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gardenmama's Blog
The yard is looking great...
Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 1:57 pm Lots and lots of growing is going in our yard. Not much to say but lots to show today. This past weekend I finished laying the mulch in the flower beds. The plants just pop now that they have all that red around them. 
The hostas are all growing beautifully, lets hope the deer don't find them this summer! 
The peonies and the bee balm are doing very well. 
My hubby built me a new trellis for the clemetis. 
The peas are starting to grow! 
The spring flowers are slowly coming to an end but here are a few gorgeous blooms from the weekend. 
The weather has been good enough so I decided to put 3 of the largest tomato plants out in the driveway pots. It has been cold so I put a sheet around them, but here they are. 
I have had my suspicions that at least one of the squirrels that come every day is going to be a mommy. I have named her Mama since I now have proof. Mama also has horrible scars all over her back from some kind of fights and maybe mating. In the picture you can see her tits growing. Mama is very calm and lets us get quite close to her, there is another female that is a bit skittish still and soon will be a mommy too! We should be seeing lots of baby squirrels this summer. 
Last edited: Mon May 18, 2009 1:59 pm This blog entry has been viewed 430 times
Lots of hard work make the yard beautiful!
Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 4:30 pm This past Saturday we did a lot of outdoor work. It wasn't too hot, just the perfect temperature to get things done. First thing my little Logan and I did was to get the tires ready to plant peas. I mixed a bag of compost with a bag of top soil and topped off each of the tires. Then in went the peas. After we were done planting the peas it was on to the ....WEEDS! It was time to weed the flower beds. I started with just pulling weeds that were inside the beds and then realized that there was tons of weeds and grass growing up between the rocks that surround the beds. I ended up moving each rock and pulling all the weeds out. This took HOURS! I filled Logan's wagon and a large wheel barrow with weeds, dead plants and grass. It was so worth it. 
After all the weeding I decided that the lawn around the flower beds needed to be mowed as well....Of course once the mower is started and going why stop? So I ended up mowing the entire lawn. Which was a good thing since it was a lot longer then I thought it was. But Boy is it good to see it looking so nice. AND it is so much better then seeing FEET of SNOW! 
The hyacinthes are opened and they are so gorgeous! 
The next pictures are a series of pictures showing the progression of the tulips and daffodil garden. The tulips are OPENED and are SOOOO gorgeous! The color is my favorite. 
The squirrels were really active on Saturday. All 3 of the red squirrels were out at the same time and it sounded like WAR! They were all screeching at one another and protecting "their" personal feeder. we only have 2 squirrel feeders so one ended up eating off the floor. they are such funny creatures. We must have watched them go at it for 30 minutes. They they yell at us! It is so funny. I scream back, " you better not yell at me or i will take your food away!" 
The above squirrel would not leave that feeder alone! He was very upset when the other two were even on the same tree. 
We had a beautiful yellow visitor on the new feeder. This Goldfinch was perfectly happy to eat while I took him picture. 
Today i decided to cut some of the gorgeous tulips and daffodils. The rain is coming and they probably will get destroyed. 
This blog entry has been viewed 665 times
Daffodills in bloom and garden vistors
Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:31 pm Yesterday was a cooler day then the past 5 days (phew) but the sun shown bright all day and encouraged the daffodils to open up! It is so nice to get home after a long afternoon in a hot bus, to find new blooms everywhere! I had no idea what color the Daffodils would be until they bloomed....and they are my favorite! The white with the yellow centers. 
While wandering the yard looking for new growth I spotted a Black Capped Chick-o-dee on our new bird feeder. He was very very calm and didn't mind that I was only about 6 feet away. 
I can't wait to get home tonight and see what else has opened in the gorgeous sunshine of the day! Everyone have a lovely day! This blog entry has been viewed 383 times
With a a little rain last week progress is happening!
Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:17 pm Last week the weather was up and down. Most of the week it was wet and gray but as of Friday the sun was out and it REALLY WARMED UP! We got a glimpse of summer here in Vermont. On Friday the temps were in the upper 70's and on Saturday we topped out at nearly 90! That was all we needed here in Groton to encourage some slow to grow bulbs and other plants to come to life. Last week the Daffodils and Tulips were just a few inches tall and now they are a good 10 inches tall and showing buds! I can't wait for them to open. 
Last week the hosta were all hiding but last night I noticed that they have started to emerge. Now to protect them all from those ever present, hiding...DEER! 
