Bee Haven Acres… Tales From The Farm

” To plant a garden is to make art upon the earth.”  Me…

(It’s hard to say anything original these days… but, after searching, I cannot find this as a quote anywhere else… so I am claiming it!  You can quote me!)

Spring Equinox arrived early yesterday morning, without fanfare, but it’s truly cause for celebration.  Very soon – perhaps it is already happening where you are – the earth will awaken, refreshed from her wintry slumber.  Mother Nature will prepare her hues and slowly and deliberately set about painting her magic across the landscape.

Like Nature, herself, we gardeners survey our blank canvases, dreaming of the gardens we will create in just a few short months – gardens filled with color and beauty, nourishment for our bodies, yes, but more importantly, nourishment for our souls!  I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been one for following the rules.  I don’t garden with mathematical precision.  But rather, I splash color onto my earthy, brown canvas, willy-nilly, and simply enjoy the cacophony of pigments that explodes over time.

(And yes, if you look closely at the arching trellis on the right of the garden, you will see a few leftover loofah gourds that have finally dried out.  They were last summer’s fun garden project.)

As I survey the farm, I see many blank canvases… patches of soil filled with hope.  I once read a quote about how gardening is planting the seeds of hope.  It’s a labor of love and hope and patience and perseverance.  It’s trial and error.  It’s learning to co-exist with nature and all manner of pests – weeds and insects that so often seem bent on thwarting our best efforts.  And yet, so much peace and satisfaction is gained when one’s fingers are working the cool, moist, life-giving soil.

Right now, there are (literally) hundreds of pots of flower seedlings germinating in my greenhouse.  

There are also a few veggie seeds germinating – cucumbers and squash.  Yes, I have been very busy these days – cleaning the greenhouse, filling pots with soil, planting seeds, and encouraging them to grow both with daily watering and pep talks.

I’ve desperately needed to see a little early color, so I picked up a few violas and planted some in the wagon that we re-furbished a couple summers ago.  

If you weren’t present for that project… we took an old railroad luggage cart that I had found at a public sale… (we used it as a dessert cart when Amanda had her farm wedding)

and transformed it into a flower wagon.  

Colorful violas will act as placeholders for the Persian Carpet Zinnias (photo below is courtesy of Baker Seed Catalog)  that are just now sprouting in the greenhouse.  Because we typically continue to have frost well into the month of May, these tender seedlings will have plenty of time to grow before I transplant them to the wagon.

For the past two summers, Jack has made it his mission to eradicate the noxious weeds that had taken over this perennial bed (you might remember it in it’s prime when flowers and a bunny fence lived here harmoniously)… roto-tilling and burning the weedy tubers over and over.  By the end of last summer he humbly declared victory.  Many of the myriad flowers in the greenhouse will end up in this bed – providing a summer-long cutting bed.  Although the greenhouse is filled with annuals, I hope to also add many perennials to the bed as well.

 Can you see the 💙-shaped patch of sky in the clouds?  I’ll take that as a sign that we are headed for something beautiful here.

Jack’s most recent project was to make two garden obelisks for the above flowerbed.  I have sweet pea vines growing in the greenhouse that I am hoping will twine themselves around these lovely wooden towers in a celebration of pink and blue and purple.  Each obelisk is 6 feet tall.  Isn’t it beautiful?  Thanks Jack!

The vegetable garden is ready for planting, as well.  We are lucky to have a greenhouse just down the road from filled with vegetable seedlings.  I have learned that it is more efficient to buy a handful of varieties, already started (like peppers, and tomatoes) than it is to purchase all of the different varieties of seeds.  I purchase seeds for all of the vegetable that get planted directly into the soil, like lettuces, spinach, cucumbers, radishes, beets, onions, etc.  I’ll be direct-sowing our sugar peas, radishes, spinach, lettuce and onions this week!

When Spring arrives, we hit the ground running and don’t stop for months… something I remind myself of when the winter months feel long and slow. 

And lastly, Forrest is something of a blank canvas himself.  By suppertime, his day’s activities are worn on his white legs and paws like merit badges.  

I have no idea where he’s been doing his excavations…

 but a quick trip to the pond gets rid of the evidence,

 and, once again, he’s pristine.

PS:  I was asked to share the cottage cheese banana nut muffin recipe.  I used THIS RECIPE, and substituted an equal amount of maple syrup for the sugar. Maple syrup has a lower glycemic index than sugar, but the taste in the muffins is the same.  Maple syrup also has antioxidants and other nutrients not found in sugar.  I honestly could not taste the cottage cheese that makes these muffins higher in protein.

Happy Spring, friend.  May its arrival fill your heart with hope!