Garden: Rebooted

Its time to get the garden going again. We let it languish all winter, let the weeds do as they would, let the less hardy plants die and the hardier plant go dormant.... but its SPRING now! Its time to wake up the dormant sleepy-heads, mulch the dead things and evict the weeds!

Our reboot started last Friday with the delivery of our TWO APPLE TREES. I cannot tell you how excited I am about these two trees. I ordered them ages and ages ago from Territorial Seed and they were finally delivered. In the box, they looked like two big sticks wrapped in wet towels. Planted, they looked like two big sticks stuck in the dirt. Today, they look like... uh, two big sticks. BUT with teeny tiny green leaf buds!! Progress! In a year or so, they will (with luck) have lots of big healthy leaves and APPLES. Fingers crossed!

We also rebooted the duck-ponic system, which is our version of a hydroponic bed, using the recycled water from the ducks' trough. Bill cleaned out a lot of sludge (gross) and cleaned it up. Its ready for seeds, I just have to decide which ones. I am thinking banana peppers and red cabbage. Maybe? Maybe.

I would also like to plant some cucumbers (for pickling!), but that will probably be in the raised garden. Bill got a pre-started eggplant, which will also go in the raised garden. We had eggplants last year, both Japanese and Black Beauty, and they did ho-hum... until the weather cooled off and then they went crazy! Eventually, they succumbed to the cold nights of winter. I think I'd like to do peas and green beans, too. Oh, and maybe kale. So many choices!

We have a few survivors in our Garden O' Buckets, too. Our grapevine has tons of bright glossy leaves on it - this will be its 3rd year. We got teeny little grapes from it last year, and I'm hoping for bigger grapes this year. It is growing in a 5-gallon plastic bucket though, so it has limitations. I still have two cotton plants producing cotton (Upland White and Mississippi Brown). Our bamboo has some new growth, and the sad little jalapeno plant that refuses to die actually has a few flowers on it. That jalapeno plant is also in its 3rd year, and it has been through a lot. Its been attacked by hornworms, knocked over by the dogs like a million times, chewed on by the ducks and I'm fairly certain it was forgotten about and not watered for a period of a few months at one time. I have thought it was actually dead twice, and each time it manages to hang on and grow some new leaves. Tough little plant for sure.

I'm going to work on planting more this weekend, and then hope everything can get a good run on before the weather turns hot. Go garden go, again!