Busy Around The Farm

It came time to begin planting and I couldn't put it off any longer. I began in the spot where I'd removed the giant stump (well, most of it anyway), adding a bit of compost to get me started:

The Globe Thistles were the biggest seedlings, so I began with them:

Then the tiny Chives. Alas, I had to quit at that point, determined to finish planting the other seedlings as soon as weather permitted:

The fantail pigeons began nesting in earnest after I gave them some hay for their nests:

And one new baby was hatched and seemed to be doing well:

The farm was filled with aroma of lilacs and apple blossoms until one day when a skunk got killed in the road. I left it overnight for the coyotes, but when they didn't want it I picked it up by the tail and tossed it into the brush by the side of the road:

Mowing the lawn beneath the apple trees was like passing through a tunnel of flowers:

And the brand new lilac seemed happy with its new home:

The little rose which was supposed to climb up the old farm sign frame, however, needed more sun. So I got out the chainsaw and lopped off many limbs from apple, pear and cherry trees. Then I hauled them to the brush pile in the woods:

The two Flowering Crabs and the wild seeded Golden Delicious apple tree put on a glorious display:

Here are the red Flowering Crab and the apple tree blossoms:

The Prairie Rose Flowering Crab was taking its time to flower but had an extreme abundance of buds. I knew it would be spectacular when they began to open:

Spring Planting!

It finally began warming up here and my attitude was "Better late than never." I resumed planting, beginning with two Bleeding Heart plants, a gift from a neighbor:

My PJM Rhododendron bloomed nicely:

And then it became even more beautiful:

I continued to put the Begonias, seed trays and baby roses out on nice days. They seemed to benefit from it:

And then one day I planted five of the six baby roses in the front yard, next to last year's hardy roses:

The sixth baby rose, a vigorous climber, got planted beneath the old sign frame. I'm hoping it will grow up over the whole frame. I'll cut off some of the cherry and pear limbs to give it more sun, but I want to wait until after they bloom:

Violets bloomed all through the lawn:

And Grape Hyacinths sprang up next to the bicolor Daffodils:

At close range, it's evident how this plant got its name:

And a new, fourth variety of Daffodil began to bloom, this one with small, buttery yellow flowers:

My neighbor saw me mowing my tall lawn grass and stopped to see if he could rake up the clippings for his cows. Of course I said yes:

He and his uncle raked grass clippings while my dogs watched. Only Fergus continued barking after they saw who it was. Fergus just can't help himself:

Growing Things In May

The bantam hens can't go outside anymore, but they seem happy and content in their room inside the barn:

They have not yet totally soiled the pine shavings I put down when I cleaned their room:

The fantail pigeons are paired off and making nests, but nothing yet has come of their efforts:

They have soiled their pine shavings more than the chickens have, and I have to clean my shoes each time I leave their room:


But on to cleaner topics - One of the plum trees suddenly put out buds:


And then just as suddenly, the whole tree burst into bloom:

I cut some branches and put them in a vase, which I brought to church. It was so tall that I had to set it on the floor next to the pulpit:

And my PJM Rhododendron put out buds:

And then the flowers began to open. This was the first open flower, but I hope to have pictures in future posts when the entire bush is in full bloom:

Seed tray number one, with my two new Begonias at one end. The seedlings, from top to bottom, are  Gaillardia apricot, Gaillardia red, Gaillardia sunset, and New York Asters:

Seed tray number two, top to bottom. Bachelor's Buttons, Rose Mallow, Chives, Globe Thistle. Sadly, the Rose Mallow seeds again did not germinate:

A new variety of Daffodils was the last to bloom, this one white with a pale yellow center:

Around The Farm - Part 2

The Daffodils in my lawn have outdone themselves this year. The first to bloom were the white and yellow variety:

Then the pure yellow variety:

Then the yellow ones with the orange center. All three varieties were then blooming together, putting on quite a display:

My internet went out and we had a warm sunny day. So, while waiting for a repairman, I tackled another big project:

I had an old stump in my lawn, four or five feet in diameter and covered with wild, thorny shrubs and grape vines. It had been too solid for me to remove with the tractor a few years ago, but I decided to try again:

Most of the giant stump broke into pieces, some of them nearly as big as the tractor bucket. I drove all the wood and brush across the north field and into the woods, where I dumped them on a brush pile:

Furthermore, as you may have noticed in the preceding photos, there was a cedar tree growing there which blocked much of the sun for the flowers I was planting. Cutting it down was problematic as it would have hit the power lines, but just then my sheep farmer neighbors stopped by with a better idea. He used my tractor to push it over, snapping the trunk. I then dragged the entire tree behind the tractor (using a logging chain) across the north field and into the woods:

I cut the cedar stump lower and then used the tractor to smooth off the ground. I filled the bucket with more brush and the cedar stump, then made one final trip to the brush pile:

But I wasn't done yet. I then used the tractor bucket to back-drag the gravel which road crews had pushed up onto my lawn. I moved it back out onto the road so I could safely mow. The grass was growing rapidly already:

And then I added more garden bed along the dogs' fence. I now have about 35 feet of garden bed, 4 feet wide and filled with 2 year old compost, in which to plant all the flowers I've purchased for this year. I also intend to plant where the old stump and cedar tree were removed:

And speaking of new plants, I have been hardening off the baby roses and Begonias by carrying them outside on nice days so they will get used to the sun, wind and temperature fluctuations. Then I bring them back indoors to where the seed trays are:

Around The Farm - Part 1

Springtime seems late this year, even for up here in the north country where it's always later than much of the country. I have continued cleaning up big quantities of waste hay and dumping it on the compost pile. You can see Remy and Blue in the background. They were inside their new corral:

The barn badly needed cleaning, so I got that done also:

 Inside the back room, one of the new baby roses (Sevillana) bloomed. This was Day one:

  Day two:

 The Carefree Delight rose was pretty much spent but it had already put out a new bud to replace it:

My seed trays, baby roses and two new double Begonias seemed to need even more light in their back room, so I added two light bulbs:

The first seeds to germinate were the Globe Thistles. I've tried growing them twice already without success, but maybe this effort will produce some healthy plants. If not, I will give up on Globe Thistles:

The white fantail pigeons seem both happy and healthy. I put an ad on Craigslist, offering to sell some or trade for new birds which would add to the gene pool in my pigeon room. Alas, there were no takers:

The little hens are also doing exceedingly well:

The Iris and Lily garden is coming up rapidly now. It's so crammed with bulbs that I don't suppose I can fit any more in there:

The Daffodils put on a show for passersby on the gravel road:

I seem to have lost a number of plants over the winter, but it's too early to abandon all hope for them. The Mandarin Honeysuckle, however, survived the winter and appears ready to grow rapidly this year: