Small daffodils. I don't know the cultivar name as they've been here so long.
Dear Carol, Mary Ann and all of our Gardening Friends,
Well, Daylight Savings Time began two days ago. So, today, I’m tired. You wouldn’t think one little hour could make so much difference, would you?
HH walked in the door from work last night with two, blue/green eggs in his hands. The girls have started laying. Before Bear turned them into brownies, I snapped a photo. To me, nothing says spring like a beautiful chicken egg, or a chocolate bunny for that matter.
Bear holding two Aracauna eggs in her hands.
Work continues on the potager. The blocks we bought were supposed to fit easily together, but guess what, they don’t. I think the guys now have a rhythm going since they’ve nearly finished two beds today. Hard, hard work. HH and I spent half of Sunday working on one of the walls to see how high it needed to be, and we had to tear it down and rebuild it.
Part of one garden bed and the brick walkways.
Tomorrow, I need to plant the rest of my cold crops in the back garden because the new potager won’t be finished in time. I still have my potatoes and onions to plant, and I need to get them in now. I received the Forellenchuss or Flashy Troutback lettuce seeds we’re going to all grow, and I’ll get them in the ground this week. I’m also planting collards, which are still a staple crop in the south.
Come summer, I know I’m going to shoot myself for writing this, but I really can’t wait for warm weather and clear, blue skies. It’s been a long and hard winter everywhere, and the gray skies just aren’t my thing. In honor of warmth, I want to introduce you to all the basil varieties I’m planting this year. I won the Renee’s Garden Basil Lover’s Bonanza, and what a nice gift. I wish I could remember which blogger’s contest it was? So many different basil seeds in one package: Italian Pesto basil, Mrs. Burns’s Lemon Basil, Salad Leaf Basil, Windowbox Mini Basil and Scented Basil Trio. I will grow some in containers and some in the kitchen garden. Really, I can’t wait.
Containers on my deck last summer. The terra cotta pots held basil seeds.
Meanwhile, today, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., I’ll be at Best of Books in Edmond speaking to a group of kids on spring break about earthworms. We’re going to make a worm hotel, read some books on worms and other activities. Bear said she’d be my assistant. Folks in Edmond are welcome to stop by and have dirt pudding with us. Passing on the love of gardening is what’s it’s all about.
Don’t forget, today is the last day to enter the Ethel Glove Giveaway. One luck winner will get a pair of Ethel Gloves, and the rest of us get a ten percent discount with the code RDR10. There’s also free shipping in the U.S.
I’m also blogging for Lowe’s over at their Garden Grow Along blog, and I’m trying to convince a friend of mine that she can have her vegetable garden in containers on her deck. She has a bad back from a car accident and wants to do a bit of gardening. I dissuaded her from using that silly, topsy turvy tomato container. I pointed our that the weight of the soil could compact the roots and that you were forcing the plant to try to find the sun. I always wonder about the creators of these silly gimics. She said she was interested in the containers. I wonder if she’d trade facials and dermabrasion for me creating a kitchen container garden for her?
Love ya,
Dee
Hi, girlfriend! I’m deeply envious of your potager. Now THOSE are beds. I love the walkways that will help keep Bermuda away, plus save your feet from mud, and of course the height of the beds is divine. Whoever got the notion that gardeners should break their backs from bending over and ache their knees from crawling about? Can’t wait to see the finished project.
Hi Debbie! I rarely see you here. Thanks for all your sweet words about my latest project. I just knew I needed them higher for when I’m older. A greenhouse will go at one end.~~Dee
I am so jealous of your eggs!
Oh, dear. You’re way ahead of me, Dee. I’m still cleaning up from the snow storms!
I can’t wait to see your finished potager. You’ll be swimming in food!
Robin Ripley
The brick work looks like it is coming along–and together! I think your idea of creating a garden for facials is great,although the thought of dermabrasion scares me. So good to know someone else has trouble with DST. It takes me about two weeks to adjust–and about that long to get all my clocks set–especially the car clocks. Keep us updated on the potager garden!
.-= Jenny B´s last blog ..The Church At Summers Mill =-.
Wow. The Daffodils are beautiful and the potager…well, there just aren’t words. I can’t wait to see it finished. Love the idea of you trading facials for garden coaching – what a deal! Happy GBBD.
.-= Diana´s last blog ..Spring awakening… =-.
I love the look of the potager! I’m so looking forward to photos with lush plantings and yummy produce.
.-= Leslie´s last blog ..GBBD March 2010 =-.
Dee, I like the way the new potager is coming along. I think the height of the walls will make tending the beds AND picking the produce much easier!
.-= Cindy, MCOK´s last blog ..Follow the Fellow Who Follows The Foliage … =-.
Dee, You lucky gal to have the new hardscape…and a raised bed garden…I wish I had a few, it would make gardening easier on the backside! Happiest of St Paddy’s Day to you~gail
.-= Gail´s last blog ..They Call It Stormy Monday =-.
Love those colored eggs! Our hens are finally laying again too. We’ve been giving some away already.
Your potager is looking good too! I finally got my hubby to put up an arch (out of cow panel) for my climbing rose bush. Now if I can keep the pup from digging at it!
Have a great day!
Kelly
Lovely looking eggs you are so lucky to have the girls lay for you.
The potager looks interesting but the walls seem rather high.
What a busy bee you are with everything.
Interesting your comments on giving up dairy and wheat both of which I have drastically cut back on, as well as sugar mainly trying to cope with candida after my long period on antibiotics for lyme. Yes it is the price I paid but was worth it to have my health so much better than I was.
Yikes, you just reminded me that I don’t have any Flashy Troutback lettuce seeds yet. I need to get on that. I’m going to plant my lettuce next week, I think. I want it to be just a tiny bit warmer for them.
And good for you passing on the love of gardening through earthworms!
.-= Carol, May Dreams Gardens´s last blog ..Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – March 2010 =-.
Lots of blocks. It will be interesting to see the finished beds. I refuse to use blocks but I understand. Stone is far to expensive and time consuming. Maybe if I gave in I could have some great planters myself.
Did you wear your Ethel gloves while building the wall? How did they hold up?
.-= wiseacre´s last blog ..Eastern Scarlet Elf Caps =-.
The eggs … wonderful, Dee, and I can smell the basil from here! Good luck on your awesome project … no wonder you are so excited. I see my Michigan friend, Monica, beat me here … we’re craving your warmth/sunshine 🙂
.-= joey´s last blog ..‘GOOD HEALTH, GOOD LUCK, AND HAPPINESS’ ~ IRISH WHISKEY SOAKED DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE / MURPHY’S IRISH COFFEE =-.
I love, love, love fresh chicken eggs, esp. green ones! (Or maybe those are duck or geese eggs… I used to get them from a coworker who had all kinds of fowl.) I hate DST, whether they take out an hour or add it back it confuses my inner clock for about 2 weeks. Your friend might also be able to use a raised bed like the yellow one from the Chicago Flower Show!
.-= Monica the Garden Faerie´s last blog ..Chicago Flower & Garden Show =-.