Garden Update

I haven't been a very good poster lately so I thought I would do a quick garden update. I spent last weekend in the garden with my mom. We raked up the last of last years leaves. There were so many! I can't believe what two large Oaks can do.

I did some edging and weeding. We dug up the rugosa roses that are running everywhere. That freed up tons of space for more irises.

Mom arranged the shed and all the junk behind it. That was a big task. She is a worker!

I found two morels in the garden, one was bigger than a beer can. I will post a pick of it soon.

Tulips are done but the giant alliums, gladiator, globemaster and gigantium are opening up.

My first tall bearded iris should be open by this weekend. Let the iris season begin!!! Of course, it's the season that I long for all year. Some new ones are going to bloom so I can't wait to see those!

Still much to do. I'm hoping for a good weather this weekend. I still need to prepare the veggie bed. It's almost ready.

I will be back very soon with lots of pictures, I promise!

Primrose and Tulips

Spring Time in Michigan

It hasn't been as warm as I would like but things are still doing what they do. My brother and I are busy scouting orchards. Zipping around looking for insects and disease while enjoying the scenery of Northern Lower MI.

Cherry Orchards are in full bloom. These are Tart Cherries.



The white Morels are popping up. I haven't found many yet.


The forest floor is a tapestry of wild flowers. I have seen Trilliums, Cimicifuga, bloodroot, Dogtooth Violet, Hepatica, wild onion, Jack in the Pulpit, Dutchmans britches, ferns and many other little beauties.


Many of the Trilliums will have this green wash, sometimes engulfing the whole blossom.



A small view of Lake Michigan.


A view of Lake MI from the Winery Leelanau Cellars in Omena. The land off in the distance is Old Mission Peninsula.

I made it home

I'm here in MI. It's lovely, the garden is blooming, old friends and family are close and all is right with my little world! Wish Andrew was here with me though.

I will be back soon with some photos and fun!!!

Michelle

Back to Michigan in the Morning.

Well folks, come morning I will be on my way back to MI for the summer. My brother and I are making the 14 hour trip starting at around 7am. I can't wait to see all of my family, friends and of course, my garden!

I will be out and about for a few days but will post soon. I will show all of you how stuffed with plants my little Cobalt is!

Converting the Boy

Obviously I am a severely addicted gardener. There is no questioning that. My boyfriend, however, not so much. Never really growing anything, he is a plant murderer so far. He killed the few plants I left him to take care of last summer.

I'm hoping to change all that. Slowly I am trying to convert him into a farmer. Someone who loves to live off the land. Who can grow things. Someone who cares about heirloom tomatoes and understands the beneficial insects in the garden. He must learn all these things otherwise I will have to trade him in! Well, I won't be that drastic but you know what I mean.

Today, we are going to get lots of soil and we are going to pot up three heirloom tomatoes for him to tend this summer. He will be growing Cherokee Purple, German Johnson and Black Cherry. He is already excited about the history and descriptions of these tomatoes so I am hoping that this little exercise in tomato care will get him into the spirit of farming a bit.

Hopefully this works so that I don't have to be the only plant nut in the house. It's fun to share gardening with others and even more fun when they don't mind spending hours looking at plants at shops and others gardens. Really, it's all part of my evil plan to get what I want!

These pots should be plenty big enough!

A bit of a clutz

An evening that seemed no different than any others went terribly wrong. First, I made a delicious strawberry banana smoothie. It was sweet and perfect and I couldn't wait to go sit down and enjoy it but first I had to clean the pitcher.

I went to set my smoothie on the counter off to my side and completely missed the counter, dropping it flat on the floor. Have you ever seen what happens to the contents of a glass when it falls perfectly flat? Well, it rockets into the sky sending smoothie in all directions. Including my hair, curtains, clothing, ceiling, sink, walls, cupboards and the floor. Needless to say I dropped some pretty serious language after that. I then began the clean up of my delicious smoothie after the anger had some what subsided. The cup didn't break, in fact it barely made a sound when it hit the floor. Later I found crusty, dried smoothie on the top of my head.

So I'm sitting on the couch enjoying my wine (no smoothie for me) when for some reason I decided to shove my finger in my eye! It's been a while since I have done that and I certainly hope it's a long while before it happens again. I was blind for about the next half hour. For some reason when you poke one eye it's impossible to open either of them. With tears and mascara streaming down my face I just sat and waited for my eye to stop burning.

I awoke this morning fully expecting to have nothing wrong. Well, my vision is blurry still which concerns me some. I hope I didn't damage my lens or something. It still hurts a bit too. We will see what the day brings. I hope no more disasters.

Me + Money= Exponential Plants

How has this happened? A few days ago I had only a few flats of plants to take home. Here is what I have to fit in my trunk now.






Tons of basil, thyme, sage, fennel, dill, lavender, viola, heirloom tomatoes, perennials etc... Let's not forget the drawer of bulbs in my fridge and the box of Dahlia tubers too!

Plus, today I visited the small iris farm near by. I ended up buying these and I plan on going back Monday. The irises are just getting started blooming.

Rose'


Radiant Energy



Wintry Sky



Handsome Prince


Going My Way

In Love With MaryJane

Call the authorities! I have a new addiction. Her name is Mary Jane. It's only for medicinal purposes I swear! She relaxes your mind and gets the creative juices flowing. A relaxing and exciting experience all in one! Alright, alright, I'm not talking about that Mary Jane. I'm talking about Mary Jane's Farm Magazine. I just received my first issue a few days ago and am in love with it.

Attention all you women out there! Are you a farmer, gardener, heirloom enthusiast, free spirit, organic grower, crafter, baker or cook? This is the perfect read for you. Great photography and I even like the advertisements. The articles are fun and useful and celebrate the lives of wonderful women who are living the ultimate farm dream lives. It's very inspiring. So much so that I plan on purchasing all the back issues that I can find.

The cover is so cute! Don't we all want a bike with a basket full of flowers?


I am going to buy a little camper like that someday and go on road trips with girlfriends. They call it glamping which is glamour camping.


Check out Mary Janes site.

Here are two glamper blogs.
thebeehivecottage.blogspot.com and thevintagehousewife.blogspot.com

Note: this is not a solicited post. I just love the mag that much!