I love Spring!! Right now the Sandhill Cranes are floating overhead serenading us with their talk and beating of their wings. Their wings produce this whooosh whoosh sound you can hear if they are flying low enough. The afternoon they disappear and then evening they head back to their night resting grounds. There are many Robins flitting about and singing. Probably starting to pair up and begin nest building. Noticed a few Tree Swallows yesterday and the Cat birds. We sighted a male Bluebird a couple of times but have not seen a female yet. Hope he brings a mate back to the farm as we love to see them throughout the yard all summer with their babies. The resident rabbits are turning brown from their white winter coats.
The Delphiniums are starting to show growth along with the Angelica. They are always the first to spring to life. The greenhouses are filling up and soon we will have to spill into the hoophouse. The following are a few photos of springtime at Mistik Acres.
Rudbeckia, three varieties.
We have a fan running at all times circulating the air over the seedlings, developing strong sturdy stems and helping prevent bugs from infesting the plants.
The Dahlias are looking great.
Scented Geranium
Max my helper
Anemone corms ready to soak
Planting the Anemone corms. Notice the helper in the photo again.
Not much of a help. Lays on the newly planted flowers.
We used a bottle to make the depressions for the corms. Worked real slick.
In no time we had them planted along with the overwintered Ranunculus corms.
Hoophouse is ready for planting.
The second hoophouse under construction. Will be ready to plant within a couple of weeks.
The crates I use to sprout the Dahlia tubers. I like to see sprouts before I pot up the Dahlia tubers.
After danger of frost is past we transplant them into the gardens.
Coconut coir ready to be soaked. I use this in my potting soil to help prevent my seedling soil from turning green and to add moisture holding matter to the soil. It doubles in size once the water is added and absorbed.
I use an old basin to mix up the soil with the coir and fertilizer prior to seeding and transplanting.
I water all the plants with warm water. This is my heating probe I use in the greenhouse. When the weather starts heating up the sun warms the water.
Angelica plants coming to life. They are such an awesome plant for attracting beneficial insects to the gardens.
We have a couple of sets of Magpies nesting in the yard this year. This is one of the nests.
