As I weeded the other day there was a lull in my normally very chatty little helper. That is when I heard the kale blooms alive with bees! So I hurried over to the apple tree that is in the back yard and sure enough...it was a'buzz! So I know that the three fruit trees in front were also getting a lot of attention. I had to take a picture...not only was that bee in the picture making my day but the blossoms are so pretty. And they smell so wonderful!! I am looking forward to seeing what kind of a harvest I get this year. This particular tree has struggled since being planted. The builder took away the wonderful farm soil and replaced it with a gray matter that smelled slightly of sewage and had what looked like lint in it. I was in such a hurry to plant this Braeburn apple tree that I didn't take into consideration how that might affect it. I am amazed it has done as well as it has. I do give it those fruit tree food spikes twice a year. And I am assuming at this point its roots may have gotten past that horrible stuff. I hope at least. It has also had a bunch of different fungus and spot issues. I gave it a good dousing of a dormant spray this winter so I have high hopes for this summers foliage. Also the Honeycrisp got some special treatment. The Braeburn has never given me more than two pitiful looking apples in the 5 years it has lived here. The Honeycrisp gave me 9 apples the first year and 11 last year. And it is a much younger and smaller tree.
The cherry trees appear to have quite a few cherries forming on them! The Rainier which is a smaller tree due to not getting the water it should have had the first couple years always gives me more cherries than the Bing. I loke the flavor of them better as well!
So, there you have been caught up on the garden....oh...I did happen to see a pea poking through the ground this afternoon. Very exciting!
We have a little visitor staying with us for a couple weeks. Liam named him Bocky...he happens to be a Bock Bock (translation...chicken). He belongs to my sister and she thinks one of the dogs might have gotten him because she discovered him late yesterday evening with his tail half ripped off. Because of that huge wound he can not be around the other chickens so we agreed he could recuperate here. He is really a sweet thing. Very tame and loves to be around people. At one point this afternoon David was weeding at the side of the house and Liam and I had gone inside. I go looking for Bocky a while later and there he is keeping David company. Too cute. When I got home from evening church I was greeted by the teen ager across the street....'by the way, do you have a chicken?" he says to me...then points to the next door neighbors driveway. There is Bocky strutting around! We caught him and Craig and David went around the fence line making sure there was nothing he could use to get over the fence. Tomorrow he gets to be in the cat yard when we are not outside. I would sure hate to lose him on my watch! Liam is smitten with him...and cried and cried when I put him in the cat carrier and into the laundry room for the night. He is just sure that Bocky will be hurt or sad or lonely or scared or whatever that little three year old mind is conjuring up.
The cherry trees appear to have quite a few cherries forming on them! The Rainier which is a smaller tree due to not getting the water it should have had the first couple years always gives me more cherries than the Bing. I loke the flavor of them better as well!
So, there you have been caught up on the garden....oh...I did happen to see a pea poking through the ground this afternoon. Very exciting!
We have a little visitor staying with us for a couple weeks. Liam named him Bocky...he happens to be a Bock Bock (translation...chicken). He belongs to my sister and she thinks one of the dogs might have gotten him because she discovered him late yesterday evening with his tail half ripped off. Because of that huge wound he can not be around the other chickens so we agreed he could recuperate here. He is really a sweet thing. Very tame and loves to be around people. At one point this afternoon David was weeding at the side of the house and Liam and I had gone inside. I go looking for Bocky a while later and there he is keeping David company. Too cute. When I got home from evening church I was greeted by the teen ager across the street....'by the way, do you have a chicken?" he says to me...then points to the next door neighbors driveway. There is Bocky strutting around! We caught him and Craig and David went around the fence line making sure there was nothing he could use to get over the fence. Tomorrow he gets to be in the cat yard when we are not outside. I would sure hate to lose him on my watch! Liam is smitten with him...and cried and cried when I put him in the cat carrier and into the laundry room for the night. He is just sure that Bocky will be hurt or sad or lonely or scared or whatever that little three year old mind is conjuring up.
I sure hope that wound doesn't kill him. We are keeping it clean and neosporined as best we can.
I will leave you with a couple pictures from my nieces Mother's Day photo shoot. She is such a beautiful young lady...inside and out!
I will leave you with a couple pictures from my nieces Mother's Day photo shoot. She is such a beautiful young lady...inside and out!