Yard Blogging 2.0

As promised, here's a pic of what I've done to my tiny front yard. My war on grass continues and finished weeding my crop circle in a couple of hours today.

The plants you see here are tulips, hyacinths, artichokes and in the center, (barely visible in the cage) is a Luccia Olive.

The hyacinths and tulips already bloomed.

The artichokes are doing great. I'm really looking forward to seeing them gain some height. The ones I planted in the back, in partial shade have only grown to half the size these have.

There is also a volunteer poke salet. At least I think it is. I accidently pulled one that was just a seedling. I'm going to let this one go to seed. I think they are gorgeous plants. They grow tall and lush, with deep green leaves and deep red stems. They produce purple berries that the birds love. And they are partially poisonous. Eating them improperly prepared, can cause stomach cramps and vomiting. I love them though. The poison is only in the reddish parts of the plants. The new leaves and stems are safe to eat. They taste like spinach.

I think I'll be putting in a couple of varieties of thyme in, after I feel comfortable that most of the grass is done sprouting.

This was a pleasant surprise today. A perfect lily blossom in my pond.





This will be a before pic of my backyard garden. My plants are just beginning to take off. Soon it will be flush with greenery. It's planted with onions, beans, potatoes, arugula (going to seed in the foreground), beans, squashes, peppers, beans, eggplant, tomatoes, beans, and in the back some Amish pie pumpkins that will have to be trained around the edges. All that effort in the winter is just beginning to pay off. It's nice seeing a little growth every day.

And this is where it all comes from. One of these mulch piles gave me four wheelbarrows of compost last year. You can see my sifter leaning against them. It's made of scrap 2X4s and some 1/4" screening.

And Ella it seems, isn't a blue heeler. Older she get's the less like one she appears.

I'm pretty sure she is a Catahoula Leopard Dog.