Catch up!

July has just vanished, poof, into thin air.  Not sure how that happened, but we are into August already and that means the growing season has about a month left.  The annual flowers are behind in their blooming.  The Sweet Peas are just starting to produce with a bit of vigor and the Dahlias are beginning to show us multiple blooms.  The peony season was a huge success and I am planning on adding some new varieties to my inventory, including a few more of the Itoh Bartzella pictured below.

The pictures below are of a couple of weddings we provided flowers for, at the end of July.

Below is our display at the Saskatoon Farmers Market.  Vibrant colour and lots of selection. 

Other happenings at the farm include a successful chicken raising venture.  All the birds did well and the butchering process went well, but not without a few hiccups. The chicken plucker machine broke down just as we were starting a full day of butchering, so we plucked them all by hand.

The week of wild weather.

We had another storm roll through here this week which brought lots of wind, about an inch of rain, and left us without power for about 40 hours.  No tornado activity in our area, which we are thankful for.  We pulled out the generator and kept our fridge, freezer and cooler running.  The gardens all fared very well and everything looks very green.

Angelica

The flowers of this biennial attract parasitic wasps which help us control thrips and aphids.

The Monarch butterfly eggs have hatched already and they are busy munching the milkweed plants.  I do not have too many plants and they show growth later in the spring, so there are not a lot of leaves for these little fellas to eat.  Hopefully the plants will start growing with the moisture and warm weather ahead. 

Progress in the garden.

Peonies

The peonies are now being cut so we will have lots of stems at the market on Saturday along with Sweet William, Bellflower, Yarrow and more.  We will also be offering green onions and fresh herbs.

We experienced our first storm last week with strong winds and heavy rain.  We had almost two inches of rain in about half an hour.  The plants all seemed to take it in stride, except for the cucumbers.  Some of them  could not tolerate the soggy cold soil, so we planted a few more seeds.
Our lilac bushes are so beautiful this year and this morning they were all a buzz with honey bees, bumble bees and butterflies.  We have observed several Monarch butterflies and I started checking the milkweed plants and sure enough, there are eggs laid all over the various milkweeds we grow.  The male Tiger Swallowtail is back now enjoying the lilac blossoms.  Will try and keep our eyes peeled for the female.  The females look totally different than the males.

Since the soil is very wet we have stayed out of the gardens until today.  Started weeding and mulching and I transplanted in the rock garden and in front of the house.  Should be able to proceed with planting into one or two other gardens tomorrow.  Have a good two days of transplanting to do yet.  Checked out the raspberry patch today and I have never seen so many large bumblebees in one place.  There had to have been in excess of a hundred bees all busy pollinating the raspberry flowers.  Thanks to them we should have another bumper crop of fruit.

The Bluebird family is in the yard.  The young ones have fledged the nest and we think that one or two Tree Swallow families is also out and about now.  While weeding today I was watching a Yellow Canary land on a peony stem close to the bud and eating the insects on the buds.  Our natural pesticides.

Speaking of peonies they are looking so grand right now, starting to show colour in the buds.  Will have some stems cut for the market this Saturday along with several other flower bouquets, onions and plants.

Breaking Ground

Today as I sit at the computer and write this post, Pat is on the tractor, digging up a large patch of the yard.  This is the first piece of cultivated soil that is not going to be used to grow flowers, vegetables, or fruit to be marketed.  We plan on growing fruit trees, but the fruit will be for our consumption and enjoyment.  We are going to develop a perennial flower garden in this area as well.  Finally a step in the direction of landscaping the yardsite.  It has been a long time coming and I am really looking forward to creating a perennial bed with the plants I have collected over the years.  Now to come up with a plan of sorts...which is not a strong point of mine.

This weeks bird sightings include a few Tree Swallows, not many yet, Doves, Western Wood Pewee and an Eastern Bluebird.  The bluebirds that nest around here are the Mountain Bluebirds, so the Eastern Bluebird was a bit further north, than they usually are.  Hopefully he will stick around, find a mate and nest here.  They look like the Mountain Bluebirds generally, but they have an orange colouring on their breast.

The greenhouse plantings are going as planned.  Now we are planting Cosmos, Four O' Clocks, and Zinnias.  These plants only need about four weeks growing before they are planted outside.  Zinnia's are a big crop for the fresh cut market sales.  We succession plant these seeds, so we always have plants that are just starting to produce.  We have a lot of radish and lettuce sprouted in the beds in front of the house, but as soon as the weather turns cold, they are at a standstill.  So no hurry to plant the peas or spinach until it consistently stays warm during the day. 

A couple more perennials we have available for sales at the Saskatoon Farmers Market.  Starting Saturday May 5 we will be in our permanent location inside the building, down the center isle, corner spot, close to the garage doors.  Overall there will be a lot of exciting events and promotions going on at the market this summer, fall and into the winter months.  I will keep you updated through facebook and the blog.

 Sarah Bernhardt Peony

Red Charm Peony

Both are excellent cut flowers...surprise, surprise.  We all need more flowers in our gardens to bring indoors.  Don't worry about bringing ants into the house on the flowers.  Make sure you cut the flowers before they are fully open and if you notice any ants on them, just give the flowers a good swoosh to knock the ants off.  Leave some in the garden, but always cut a few for your enjoyment in the house.

Both of these varieties grow to about three feet and prefer full sun to part sun and are hardy to Zone 3.