Rising from the ashes...

I guess it is fairly obvious now that I had to take a break from gardening this year. We have a new property in North Buffalo that came with raised beds that were overrun with weeds. After the move, I couldn't stand waiting any longer and spent five hours reclaiming the garden last weekend. My hope is that we will be able to nurture some lettuce, kale, and other greens to maturity before the really cold weather hits in November. Stay tuned...

Eggshells for slug control

I noticed an article on LifeHacker that references a Popular Mechanics article stating: "Crush eggshells into small pieces and sprinkle them on top of the soil. Slugs, cutworms, and other insects are put off by the crunch when they crawl over the sharp edges and will leave for softer pastures. You can also toss the crushed shells into your compost heap. They break down quickly and give your plants a much-needed dose of calcium, which can help with bottom-end rot, a calcium deficiency found in some plants." I will have to try that out when I get back to the garden.

Last view of winter garden

We will be harvesting what is left from the winter garden (except for the garlic which will be harvested in July). These plants all made it through temperatures approaching zero F (-18 C) for several days under a simple protection of one layer of ag-cloth and one layer of plastic.

Flowers everywhere

Kwanzan cherries are full of beautiful pink blossoms today. The forsythia are a nice mix of green and yellow with a compliment of purple vinca at their feet. The red flowering quince will be in full flower any day now and look very nice surrounded by blue forget-me-nots. The lilacs that I nurtured from the brink of oblivion several years ago, are finally blooming this year. The apple trees, peach and pears are also full of blossoms. This has been a perfect spring for flowering and fruiting plants with a clear break between freezing cold and warm sun-drenched days. My first order of business this spring has to be providing an automated way of watering. I expect that if the current weather pattern continues, we will soon be in a drought.

I saw the first beech leaves from the seedlings last weekend.

Update (May 9): Daffodils are fading and it wasn't long before the magnificent cherry blossoms were competing with the new green leaves. I took some photos around my office yesterday since I didn't manage to capture any of the blooms earlier this week.