Blueberries, still small after so many years
Beach plum budding
Blurry picture of Carmine Jewel buds (small child who dresses herself in the background).
Carmine Jewel cherry again. It is growing and thriving!
A few days later, blooming nicely!
I planted some English peas in here about 10 days ago. They are coming along.
My dad came over and tilled 5 days ago... he does this for me and a few other people. There is a family who bought a house that used to belong to long time family friends , less than a quarter mile from where i grew up. They are Brethren, i think- and work to live simply. My dad drove by one day last spring and noticed they were hand-turning their garden. He let them know he had a rototiller and he could come by and till for them anytime. However, he warned them to not offer him any money and he tilled it the next day... This year, they called and ever so politely asked him to stop by -tried to offer him payment and dad repeated his "warning". So, my dad tilled their spot and he was offered a "sampling" of fresh baked bread and a dozen eggs. Gratefully received. :)
So, this is what i did to it today.... I got 9 rows out of it. In past years, i could hill up 7 rows in one whole day if hubby could help me on at least 3. Before that, (the occasionally mentioned car crash thing that almost did me in but let me buy the property after the house burned- etc) it took me a few days to get that far. It took me about 2 hours today. Of course i took breaks and drank lots of water but it is as fast as i have ever gotten this task done. Yay!
Then, installing the soaker hose....
It wasn't that bad. The packaging instructions were basic but straight-forward. The pieces were easy to attach. I had bought two, 100' kits but needed an additional kit. While the first two kits were warming in the sun to straighten out, i went out and bought the third. After fetching the kids from school, i got the last 2 rows assembled and tested for dead lengths or spritzes. All of the lengths beaded and dripped evenly without trouble.
For one inch of water, we can run the hose 200 minutes according to the packaging.
Now for the covering. I went with 6 mil plastic. 20x 100. I officially measured the width at 27 feet. I guessed the length is 36. It took two cuts of the plastic to cover the whole, contouring the raised beds.
Our 7 year old daughter enthusiastically delivered the bricks one by one. We got it all pinned down before the ever-present wind wreaked havoc.
Along the way---
The male Seaberry/Seabuckthorn is standing at stud. The female, "Titan" is ready to receive but the last time i took photos, i had to use photoshop to encircle the female "blooms" so they could be noticed.
Hardening-off seedlings
blurry pic of Stanley Prune Plum buds
Strawberry bed. Looks messy but they are thriving. I have used Roundup on a paintbrush to remove grass that has come up through the plastic
