Growing like a "WEED".

Everything is growing at a rapid pace right now including the weeds...having a time of it to keep them under control. We have a couple more gardens to weed yet and things should be good for a week or two.
We are busy cutting the peonies several times a day, to harvest them at the right stage. The cooler is almost full now and we will start delivering to the florist shops next week. Usually we would have made a few trips to the florists by now, but everything is a lot later this year.
The picture is a plant called Amaranthus. Great cut flower with vibrant colour, long lasting.

Tiger Swallowtail.

The tiger Swallowtail butterfly is busy gathering nectar from the lilacs. They always arrive when the lilacs are in bloom. The picture is a male swallowtail, whereas the female looks totally different. We cannot say that we have ever seen the female swallowtail.
We had a very busy week weeding and mulching with old straw bales and grass clippings. We have probably completed half of the gardens and will continue next week. We completed the transplanting yesterday afternoon, just before the rain came. Any ground that is not planted at this point will be seeded with buckwheat next week as a green manure crop.
The peonies are the queen of the garden right now. My goodness we have never seen them so tall and so full of buds. We cut them in the 'marshmallow stage' and store them in the cooler out of water. When we want them to open we give them a fresh cut and put them into warm water and they keep for a week.
We will have fresh lettuce, onions, and mint this week for market along with the perennials, succulents and hypertufa's.

Wildlife sightings.

Babies, babies, babies.....took a drive to Cudworth Sunday and spotted a moose and her baby half a mile from home, and saw a deer and her baby in a clearing along the highway. Today we saw a baby chipmunk for the first time...the chipmunks have been here with us ever since we moved here and this is the first year we have ever seen one of the young before it was full grown. So cute...
The other morning looked out the window and saw a raccoon coming out of the bluff of trees by the house. We made a lot of noise, so he knew we had seen him, as we don't really want him hanging around as they can be very destructive. He took off into the bluff right away. They are a beautiful animal.
The greenhouses are almost empty.....whoohooo, which means all is planted...almost.
Have a little bit yet to get in the ground. This week we are concentrating on weeding and then laying the mulch to keep the weeds down and the moisture in.

Then there were six....

So the bluebird update is 6 babies. Totally amazed that they raised six bluebirds in the size of nesting box they were in. They are all flying around throughout the yard feeding on the numerous insects available. Right now there seems to be an explosion of moths. They are everywhere right now. We did notice a few worms on the aspen leaves this spring. Am assuming these are the moths from those worms.
A final update regarding the killdeers that nested in the rock garden...have not seen young birds around and have not seen the parent birds around anymore either. Looks like they have moved on with or without the young ones.
The fall/winter weather has seemed to set back the lilac trees a bit this year. They are not blooming profusely like they have the last couple of years. Have only seen a few honeybees on the lilacs, but on the other hand, the cotoneasters are all a hum...very loud hum. There are all sorts of insects from Bumblebees (very large bumblebees), to small flies, a variety of wasps etc, busy gathering food from the flowers. The flowers are very small on the cotoneasters, so they have their work cut out for them.
Including a picture of the sweet pea fences we built this Spring. Since it has warmed up, the sweet peas have been growing at a rapid pace. Will top dress them with compost this week and wait for the blooms later this summer.

Bluebirds take flight!

We were out in the field garden cutting greens for market and the young bluebirds were out of the nesting box flying around. One almost flew into us. So far we see 4 young birds out of the box, which the adults are still feeding, plus they are also feeding birds inside the box as well. Lots of babies...they must have known that there was going to be lots of insects around this year, to feed the little ones.
Very, very humid day today....and it is sunny!!!!!!! It is so lush and green right now.
Busy getting ready for market in Saskatoon on Saturday Jun 19. We will have fresh onions, mint, lettuce and spinach available along with the perennials, succulents, hypertufa's and birdhouses. Be sure to enter the draw for Father's Day, a gift basket with items donated from the vendors of the Saskatoon Farmers Market. Enter the draw at the Little market Store. Good Luck!!!!!!

Mamma deer and baby.

This morning when we got up we looked out the window and saw the resident deer with her baby in the front yard. Every year we have been out here, there has been one deer raising her fawn in the bluff next to the house. She doesn't let us see the baby too often, but some years, by chance, we get a glimpse.
Seen a few different birds the last couple of days. A family of Cedar waxwings is in the garden next to the garage. They are not timid of us and fly in and out of the lilac trees probably eating the lilac petals. Also saw a couple of brilliant yellow warblers in the peony garden. They were landing on the peony buds and eating something off the buds (probably the ants or other insects that like the nectar the buds produce). The young robins are not timid of us either and will hang around where we are, looking for insects and worms on the ground.
Had another whirlwind day of planting yesterday. Transplanted herbs, annual flowers, finally finished the tomatoes, and seeded a few more vegetables for succession crops.
We are heading off to market today with the plants. Today will be the final day of sales for dahlias and some of the annuals.
The picture today is a cosmo called Double Click. Likes full sun and great for cut flowers.

