Seeding Frenzy

It is time for the annual planting frenzy.

This is part of the porch edge.

To those who like things in an orderly way, my gardening skills will offend.

The Ajuga aka Bugleweed, once covered most of this area. However, a winter with hardly any snow a couple of years ago demolished most of them. The rabbits, moles, and voles didn't help either. Last year I planted Nasturtiums in the bare spots.

The Nasturtiums are going to be back this year on the edges while  Forget Me Nots will be in the bare spots right next to the porch.

The Forget Me Nots aren't tall and won't overshadow the Ajuga allowing them to once again fill in the bare areas.

This is were the oriole and the hummingbird feeders are. We can eat our meals and watch the antics right outside the window.
Nasturtiums will come up through the mulch under the feeders to add color.

Hubby asked me why I didn't make straight borders. I replied
"Nature doesn't make her borders straight."

I may expand this a little next year depending on my moods...

I had to put up a temporary 'fence' made out of baling twine and spikes to keep Charlie out of the bare spots. He loves laying in the dirt in between plants.

He is staying out of the area now that I added mulch.

When he wants to stay outside and just observe the yard, he is attached to a boat anchor by a long light cable.

He can lay in the sunlight or chose to be on the bench in the porch. That is his outdoor furry pad. He dragged his blanket out on the porch so I tossed it on the bench.

This area is his preferred way of spending the warm months.

The east side is waiting patiently for the zinnias and 4 o'clock seeds to be dropped into the soil.

The west side where the pallet garden was last year, will get a mix of all sorts of seeds. We'll see what happens there. I had to wait until after the mini split is installed to do any more work.

I have a couple of other spots that I'm going to put wildflowers and other seeds in. This year, I will have to be patient for the annuals to color the area. I'm good with that.

Sunflowers, cosmos, and even [fingers crossed] some morning glories.

In the mule paddock near the house, I'm going to experiment with some sweet corn and squash. When the plants are done, I'll take down the single hot wire and let the critters clean 'the garden'. I don't know if it will work out well, but I am willing to try.

I've transplanted bee balm into three different places. I hope all the spots bring in the birds and hummingbird moths.

For giggles, I even planted sunflowers in one of the old cattle feeders. That should be interesting to say the least.

I only have to grab a couple of tomato plants to put in my rather unusual 'found' planters. More about them at another time.

Seed On!

And enjoy...

Gardens and Fences and stuff

Remember when I gave the neighbor kids a bucket of seeds to toss in the dirt next to the porch?
Well it is blossoming right now. Zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, 4 o'clocks, and green beans all in one place.
The humming birds are swarming the flowers. No need for messy feeders. I can have coffee and watch the hummers fly in and then sit on the pine tree.

Yesterday I figured it would be a piece of cake to finish up the fencing project.

I guess my cake was in shambles.
I took some line we'd used already at one point and strung it out. It all went very nicely until it got tangled up in briers and multiflora rose.

I carefully got it untangled and it got tangled again. Solo fencing is the pits. It goes much faster with another person.
Oh well.

If you look carefully there is a little brown spot in the photo. Two small brown Teddy Bears.
They are my fencing pals. They supervised everything going on at the gate.

I was so excited to get both lines to the 'ridge' road finally!

However I didn't have enough to finish the project and it was time to go check on Rich anyway.  It was close enough to noon to have lunch also.

I put the one gate handle up and took a photo so Rich could see what I was doing.

To turn around the cart and the 4 wheeler, I have to take the yellow cart off and manually turn it around. Then drive the 4 wheeler to the creek where it is wide enough to safely turn around ... and then come back and re-attach the cart and go on my way. This method, while not perfect, has saved me so many trips of carrying heavy items.

I had to stop and admire the flowers by what I now call the Morris Garden. This is where Morris was buried. Flowers do help ease the pain. However, I do know this is where he loved to go first thing every single morning....
Funny how it is such a lovely spot now that he doesn't pee on it.

We had lunch and Rich put the mower deck back together for me. The good intentions were that I would quickly finish the fencing project and then jump on the mower and start on the yard.

I got an email from MIL's cousin telling me that I should go over to Folsom School and check it out. Her husband went there and was doing the painting and cleaning to prepare for a get together and school reunion.

I ran over and took a peek inside the school house.

It is a one room school that operated from 1880 to 1961. I found the little school chairs to be adorable. The atmosphere inside was one of hushed respect. I don't know why I got the feeling but I could almost hear the teachers talking to the classroom full of different aged children.

I wanted to linger but I knew that time was 'a--wasting' as my Grandfather would have said.

Back to the fence. What a job it ended up being. I had to go back once for more wire and then I had to get some of those heavy T posts and pound them in.
My neck and back were feeling the effects of a heavy lifting 'work week' and too many hours driving back and forth to the VA in the car.

Finally! The last thing I have to do is connect the wires to the other fence so the electric pulse will follow through the wires ... and I am done with a project I started over a month ago.

I plan on finishing the work this fall and winter along the barbed wire fence all of the way to the creek and revamping the old fence that Rich had put up somewhere around year 2000.

I consider this a start at least.

After supper, I decided it was too late to begin mowing. So I picked green beans and some pea pods.
I froze 12 packages of green beans and the plants have just begun!