March Ramblings

Spring is near! However, mostly March has simply looked a whole lot like February ;) Not a whole lot of change... everything a little bit bigger but not yet much brighter...

The weather has been up and down, sunny, rainy, snowy, sleet, hail, and then repeat...

Blueberries and small fruits are really budding out....

Garlic is coming along... As it is a heavy feeder, I have top dressed and lightly scratched in a wee bit of  organic fertiliser to get it through till July. Can hardly wait till the  scape's are ready... sigh, I know it's not for another 3 months or more, but a girl can ( and does) dream :)



Roses and lilacs are budding out, as well... which is a real burst of happiness. Though the weather has been gloomy, it appears that nature slowly plugs along, and comes out just when it should.


Best of all, is the show of bulbs poking their way through the ground. Although I was certainly not enjoying myself last fall at bulb planting time, I am so glad now that I persevered,... lol, like I really had a choice, having all those bulbs..
We gardeners can not let a good plant/bulb/seed etc... go to waste.. ;)

It seems this month that everything is just on the cusp... certainly not the colour of summer time, but yet, one notices the awakening.


The rhodos are budding out, and it looks like the deer have had a few nibbles to see how they taste... Apparently (thankfully) are not tasty, as they have just nibbled some of the leaves and left well enough alone...

Tulips in the Greenhouse


Tulips on deck...



Tulips that have been outdoors all winter...


Strawberries and bare root stock has arrived....

Oh nope, they somehow messed up the strawberry order, so no new berries this year :(
Was going to try the Albion this year, heard good things about it in planters and pots.  

So it goes, things do not always work out the way one intended...

Peas are ready to be planted out....


and here they are...  all trellised and planted up :)

Each year, I ask hubby to build me a lovely pea trellis, an A-frame that I can fold up at the end of the year... and each year, he ignores me....

Year one, I used branches...disaster! They were not big enough, nor strong enough, to hold the massive amount of peas that we had, and simply fell over.

Last year, I used large bamboo stakes, criss crossed to make a lattice effect, something for the tendrils to weave in and out of... it too leaned from the weight of the peas...

This year, I cut the roll of mesh to fit and wove stakes through the sides plus a bamboo pole in the centre... am praying that it is strong enough! As it is impossible to push the stakes through the hard pan underneath the beds, the stakes are only in the ground to the depth of the raised bed, so 1foot deep. Is that going to be enough? Time will tell ;)


Last year, I noticed that the labels I made with a Sharpie marker faded out in the summer sunshine. Some were near impossible to read come harvest time. Therefore, this year, I have Sharpie marker on the back, and labels made with my trusty label maker, on the front. Hoping this is the answer.. as it sure looks good!

Suddenly, with all this rain and wind, my potager dining area is looking more shabby than chic...

Watch for more on this table in the weeks to come...
Just as soon as I figure out how I'm going to get some chic back to my shabby chic setting ;)

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