Almost done for now....

The dirt arrived May 19.  This is a foreshortened view.  The pile goes back a looooong way!  One very willing teenager (he is saving for a dirt bike) and I moved this monster in two days, with another day by a big strong friend.  I raked and the others shovelled and wheelbarrowed and dumped.  I was not a very happy camper after that.  I hurt all over.

It is a crying shame that a 64 year old body does not perform like it did when it did when it was 24.......I still would have needed help then too.  lol

 Beds built up and planting for the first shift is done.  We gathered up a lot of the stuff we had farmed out when we were evicted by the Credit Union (they still have not started demolition and we keep going back to the old garden for more plants).  Lots of our perennials made it through the winter, but not the fruit trees.

I have planted Cucumbers at the base of gate planters.  I hope that with enough fertilizer and manure tea they will reach the top of the spiral.



We ordered a new orchard.  I am an optimist....planting fruit trees at my age on a rental property with only a five year lease (for all the good it did us last time!) We hope to renew the lease so I can pick some fruit. 

 At the first post there is a Sorrel plant, halfway to the next post is a Norkent apple, at the post is a Honeycrisp apple sent as a free gift, caused a change of plans in my espalier pattern.  Just past the second post is a Manor Plum, doing beautifully, at the third post is a replacement Crimson Passion Cherry.  This one is already leafing out and we will see how it does, the first one never became more than a crispy critter!  Between the last two posts are three Honey Berries, a Berry Blue, a Svetlana and a Borealis.  I lumped them together as they are not self fertile.

Onions fill the right side and a planting of Mild Mesclun Salad Greens is on the left side....no sign of them yet, but it is very hard to tell.

The Painted Daisy was one of our firs transplants and it has been cheering us on from the very first.

 This is the overall view with our still temporary birdbath.  The soil in the bed at the edge of the patio is almost three feet deep!  Step into that bed at your peril! 

We brought back Day Lilies, Iris, Viola, Asiatic Lilies and a Rhubarb.  All faring well and even giving us an occasional bloom.  I hilled the row of potatoes straight ahead today.  There is a lovely Stonecrop and three Mini Globe Thistles (Two of which are up.) A row of Carrots and a row of Beets follow the left edge of this bed and there is a patch of dill in the centre....looks like a bumper crop!

The next bed left will be more perennials.  There is a row of 50 Liatris bulbs in a line from the stone circle and they form a spiral at this end, that is they will when they are up.  I see a few peeking through now.  There is a row of Lupin planted beside them but I don't expect to see much from them for a while yet.  Lots of ground cover planted at the front edge.  These will be our mother plants for spreading around in future years.  I want ground covers all through the paving stones.

The leftmost bed is very shady, have planted Hostas.  There is an Empress Wu that is supposed to be four feet high and five feet across!  It doubled in size in a week.  If it keeps that up it just might get that big!  It has been far too cold for anything to grow this week.  Lots and lots of rain. (There was water in the bottom of the hole when I replanted the cherry tree!)

The bins at the very back have a Sweet Million, a Purple, a Black and two red varieties of tomato that are up to the first rung on the tomato cages (I had to cover them last night due to frost!!) The peas and radishes in those bins are already up quite nicely.

We are in the process of mulching with grass clipping collected from friends' yards.  I really don't like to weed, and this soil will come up like grass when the sun finally comes out!  New soil tends to do that.

The plant on the left is a False Sunflower planted by DH.  At least that is what he says it is.  It seems to be growing flower heads with green petals!

Bin one is two Yellow Zuchini (I count 4 that have set) bin two was a Watermelon which got frozen out, bin three is a Green Zuchini, much slower than the yellow and bin four is a Spaghetti Squash.  All bins have Kentucky Wonder beans in the back to grow up the fence between us and our neighbors, and novelty radishes in the front (white with red centers!)  I replaced the Watermelon with Spinach.  I split a rubber hose to put around the sharp edges of the bins to protect the plants when they spill over.

I like to take my morning coffee out onto the deck to sit and listen to things grow, but that is drowned out by the multitude of sparrows and wrens at the bird feeder!

We are taking a hiatus until mid July when friends from Morden are bringing us a bunch of extra plants from their picture perfect garden.

Maybe now I can take a few hours to go into my studio.......Wish me luck!