I was beginning to wonder what I had did wrong with the bulbs that I planted in the large tractor tire on the front lawn. As of Friday only a few little leaves have begun to emerge. I was wondering if the winter had been too cold and that they were not deep enough to be protected. But to my surprise, Sunday night everything was popping up! EVEN THE HYACYNTHS! There should be blooming tulips, daffodils and many others soon! YIPPIE! 
I was very worried about the hydrangeas. The winter was so bitter cold. We haven't had a cold winter like this for many, many years. Yesterday I picked up some miracle grow for acid lovers and I am hoping to have blooms this year. While watering them last night I saw the new leaves emerging! 
So far it looks like everything is greening up and growing. The harsh winter didn't do any lasting damage. I can't wait to see what more of this gorgeous warm weather will bring! Last edited: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:19 pm This blog entry has been viewed 401 times
A little bit of wildlife in the yard.
Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:21 pm About a week ago I was walking through the kitchen, looked out the window and noticed a small doe eating below one of my bird feeders. We watched her for several minutes and then she walked away. She didn't run, but limped up the wooded path to the back of the property. About an hour later,when it was dark I looked out again and there were 2 of them. Both injured, the second one could barely stand and could not put her hind leg down on the ground at all. They both must have been hit by a car but managed to wander away. I was prepared the next night to call the Game Warden and report them if they came back. Both dear were injured and might have to be taken down, but they never returned. 
When they both returned it was too dark to take a good picture. I tried and even was outside the front door trying but they came out too dark. the deer were very hungry and tame as well. I was outside on the steps about 20 feet from them and they didn't run off. Well lets move onto the squirrels....We love to feed our little red crazy friends. As far as we can tell there are now 3 of them visiting us daily. This is what happened to the feeder we were using this winter to feed the birds and the squirrels. 
The feeder was totally demolished! So we went out and got a great new feeder that we attached to the tree. The smart squirrels figured out right away how to open the top and get the food. They even get right into it and eat and eat. one must have been too lazy though, it chewed a huge hole int he plexiglass front big enough for him to get through! 
Here is one of the furry little guys helping himself to the birdseed on their feeder. 
This blog entry has been viewed 341 times
Well I am back and this is going to be a long one!
Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:01 pm I don't have any excuse except that I have been sooo busy and there really hasn't been a ton to blog about. This time of year is so blah blah blah. Things are starting to grow but not fast enough. After a rough start with some seeds not germinating the tomato plants really started to grow and grow! I have been transplanting them into the newspaper pots and now some are so big they are getting put into larger plastic pots. There are so many tomatoes, about 110 PLANTS, that they have moved out onto the sun porch full time. The first couple nights it was a bit cool out there but they all pulled through. They were just a bit wilted in the morning, but once the sun came out they perked up. Here are the tomatoes on March 26th 
April 5th Tomato Plants 
April 17th Tomato Plants transplanted into larger pots. 
Now all I have to wait and wait and wait some more until it is warm enough for the tomato plants to be put in the ground. I plan on the end of May or the 1st weekend in June. That should be safe enough and past the last killing frost. On March 28th we got home at around 4:30pm and we were greeted by spring bulbs growing! WOW finally! I planted them correctly! 
I was outside the Saturday afternoon before Easter and the crocus had bloomed! 
Everything is slow to grow this time of year. We still had snow on March 28th, but finally it is all GONE! 
NO MORE SNOW!!! 
My little helper Logan is so happy to be able to play outside again. The snow is gone and the sun has come and we are really starting to have warm days. Yesterday it hit 60 and Logan wanted to play with the sidewalk chalk he got to Easter. 
Yesterday we all did a lot of yard clean up. we cut down a Maple Tree that was leaning over and soon would be growing into the the roof of our inlaw apartment. That was quite the job. Even with using a rope and cutting the wedge out of the tree in the direction we wanted it to fall, it ended up on the roof anyway. Though with the rope on it and me pulling it, it slowed it down and there wasn't any damage. We then raked up about 5 bags of leaves and 4 wheel barrow loads. Things are starting to look a lot better out there. Starting to look like SPRING and not FALL! Here are a few of the pictures I took of the plants in the yard coming back to life. Mint 
I think these are snow drops 
Lillies 
I took the plastic cover off the Sage Box a few weeks ago. With the cover on it is doesn't completely die, just gets dry. I can use it when i take the cover off and I have been using it on pork tenderloins. Very yummy! 
