Besides one little lump in the driveway, under the construction materials due for the Transfer Station, is the last bit of snow on the front side of the property. I found myself near the Longfellow Greenhouse/Nursery yesterday and came home with a selection of delicious Pansies, and a few extra Heuchera to go with my dozen Primrose as a start of 2 new shade gardens: one along the Southeast rock wall and now one next to the Sugar Shack (on order are more Heuchera and Primrose, Bleeding Hearts, fancy Hosta – like White and Mouse Ear, Virginia Bluebells, and Hellebore) – I have been dying for a couple of years to take on this ‘shade garden’ project. I moved a nice little Rhododendron and Azalea up to the wall the year before last so now it is time to rake out and clean up errant saplings/thorny bits and add some love and interest. Josh just cleaned up the area around the Sugar Shack, opening up a nice space in front of the large Sugar Maples and began rebuilding an old rock wall there, too. A little cultivated space next to a little wild space – that’s how we roll.
Meanwhile seeds are in the sprouting room making contact with baby plant starter, on the heating mats, some under the lights, and many perennials in recycled milk jugs – after the milk, many of them hold whey for awhile, then they get cleaned and cut mostly in half/holes in the bottom and filled with enriched potting soil & perennial seeds. The cut half gets taped back together, then placed outside to stratify many seeds and naturally acclimate the seedlings. As they get bigger – and it gets warmer, remove first the cap for a few days, then the tape to flip open the jug during the day and close during the eves – to ‘harden off’, then remove the top completely when the weather and size of seedlings are established. For perennials this works great as it creates a large clump to plant, which gets disturbed less in transplanting, and quickly establishes a successful plant. Works great for my Echinacea & Rudbeckia/Forget-Me-Nots/Pansies/Canterbury Bells/Milkweed/Daisy and many herbs.
Still many big plans being developed in the Outdoor Bread Oven/extended Grape Arbor/freestanding Pergola reconstruction of La Petite Jardin. I think this will be our big push this Summer on the property as well as maintaining and solidifying the Blackberry Patch/the Medicinal & Dye Garden/and establishing Flower Gardens. I think the world needs more flowers this year!
Happy Tuesday!
Rock Bottom Homestead 