More Berries (And Other Awesomeness)

Ben's lovely father gave us eight wineberry plants over the weekend.  He grows a ton of them at his house and dug some up for us.  The plants are incredibly healthy and begging to be put back into the earth.  So now we've got raspberries, blueberries, elderberries, strawberries, and wineberries.  Me thinks I'll be making some jam some day.
All of the elderberries, strawberries, and raspberries that I've recently transplanted are doing very well.  We've had a lot of rain and mild temperatures, which have helped a lot.

Wineberry plant

 Variegated elderberry

Publish Post

Emerald Lace elderberry

Thundercloud elderberry

Raspberry cane

The blueberries are almost in bloom.

The blueberry field on a cloudy day

Strawberry plant

Our free Seeds of Change order arrived yesterday!  One-hundred lovely packets.  There were many duplicates (especially of broccoli, summer savory, and sweet peppers), but great variety overall.
I won't list them all, but we received corn, tomatoes, squash, melons, herbs galore, flowers, eggplant, cucumbers, beets, greens, lettuce, carrots, and a boatload of other stuff.  I couldn't be happier.  I'll be planting the majority of these seeds this fall and next spring.  I've already got too much going on the kitchen garden side of things to throw in all this new jazz.

One-hundred beautifully-free seed packets

 Along with some late tomatoes, I did start a few of the Seeds of Change seeds today (sage, sweet basil, summer savory, and marigolds).

We have two more weeks until the coop needs to be chicken-ready, and we're almost there.  I need to finish painting, and  Ben just has a little more work to do on their fence.  The girls are doing well, and the dogs are beginning to accept the fact that they're here to stay.

It's too wet outside with a chance of rain today, so this project is now on hold.

 We had our first home-grown salad of the year last night!  I used our lettuce, arugula, and spinach.

 Lovely lettuce bed, mulched with grass clippings

Chicken Feet on Grass

The high was 80 degrees yesterday, so I thought I'd give the little critters a chance to bask in the sun.  I built them a playpen of chicken wire, secured it with sod staples, and covered the top with wildlife netting.  We have a lot of resident hawks that cruise our property all day, so I also stayed outside with them the entire time.  The chicks huddled up in what I call their "mound of fear" for a while.  I guess that's to be expected - they had never felt the grass under feet before.  It took a good hour for them to adjust to the shock, but they had a good time.

The Hen House is almost ready!  I've finished putting on the primer/sealer and one coat of paint.  I just have to paint one more coat and do the detailed trim work.  Ben will finish fencing-in their yard in a week or two.  I'm working on a big "Work in Progress" post for the Hen House, so I can show each step of the way.

April Greenhouse Tour

The greenhouse is quite possibly the most dynamic place on the farm.  Not only does it nurture hundreds of plants that are constantly growing, dying, or sleeping, but I'm also rearranging it on a near-daily basis.  (See sidebar for a complete list of what's growing on in the greenhouse.)

View from the North side.  Far right: hops.  Center: tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and lots of other stuff.  Far left:artichokes and lettuce.

Ben's mother gave us this old bathtub  last summer.  It has been very useful.  It's currently home to about one-hundred rooting blueberry whips.

 A view from the South side.

One the far right, beside the hops, there are two more beds of rooting blueberry whips.

This stand came with the greenhouse when Ben purchased it.  I love it.

 Another odd artichoke.  Its first set of true leaves just can't bear to separate from one another.

 The most handsome tomatoes I've ever started.

In the foreground we have eggplants (to the left) and peppers and poppies (to the right).  In the middle are my tomatoes, and the orange tree is poking up way in the back.

I mowed the lawn yesterday, and I'm paying for it today.  My allergies are killing me.  My whole head just hurts.  I am a prisoner of my sinuses.  Why do I continue to pay $30 for a bottle of Claritin for minimal results at best?  If I can gather up enough strength and fight through the fog, I hope to continue painting the hen house today.  If not, I'll spend the whole day worried about all the things that aren't getting accomplished.

Put My Plantin' Hat On

During lunch on Monday, I cracked open a fortune cookie that came with the leftover take out I was eating.  The message above was inside.  I hope this one is right.  We just planted a boat load of berries at Fat Bear Farm.  

The strawberries we ordered from Johnny's arrived in the mail last Friday.  Because of all the rain and cold weather we've had this past week, I had to keep them in the fridge for a few days until the soil dried out a bit.  I put them in the ground last Sunday. We ordered the seventy-five-plant variety pack, which includes twenty-five each of "Seascape," "Jewel," and "Earliglow."

 The strawberries arrived in great condition.

 The strawberry bed prepped, and ready to plant.

Ben's lovely father gave us a dozen raspberry canes last Saturday.  He had received a duplicate order from J.E. Miller Nurseries and gifted them to us.  The package included three each of "Latham," "Heritage," "Fall," and "Killarney."  All are red varieties.  I got them in the ground yesterday.  I planted them a little more closely than desirable.  I did this so that we can build just one support system this year, and I'll relocate about half of them next year when we have the side garden all figured out.

Raspberry babies, all in a bundle.

Raspberries tucked into bed, covered with mulch.

Just as I was planting the raspberries, the UPS truck pulled up, and our elderberry order arrived from Burnt Ridge Nursery.  This project was a huge undertaking.  First, I had to remove the mulch and plastic.  Then, I had to dig up eight horrible bushes from right in front of our house.  The roots were at least three or four feet deep.  It took me a few days to get it all done.  Luckily, I had all of the bushes removed before the elderberries arrived, so I all I had to do was prep the holes with some manure and add mulch.  We ordered one "Variegated," one "Thundercloud," and one "Emerald Lace."  We plan on making elderberry beer and wine several years from now.

 Evil roots fro the orignal bushes, finally all dug up.

After I removed the original bushes, I was able to put in this doo-hicky.  It will finally allow us to hook up a hose to water the front yard!

The elderberries arrived looking very much alive and well.

I hope the little jails I built them will keep the deer from destroying all my work.

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I have sad news.  We lost one of our chicks last night.  I don't know what happened, but we found her dead this morning.  The others seem to be just fine.  I'm going to bury her today beside the butterfly garden.  Rest in peace, feathered friend.

 The lilacs are blooming.

 And the irises!

Free Seeds from Seeds of Change!

This is a great deal.  For the price of shipping, Seeds of Change is offering 25 packets to individuals and 100 packets to organizations/businesses.  AND for every seed request, they'll give a matching donation to the American Horticultural Society.  Just click this link to get started.  Fat Bear Farm will be receiving 100 seed packets (a $300 value) for only $14.99!  I'm just thrilled to bits!