I hope everyone out there is stewland is doing well and tolerated the long winter well. I can't wait to be out there in the dirt, planting and harvesting everyday! Last edited: Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:09 pm This blog entry has been viewed 397 times
SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!!!
Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:09 pm I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED! When we got home last night I noticed that there was some dirt showing around our dug well. I looked over the small snowbank and noticed...SPRING FLOWERS COMING UP! WHOO HOO...doing the happy happy dance. i just planted them in the fall and was hoping they would grow...and THEY ARE!!!! 
I am not sure which spring flowers they are but I don't care...SOMETHING IS GROWING!!!! This weekend I am going to trudge through the 2 feet of snow on the front lawn and dig off the snow that is on the big tractor tire. I planted bulbs in there as well. I am so happy! Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day and here is a little Leprechan that I found in my livingroom. 
This blog entry has been viewed 417 times
Springlike weather and more seedling progress.
Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:28 pm After a week of horrible weather, snow, rain, ice and wind the weekend turned gorgeous. Both Saturday and Sunday the sun shown bright and was in the 40's. Logan was so happy to finally be able to go outside without all the winter layers on and ride his bike in the driveway. 
After filling all the bird and squirrel feeders crazy Sammie came from the woods and spent the entire day emptying "his" feeder. He is more tame then other red squirrels and I was able to get within 15 feet of him and take pictures. At one point he was standing on a branch of a tree hollaring at me. He was so funny. 
"screaming a me to go away" 
This week the seedlings did a lot of growing and I was able to transplant about 50 of them into my newspaper pots. A few did not take to the transplant and wilted and died but most have done fine. With int he next few weeks I will have over 150 seedlings transplanted into the paper pots. Plenty of seedlings to plant, sell and give away to friends. 
The seedlings that I transplanted into the newspaper pots have also gotten their first true feeding. Last edited: Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:29 pm This blog entry has been viewed 372 times
More and more progress
Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:53 pm Last week I planted more seeds, more tomatoes. I want to make sure that I have enough for me and some to hopefully sell. The seedlings are growing faster, some still are very slow to grow. I just wonder if some of the seeds I bought were bad. I have never had such a bad start to the growing season. Last week I tried a growing medium that I have never used before, peat pellets. The peat pellets are about the size of a 50 cent piece and about 1/4 inch thick. The peat is encased in some kind of netting. You wet the peat pellets and they swell up. They you plant the seed in the small hole on the top. Well they work great! I also don't have to have them in normal divided trays> I just put some in a large tin and some others placed on top of areas that did grow in my germination stations. I have put plastic wrap on them to keep in the moisture and help keep warmth in as well. Well they are growing! 
Here are all my little greenhouses. 
This blog entry has been viewed 363 times
Okay..thats enough..Mother nature must be kidding...
Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:05 pm Well mother nature must have really needed a good laugh..but she is the only one laughing.( the only people that could possibly enjoy this are the skiers and snowmobilers.) Well it started snowing yesterday morning around 7 and it didn't stop until...well it really hasn't completely stopped yet. We got about 6 inches of heavy wet snow yesterday and last night the winds started, the snow started falling fast and this morning I was greeted with 10 inches of packed powder and 3 FOOT drifts! First I had to try and get out of the house. The drifts were all the way up the steps and I had to shove the door through all the new snow. The car was totally engulfed in drifts and I had to dig my way to the car. The only good thing was that it was warm and the wind had died down a bit. 
The drifts up the stairs. Snow came pouring in the porch! 
It took me over an hour to dig a trench wide enough for the car to get to the road and THEN the PLOW came and made a huge 3 foot deep pile of snow for me to get through. Well that was the icing on the cake! AAAAAHHhhh At 5:30 i got the call that my son's school was closed and one of the schools I drive for was closed. But I still had to bring my husband to work and get to my bus to bring 3 kids to an alternative school. Well I was running late but my boss said to just take my time. Got to my bus and went out to get the 3 kids. No one rode! So i got to come home early. When I got home my neighbor had come over with his snow blower and cleared up most of the driveway. there is just a little cleaning up to do and that can wait until the snow and wind stop completely. 
Our mailboxes are somewhere under here. 
If I wasn't really wanting spring to come now I do. Enough is enough with this snow stuff! This blog entry has been viewed 476 times
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