Photo: Great grandparents at their farm in Blandinsville, IL, with five of their six children .. my grandpa was yet a twinkle in grandma's eye. Stable boy and governess also pictured. Hodges farm, circa 1903-4

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Conquer and Divide

'freebee' plants

Week three in the garden ended with the nicest day so far this year.  Mid 70's .. blue sky .. making for a good work in the yard day.

The soil under the fruit trees was tidied up (weeded), fertilized and mulched.  I am still in sticker shock from our tax bill we just paid so wanted to go easy on buying any flowering perennial plants.  You know .. if you just take a look  around you can often find 'freebies' from plants that have self seeded.  I have lots of foxglove and columbine.  And I'm still finding violas that were originally planted about four years ago.
campfire cooker

Our geraniums were overwintered and are perking up .. as well as mint and rosemary that is getting an 'attitude' adjustment by being on the shady front porch for a week before getting any full sun.  The mint has been divided and now I have some potted ready to give away.  It was given some new potting soil that retains moisture.

We had dinner al fresco using our new campfire cooker.  Beenie weenies cooked in a covered dutch oven  ... and coleslaw served up on metal camp plates .. easy peasy.
freebee foxgloves plants

Yesterday I planted peas, lettuce and radish from seed.  What's being planted in your garden?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your garden is looking good. You were very productive today. The weather was perfect, but why are there so many wasps in north Idaho?!

I've heard that geraniums can be brought back but I've never tried. I plant new ones every year so I really should try. Do yours come back nicely? Will you post pictures?

Felisol said...

I love your wonderful garden. Is the fence really keeping the deers away? I have seen them jump over fences and it's a beautiful sight.
This spring they have also invaded the valley where my mother live. A neighbor told they were especially fond of tulips.
It must be a global phenomenon this moose and deer invasion.
I am a bit bothered.
Wild animal and domestic don't mix well.

Congratulations with all your freebies.
I'm so proud that three geraniums made it through the winter by me. his year I kept them in the living room, so that they should not be forgotten and dry out.Even so I had 6 casualties in January, that's the worst month.
The pelargoniums are standing on the terrace getting used to outdoor life little by little.
We're having a great time outdoors these days. Life is good.

Sue said...

I've been dividing perennials all last week and trying to find homes for them all....I sure wish you were a bit closer-it's fun to share plants.
Your weather sounds nice--our nights are still dipping into the 20's.

Sandy Livesay said...

Mrs. Mac,

Freebies....oh boy!!!! I love freebies, especially when they produce flowers, fruit or vegetables. The garden is looking really good Mrs. Mac. I have found the sparrows eatting my herbs. I'm going to place a netting over the top of the garden boxes. Great time of the year to break out the campfire cooker. I love cooking outdoors, it's so relaxing.

Cindy said...

As always, I'm inspired by your homemaking and gardening. It looks like we won't do a garden again this year but I'll visit the many Amish roadside stands for fresh veggies.

Mrs. Mac said...

@ Kim .. I'll post geranium pics after they leaf out a bit more.
Not all of mine survived. Some I just left potted and stashed in a basement window all winter, others I took cuttings and rooted in water .. about 1/2 took root.

@ Felisol ... so far the garden has been deer & moose free INSIDE the fence. I have made it inconvenient for the deer to jump over the fence by having obstacles (raised beds that will eventually have a little bit of fencing) around the outside. I'm glad some of your geraniums survived. I'll have to check out the pelargoniums. I've never heard of that plant .. perhaps I know the common name??

@ Sue .. yes, it would be fun and interesting to swap plant starts if we lived closer. I imagine this is the method our pioneer ancestors used as they didn't have a plant nursery or Lowes readily available :)

@ Sandy .. do you feed the birds seed? We do and I think that keeps them out of eating my herbs etc. .. they also drop giant sunflower seeds and I usually end up with a few of the towering giants growing inside the fenced garden. We have to put nets over the strawberries.

@ Cindy .. thanks for stopping by. You are fortunate to live in such an area with plenty of produce stands.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I don't know if my foxgloves seed themselves. I don't think I've seen any, but they seem to be surviving the last winters.

Yes, you and I are gardening on the cheap this year. I have nasturtiums coming up from seed in some of my pots, and I have lots of marigold seedlings coming up that I've moved around. I have moved other perennials around, too.