Drying out!!!

It is amazing how after all that rain, after a day of sun and wind we are able to get back to planting. We worked away at that yesterday and also cultivated the thistle growing everywhere. It loves this weather and is very aggressive. It seems to grow 6 inches a day.
We finished up planting in the field garden...and will continue today in the other areas and get those filled up. Still have about 100 tomatoes and peppers to find space for, plus the zinnias, dahlias, herbs and a variety of other flowers.
Found another bird nest yesterday in the field garden. It is a type of sparrow, I think, and it nests on the ground hidden under a lily plant among the straw. They are incubating 3 eggs.
Well, best get going and get as much finished before the rain comes again.

Rain ending...

It looks like we may be in for sunnier weather for the next week. The plants that are growing will definitely appreciate the sun. We are about 80% planted now, which is great and will continue with that next week once it dries a bit. Saturday is market day again for us and we will have new products this week. We will have a small amount of fresh onions, basil, mint and rosemary. We also have a couple of new perennials this week....the blue eyed grass is one of them. It is a native plant to the area that is in bloom right now with a beautiful star shaped brilliant blue flower. Stop by and check them out.
We also have a few sour cherry trees still available. The varieties we have are the Carmine Jewel and Romeo. We will have pepper plants and Roma tomato plants yet this week.
The picture we have included today is an Asiatic lily called Centrefold. Gorgeous, hardy perennial, great for bouquets.

Whole lot of plantin' going on...

Wow, we had a busy day yesterday. All day, starting at 6:00am...till late at night, trying to plant as much as we could while the soil was dry enough. Not having to water the plants as you plant them, saves a lot of time. Overnight last night it rained, so they will settle in nicely. Also cloudy days are perfect for transplanting...reduces the stress on the plants, as opposed to planting on a sunny day.
All total we transplanted 140 tomatoes, 110 peppers, 50 dahlias, gladiola's, cosmos, statice, verbena, zinnias, amaranthus, broomcorn, and strawflowers.
The old body is feeling the effects of the day as well.
There is still more flowers, tomatoes, peppers and squash that we have to plant, but will have to wait for the ground to dry up again. We are not attending the farmers market this week Wednesday, as we want to lay mulch, weed, dig canada thistle, and hopefully plant the squash.
The picture I have included today is a Sea Holly plant with a honey bee busy gathering it's food. The honey bee's will be here in large numbers once the lilac's start opening. Will try to get some pictures to post.
Enjoy the rain...till next time.

The fog.

As we are writing this morning, thick fog has moved in and completely enveloped the area. It rained quite a bit again yesterday afternoon, so everything is saturated. However we were able to plant Wednesday and Thursday in some areas of the yard where the soil is lighter. We transplanted about 90 tomatoes and 42 peppers along with dahlias, glads, amaranthus, sunflowers and zinnias. We will mulch these areas with old straw bales, before the weeds start to germinate. Will plant the rock garden today and sort plants for the market tomorrow.
We will still have tomatoes (Big Beef and Roma) and Peppers (green and hot peppers) and a few zucchini and squash. We will also have dahlias, lilies, peonies as well as a large variety of perennials and annuals.
When we are out in the garden, the tree swallows tend to hang out with us, as they know wherever we are, there are sure to be lots of mosquito's. It looks like the orioles are going to stay. It is so nice to see this colourful orange bird flying around the tree tops and singing.
We were able to plant hypertufa planters yesterday while it was raining. Something we have kind of neglected so far this year. The picture is an example of the planters. We also offer 'Pick a Pot, Pick a Plant' at the market, which means...pick out an empty hypertufa container and the succulents you like and we will pot it up for you while you finish your shopping at the market. Many customers enjoy creating their succulent gardens. They tend to be a popular gift for weddings.

Strawflowers.

The strawflower is a great plant for fresh cut flowers as well as dried flowers. They really stand out in gardens, due to their bright rich colours. They grow to 24-30" tall and do best in full sun. They come in a range of colours, red, yellow, and orange. They start blooming approximately in July and will continue to bloom till the freezing temperatures return.
We will have these plants available at the market on Wednesday and Saturday along with statice, verbena, snapdragons, foxgloves, and dahlias. We will also have the tomatoes and peppers. The castor bean, will also be available (see the picture from Monday's blog post) along with the perennials and succulents.