Easter Update: Ordered my orchard...

[lesa]

Everything is looking great! You have been one busy gardener! I love your little pig. I had a puppy that completely ate my favorite rose bush. Would just stand there and gnaw on it- it hurt my mouth just to watch! Fences are crucial if pets and or chickens are involved! Wishing you a wonderful harvest!

 

[vfem]

Absolutely wonderful! That looked like a lot of back breaking labor to me. Congrats on getting through that. The trees look to be taking well.... you're going to be harvesting in only a couple of years.

As for that last picture... it really looks like a tangle of honeysuckle to me? They can bush when they get out of control... I have one that we thought was a bush in our back yard near the woods. Turned out to be honeysuckle that CONSUMED a bush out near the woods!

Anyways, the bees like it, so we left it.

Congrats on such a good job! :rose I see many good years of good harvests coming to you. You'll be very impressed how much you can get from such small spaces. :bouquet

 

[Rozzie]

Thanks to both of you! Mystery bush didn't flower this year. If it doesn't flower this year, then I'm pruning it severely. I won't destroy it yet, but I will cut it way back. That corner of the yard is pretty, with wild violets and other spring flowers that most people think of as weeds growing up in the shade. I like the overall appearance but will have to see if I like it year round. Last year, I didn't have the carpet of spring flowers that I have this year. It may have something to do with our strange weather this year or how we mowed (or didn't) last year.

I looked at those pictures again, and you can't see the cherry trees. That's no surprise since they are tiny. Still to go in are:
2 Goji, 2 fig (thinking I'll do those in containers for now), 3 hazelnuts, 1 lilac, 2 butterfly bush, 4 REPLACEMENT blueberries, 5 bramble fruits (2 or 3 may be replacements. The others will be extras. I have space for 2 extras in the back row. If the questionable brambles up front make it, then I'll squeeze the extras in right behind the garden.)

I do have room to expand the garden to several times its size, going toward the grapes. I figure I can fit 3-4 more beds that size, plus walkways between them. In truth, I'll end up digging out the walkways, too, in order to eliminate the grass.

And, you are right. It's been a LOT of digging. Good thing I have a strong teenage son! He's done 75%+ of the digging. He's starting to get tired of digging. He's pretty responsible, really, and does it without TOO many complaints (though delay tactics might be used whenever possible). I'm an old-fashioned mom when it comes to expecting teens to help out and work. I grew up on a Midwestern family farms. Teens worked and didn't complain about it - at least not to their parents.

 

[thistlebloom]

Good job Rozzie! Your yard is going to go through some amazing changes as all your trees mature and your beds fill out. Give your boy a pat on the back for me, I have two like that, they worked their rears off for me when we moved into this place. I had to laugh at your description (in a different post? ) about the mound of dirt in front of a doorway that your son had left. I thought about it now and then throughout the day and had to giggle....

I thought "honeysuckle" when I saw your mystery plant just like Vfem did. It's possible that if it's in a lot of shade it wont bloom, depending on the type of honeysuckle it is, (if it is HS ).

 

[Rozzie]

ROFL I know what you mean. I thought it was a bit funny, too, in some ways. He used the cement stoop in front of my workshop to mound a huge pile of dirt. I'm still shaking my head at that. Of course, we are getting bad weather this weekend (not severe, just storms and rain) so he won't get it moved yet. Hoping I can send him out in between rain to do it!

I am looking forward to seeing all of my stuff grow. I'm still debating the figs. They were an impulse purchase. I "do" have a couple of places in the yard I could put them. However, I also have a lot of space where I could keep them in pots. I'm leaning toward doing that, and saving the space in the ground for something else, later when I decide what to put in there!

I am thinking of getting a couple of those big plastic tubs with the robe handles and drilling holes in them for drainage. They might not last forever, but they should hold up for 2-3 years at least, until I can spend on something bigger. I want a large amount of soil if I do this, to help retain moisture. I'll use scrap wood and make a platform on wheels so I can move them in easily in the winter. Sounds like a plan to me, anyway. Worst I'll do is waste a few dollars...

 

[vfem]

I would throw a tarp over that dirt pile just to make sure it doesn't get washed away. And a good heavy mulch on those fruit trees will make a world of difference too.

And just know, those fig trees... they get WIDE and HUGE! Find a spot where you can easily get around them, or somewhere you don't have them block out light from your yard.

I mean HUGE!

 

[Rozzie]

I will definitely be getting a load of mulch brought in. I have to wait until it stays dry long enough so that a big truck won't mess up my front & side lawn, though, since they'll have to come in over that. I need mulch for those trees and for some garden paths. I'll probably have about six cubic foot dropped off.

As for the figs, I hope they do! That way I'll get more figs.

The nursery that I got them from is from relatively close by, they told me to prune them heavily each year and that this would help me avoid our winter kill that they are subject to here. For now, I'm putting them in huge pots. Then later, I may have to put them in the lawn. (I have my front lawn, if needed...)

 

[Rozzie]

I thought I would share some newer pictures today. I still haven't gone on a hunt for my camera, but my son loaned me his.

The first two are from two of my three new apple trees. I'm letting them bloom, but I won't let any fruit grow. I think that's probably a moot point, anyway, as I'm not seeing many bees this spring! I dread the thought, but I suppose I'll need to put some hives in the yard a couple of years from now. Thankfully, I have a friend who isn't afraid of handling them and would probably help with them until I got more comfortable dealing with them.

The main spring garden, as of today. Still a bit weedy, but I got quite a few out. It's an ongoing battle since this is a new garden bed.

Technically not mine, but it hangs over my fence:

This is what it shades:

It's all a matter of perspective. You may call them weeds. I call them spring wildflowers!

Digging in the garden is so much fun!

Starting to harden these off:

My "new" used patio set, bought at a local thrift shop this week. The wood needs to be removed, sanded, and painted. However, for $15 per piece for the three piece set, I can live with that! The cast iron is solid. I've been looking for over a year for a patio set that I like, would fit in my car to move home, at the right price!

And, here is an update on the $12 thrift shop Aerogarden!

 

[Rozzie]

ROFL! You can just ignore the dog dish full of grass clippings and soil in the 2nd to last picture. That shouldn't have been there.

I was sweeping the patio and had been using this under a flowerpot. Whoops!

 

[4grandbabies]

Rozzie, I enjoyed the pics, but LOVED the one with your dog.