, I am amazed at how much we have accomplished during the weekends of the last few months. Have to remind myself about that when I am overwhelmed by the task before us.
