As we turn the corner toward summer I’m going to back up into May and share some of the things that I didn’t get a chance to blog about as they were happening.

MOTHER’S DAY

Sunday, May 8th was the perfect day for the Mother’s Day picnic we had planned at the farm. Before going to the farm, I took a short walk in our back yard to see if the trilliums were coming up in the woods. My mom loved trilliums and each year on Mother’s Day I look for the trilliums because they are normally in bloom. This year they were not.

All of our spring blossoms are running about two weeks later than normal this year due to cool and wet weather conditions. Our cherry tree was full of blossoms the week of May 8th and buzzing with pollinators. Last year on April 21st I blogged that our cherry tree was blossoming, and we were worried about freezing temperatures that were in the forecast.

My two youngest daughters came out for the picnic. They brought me this t-shirt from all four of my girls.

Love you girls! 💞

RAISED GARDEN BEDS

I had mentioned in a previous post that we decided to plant some of our garden in raised beds this year. With prices skyrocketing, buying lumber to use as garden beds was not an option.

We decided to use something that we had on hand and were not using for anything else -barrels.

My husband cut the barrels into various sizes.

The portions that had a bottom in them he also drilled weep holes to allow for drainage.

We put paper bags on the ground before placing the barrel pieces in place. This will keep weeds from growing up around the garden beds. After we placed the beds in place we added a layer of pea gravel to help with drainage. We then added our soil mixture which included some topsoil and sand.

The tomatoes were planted deep in the barrel to help protect them from the elements.

They continue to grow upward, reaching toward the sun.

Marigolds are said to help protect against various pests so we planted some with tomatoes and peppers.

We also planted green bean, beet and carrot seeds – they have begun to sprout. Some of the beds are awaiting the arrival of our new strawberry plants.

OTHER GARDEN NEWS

The cabbage that we had planted in the ground, earlier in May, is looking good,

as are the potatoes.

This past weekend my husband finished planting tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. He has also planted sweet corn, a patch of buckwheat and a patch of alfalfa.

The garlic is up and looking good.

My husband finished up the blueberry patch. It is now robin-proof (we hope). Bring on the berries!

The apple trees blossomed and are now making fruit.

IRRIGATION

I don’t remember what day it was when my husband put the pump in the pond (sometime in the first half of the month). I do remember that, in my opinion, the water was not warm enough to be in.

I think my husband agreed.

One hose connects from the windmill to the pump. It pumps air into the pump when the windmill turns. Water comes out another hose that is connected to the pump. We run that hose into a tank like the one in the picture below.

These tanks are raised above ground level and a garden hose is connected to a spigot near the bottom of the tank. When we open the spigot gravity feeds the water though the garden hose, so we are able to water our plants.

BEES

We are not the only ones who have busy. The hives are all very active. After my husband removed the feeders and added new boxes, he said this is the nicest breed of bees he has ever worked with.

BEAUTY

When I left for my vacation the forsythia were still blossoming.

When I returned the lilacs were blossoming.

Their beautiful fragrance carried in the wind.

(I didn’t get a picture of them, but the trilliums were also blossoming at that time.)

My husband discovered these mushrooms growing near the prayer garden. While they look much like a morel, we are not mushroom savvy enough to try them. We decided just to let them be.

WISDOM

Lastly, I wanted to share this message. It’s what my sisters call tea bag wisdom. Some brands of herbal teas print inspirational messages on the tags that are attached to the tea bag. I received this message on my tea bag about a week ago.

Thanks for visiting.

Are you doing any gardening this year?

Are you ready for summer?