SPRING GARDENING

A stroll along the Potomac at Mount Vernon in the spring. This Johnson Bros plate reminds us of early days of our country when ladies wore long dresses with hoops and gentleman wore jodhpurs when riding a horse. This plate is a sweet reminder of our American history.

Here on our farm in the west trees have completely leafed out and flowers are blooming everywhere. I am planting our veg garden now, mostly in hay bales. I have planted in straw bales for the two years previous and it was successful, but this year they doubled the price of straw bales....yes, doubled.....so I am using some old hay bales out of our barn that were baled before the seed heads were formed. So....free is best and we will see what happens. The trouble is, our baler makes small bales and they are much looser than the big straw bales from the Willamette Valley. I have read that it works if you keep pushing them down as they rot.

Here is my pink Clematis growing on the greenhouse.

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Here are last years straw bales in the conditioning stage. You have to condition them with high nitrogen fertilizer and water for 10 to 12 days. They should be growing odd little mushrooms when it is time to plant the bales. No...you don't eat them. They aren't poisonous but they wouldn't taste good.

A very nice bean crop coming along in the straw bales.

I have been very negligent about my blog but I am going to try to add to it more frequently.  Next blog will show the hay bales that I am just beginning to plant so that you can compare and see what I mean. 

 Today I planted my Blue Lake beans like the ones above.  No other beans taste as good when canned as Blue Lake beans. I have tried many other varieties and this old favorite is still the best in my opinion. 

If you are wondering....I set the bales on top of my already raised beds. Old ladies and old men find it hard to bend. LOL

See you next time.

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