Spring it's Here ;)

Rhubarb is letting us know spring ;) it's here !

Down the garden path

In between rain showers we are working on bringing the garden out of her winter sleep with a new edged path in front of the pea fence , enriching the soil for the sugar pea's & bringing mulch in for the walking path. I try to keep the garden weed free through the winter months pulling stray grass & weeds as to not have a lot of prep work before turning the soil in the late winter early spring & that helps ;)

Rain Rain & More Rain

Just when you think Spring ... Old mother nature has different idea's like wind , rain & more rain it blew in last night something fierce branches flying off trees & all animals running for cover. Everyone was happy to come in early they had been out munching on spring grass since being turned out in the morning & it takes darkness & driving rain to bring them in off lush pastures early. Our hay burners ;) I mean those big ole' pony's they know they'll be treated to a early dinner of grass hay & oats a few carrots on top so they like being tucked in when the weathers bad they are a lucky group.

Our beloved Gracie ;)

After talking about him I just had to post a picture of the big guy ;)

Sweet Pea's & Gracie

It's time to plant those pea's sweet flowering ones & edible ones your snap or sugar pea's ( I've counted 14 alone in one catalog so there is one for ever liking ) after soaking them just like in my last post at least over night. they do best in cool ground & they can weather through a short frost one year I had mine in a week & we had a late snow storm they were just fine one thing they can't take is being too dry. My Grandmother who lived in the city always had hers in around valentine's day she watched the maple trees when they started to as she said unroll their leaves your soil is ready & it's always worked for me. So I kind of look at it like natures natural guide & if I haven't heard it from her I wouldn't have known ;) so the maple trees on our long lane have started to leaf out & my peas are in. And they are hungry veggies so I always ... after working my soil amend it with alittle well rotted manure & gently line them up & tuck them in. For years around here 9 to be exact we had a family goose Gracie he was wonderful but he nibbled on every green thing that poked it's head up through the good earth even if he didn't like it he gave it a try so up went fencing around all the newly planted seeds more work ... but he was worth it ;) the best watch dog we've ever had well ' I have to admit we've never had a watch dog in the watch dog sense we've had furry family members is what we have ... never left outside to fend for themselves but life is different for a goose for many's years he live in our " gated " chicken coop with electric wiring for safety ;) zap ! & then when he was about 6 he got fed up with the cooped up life & one day when the gate was open walked out & never wanted to walk back in & he had his own self defense hissing & snapping & if that didn't work a good bite ;) we loved him & often watched as a UPS or milkman ran with a package between him & Gracie he positioned himself at night in the driveway & if a car or some wild critter came onto the property that he could see all heck would break loose & I'm not kidding then our furry family member sleeping in comfort ... snug in a bed of their own would wake up & bark so that would alert us & someone here would check it out it was great ... but last year we had a predator slinking around at night a coyote we had never had a problem before but someone let him know we had high living fowl like in well fed & he was right ( our Gracie was a heavy one ) I think they call them christmas geese ;) & he was killed what the coyote left we buried in our pet cemetery " yes' we have one " & well I now have flowers that come up that we haven't seen in years & of course no fencing around the tender shoots about to come from my plantings. We are more careful when we walk out for the dogs last run at night the quick & hurry one ... the guard has passed.