Around The House and Gardens

With spring finally arriving (the pecans have budded) there is so much to do! These 50 bales of pine straw should provide mulch for my whole potager and other gardens. I use pine straw from north of lake Pontchartrain all delivered in one huge load to last the year. The straw falls from the trees each year, is baled, and then the trees live on to make another batch the next year.

I do not use cypress mulch. Cypress trees are cut down and fed whole into shredders to provide people with cypress mulch for their gardens. It surprised me to find out that these trees were removed from the swamp....huh? These trees provide valuable land erosion deterrents. With Louisiana eroding away at an alarming rate and making all of our land and homes more vulnerable to large storms......Why Why Why!!! would anyone use it? Especially locals....anyway...I'm going to mulch my gardens.

All the citrus is blooming and the air is permeated with it's smile inducing scent.
The garden is starting to burst. Look at how beautiful the chives came back. They really should be divided. I gave my girls each a little square in the chive bed to grow what they wished.

Hello! Look what's peeking out of those huge artichoke plants!

This is a Cecile Brunner climbing rose. I looked high and low for one to plant on my pergola and finally found it at a wonderful nursery in Bridge City called Bantings. Luv, luv, luv...them! The boxes in the back ground are going to cover the grass and then the pine straw will be thrown liberally on top.

I thought these cabbages were goners at the beginning of the winter. Byron let the chickens out to free range and they happily chomped my new cabbage seedlings leaving only nubs and roots. I decided to give them a chance....I'm glad I did!

The culinary ginger survived the freeze and is testing the air.

Louisiana phlox! Not very showy, but dependable and wonderful in large plantings.

I'm getting all the pots slowly planted with their new stars for this year. I think I'm going to use a lot of coleus!

Soooo, much to do...in a few weeks this will be transformed! We still have a lot to do on the pergola. One more layer on the top, the trim at top and bottom of the columns, a screen with round aperture in the back, two swings, a bench, and a coffee table/fire pit. Hmmmm...bee-you-tee-ful! Patience....patience.

Sprouting in the garden now:

Green beans

asparagus long beans

black beauty zucchini

yellow squash

patti pan squash

purple hull peas

cracker jack marigolds

zinnias

gladiolus

Harvesting now:

carrots

spinach

beets

lettuce

strawberries

chives

Swiss chard

curly mustard

herbs, parsley, mint, onions, bay, rosemary, oregano, thyme

About to harvest:

cabbage

Brussels sprouts

artichokes

Growing now:

Tomatoes

Eggplant

Onions

Peppers