Robin Antics

Agave

We believe we have Mr./Mrs. Stubborn Robin back this year.  If you recall the posts from last Spring about the Robin whom was determined to build his/her nest on the top of our back tire on the truck.  Eventually we had to park the truck in the garage so it would find a new site for nest building.  Anyway this year it decided to build it's nest on top of the propane tank of the barbecue.  One day last week Pat barbecued, and the next morning a nest was built right on top of the propane tank.  We dismantled the nest, but felt sorry for the bird when it came back to the location with nest building material in his mouth, and no nest to be found.  It hopped on the barbecue looking around, and then on the ground and then back on the barbecue and so on.  Within a few days it decided that the eavestrough right over our front door would be a good location.  Again we cleaned out the nest building material.  As of today, it has not attempted another location close to humans, but there's always tomorrow.

This week we are receiving a good soaking of rain, which also allows us a breather to do other chores around the area.  We planted some of the new perennials for cutting on Monday, so they will settle in nice with the rain.  We have been having busy days at the Farmer's Market.  We have ten varieties of tomato plants along with three types of green peppers and several hot peppers.  The vegetable plants include celery, summer squash, winter squash, cucumbers, and pumpkins.   Several new annual plants, including Cerinthe (Pride of Gibralta), Fireworks Grass, Passion Flower vine, Castor Beans (red and green), Rudbeckia, Sweet Peas, ten different colours of Dahlias.  Lots of new perennials and the old favorites, culinary herbs, Hydrangea, Oso Easy Rose bush, and three types of shrubs.  Lots of selection, but never enough room on our market tables.

Flower Fields & Plant Sale

Relatives of ours were in California in April and they visited a flower farm at Carlsbad.  Wanted to share some of the photos they took.

The yard is full of birds again this month.  The American Goldfinch's are back and we spotted a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak while we were in the pasture last week.  The Eastern Bluebird has not been seen again, so it probably moved on, but we have been listening to the Northern Oriole sing this week.  The Mountain Bluebirds claimed a new nest box in the pasture and Pat has added two more nest boxes for the Tree Swallows and is going to add two more today so we will be up to forty four birdhouses.  

The potatoes, radish and onions that were planted last week have poked out of the ground.  Have been busy tending to the plants in the greenhouse and digging perennials for the plant sale.  This year we thought we would host a Plant Sale at the farm.  It is on Friday May 18th from 10:00am to 8:00pm.  We are located 4 kms east of Alvena on grid 777.  There will be signs to guide you our way.  We will have on display bee, bird and bat houses, and the hypertufa planters.  The plants will include, shrubs, roses, perennials, annuals, vegetables, herbs and succulents.

We will be at the Saskatoon Farmers Market on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.  Have a great long weekend and happy planting.

May Happenings

May is really a wonderful month.  Everything in nature is so busy.  The trees, shrubs and perennials are all signaled to start growing with the warm weather.  The birds are busy building nests and finding mates.  The sky is very active in our yard right now, with all the different birds flying about.  It so nice to have some company in the yard.
The greenhouses are really filling up, so we are starting to adjust some of the annuals to the higher light levels outdoors.  Every day we allow them to bask in the full sun for a little longer.  Soon they will be tolerant of the sun for the entire day and at the end of May we will start planting them in the ground.  We have halted seeding for now as we received some much appreciated moisture this past weekend, so in a few days we can continue with that schedule.
Today we are showcasing a couple of annuals we have available this year for sales at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market.  The first is a vine called Blue Passion Flower.  It is very fast growing with exotic looking flowers.  It is great for pots or beds and grows up to 12'.  Allow it to grow in full sun for best flowering.  Hardy to Zone 6.

Passiflora caerulea

Pennisetum Fireworks

Another annual we have is the Proven Winners Fireworks grass.  Grows to 24-30" tall and is variegated with reds, pinks and greens.  Likes full sun and can be grown in the landscape or in a pot.

This weekend at the Saskatoon Farmers Market we are going to have some interesting gifts for Mother's Day.  They will include our hypertufa containers potted up with succulents or herbs, decorative containers, rubber boots,  vinyl records re-purposed into plant containers, and the most fun item will be a pair of red high heels all planted up.  Stop by early to check it all out.  We will be selling the pepper and tomato plants along with celery plants, annual flowers, dahlias, shrubs, lots of new perennials and our selection of culinary herbs.   I will be posting pictures of our unusual plantings available on our facebook page this week.  Search Mistik Acres and like our page.  We will be participating in the Sunday market this weekend, but we will be outside due to a celebration all about Mom's, taking place indoors from 11:30-2:30.  Pamper yourself or your Mom with a mini manicure, massage, facial or yoga instruction.  There will be live entertainment and lots of food.