Carpenter Bees -1; Homeowners -0

I don't know - it seems as if there are more carpenter bees than usual this year....Someone told me last week that they're glad that the carpenter bees have been so busy - because they drive out the wasps(!) I don't know if this is true - I have not taken the time to observe this; I know that our little greenhouse has been FULL of the bees this spring - and I would love to think that we can still USE the greenhouse and not worry about wasp nests under every single 2x4 and in every stray plastic pot...
But I DO know that we joke all the time about the porch swing just collapsing one day - there will be virtually nothing left of the wood...and i have other friends who are paranoid about their houses - or porches - or carports...also collapsing. Really, you look at the amount of sawdust and try to translate this into what may be left of the structure involved...
Although I steer clear of these bees when they are being territorial about the redbud trees, I don't think I've ever known anyone to be stung by one - have you?

almost everything is in the ground...

so: The field (or garden...it's a garden when you think about it - it's a field when you're out there working(!) is almost completely planted. Will has fretted over the design for this season, making sure there was enough room for everything that need a row.
He then proceeded to almost kill himself by spending forty kabillion hours out there...every single speck of free time when there was also daylight.
And, like I said - almost everything is in the ground at this point.
So, the question is... what the heck is this?or this??
can you imagine what the setup looked like in the beginning?
How many flats of plants we actually seeded and how many teeny tiny plants have been carefully set, one by one, into the ground?
Some of these are 'remainders' and some signify the final push of planting.
I haven't been completely absent for the big push, but cannot fully engage until the semester is virtually over (this week -yea).
So let's hear it for the one who does the heavy lifting (and I mean that literally).
Look to be a very good season...IF we get some rain in the near future. Otherwise, it's out with the pump and big hoses. I personally would like to see the pond remain untouched for a little longer - but we'll do whatever is necessary.

moving forward....

Tonight we have a combination of things WILL likes to take pictures of , and things I like to take pictures of...unfortunately, we have no pictures from this day, Sunday, whereupon there was much setting out of herbs and peppers and then some re-potting and some planting of flowers on fencelines...sometimes one is just too busy to go GET the camera when one thinks 'man, I wish I had the camera!'
And, by the way, I hear thunder in the distance but that doesn't fool me...although I would love to be fooled and actually GET some rain (!)
But I digress...
The garden is shaping up very quickly - thanks to our CSA Members and their hard work last weekend, coupled with Will being stressed about everything getting into the ground!
Above we have onions blooming, and a scattering of cilantro (volunteers)
And can you say 'SWEET CORN'? It may look small from this viewpoint, but it is green and strong and we are excited about this. PS: the(other) corn planted by our families last week is already up and the germination is very, very good.....
Here are some of the young tomatoes...not as small as they appear here, and I know Will was trying to get a picture of the first little tomatoes set on the vine...but you'll have to imagine them at the very edge of the bottom of this picture(!) see the little yellow flowers?

Now on to the 'Here Today Gone Tomorrow' pictures...below, the Lady Banksia Rose and the Mock Orange (nice, yes?)


And the Irises I bought for Will last year....he planted them in this bed, just to make sure they got established, although they will be moved later... but for the moment, they can be seen from the favorite 'porch-sitting' spot.

And, through the front yard fence, a craziness of bleeding heart and our precious old-fashioned roses brought from Washington Parish 20 years ago...hauled around and finally planted on this piece of property...
And, finally. This we call our 'Under The House Rose'. It would seem it is the very same old-fashioned rose as the picture above, but we did NOT plant this here...maybe it migrated in some mysterious way...but it literally is under the house...and grows up from there...very nice though, don't you think?That is all for today...We are working hard on getting the entire garden planted. We are getting very close...

Pardon ME

while I post WAY too many pictures of the red clover
this is important...
and this is very beautiful
but you know how it is with clover
it is expensive
and many times you don't get much of it
and then , after a year or two
its gone and you have to plant it again
if you want to go through all that
I'll be thinking the bees are VERY happy about this
Will is partial to the white ball clover
and of course that is a beautiful thing too

I, for one, am a big red clover fan!

Farm Day!....WOW

What an EXCELLENT Farm Day! I don't know how many CSA members showed up altogether - at least twenty - but everything we hoped to accomplish got done! before noon!
We had members from last season, who just walked out and started working - they know the garden, they know how to weed and plant and mulch and anything else...and their stamina is amazing.
We had new members and in many cases their children...all were eager to get in there and work; no matter what the job. I was a little anxious after the first couple of hours...I did not want them to overdo it in the beginning of the season. But everyone was energetic and happy to be there. These people are just wonderful. It's one thing to be out in the garden when everything is lush and the produce and herbs and flowers are everywhere. It's quite another to be dealing with planting and weeding and construction! And so I admire their ambition and their willingness to contribute to what will be the summer garden.
Heck, we had one lovely young woman who came out just to work!. She's not a CSA member, but wants to know more about what is involved in the growing process. Fabulous.
Here is what our little community accomplished:
Two women set to work on harvesting lettuce. They carefully and beautifully snipped lettuce and laid it in the wheelbarrow to be brought to the carport and bagged. Meanwhile, one young man pulled all of the larger heads of lettuce from another row and set aside those that had not bolted. These were bagged and left in the shade by the garden. Oh my, so much lettuce!
Three or four folks were busy with the difficult (and seemingly not as rewarding) task of pulling big flowering vegetable plants up...this is a sweaty and tiring thing to do. But no one was complaining.
Two parents (from different families) helped to oversee two absolutely cute little girls in digging up all of the carrots and setting them aside. The girls stayed excited about this all the way to the end! - and there were may, many carrots. They loved laughing at the funny shapes carrots actually come in - certainly they all didn't look like the ones you buy at the grocery store...
Several women were busy on the other side of the garden, carefully pulling weeds away from permanent herb beds and, after that was done, helped mulch the whole business!
Two or three young guys helped load the truck with hay from the barn, then set to tossing bales out by the garden...one particularly impressive young man spent almost the whole morning picking up piles of detritus that had been created and hauling them, one wheelbarrow at a time, to the compost pile. I couldn't believe he kept this up for as long as he did.
The men got shovels and completely dug out the mint beds, setting clumps of mint buy the fence for future replanting. This was some serious manual labor! And a job I had not counted on having completed on this farm day...I am very grateful. thanks, guys. Afterwards, two of the teenagers pulled the hoses around and made sure the mint was watered.
One of the last big jobs was the building of the cucumber fence. This requires many hand, stakes, bamboo poles, lots of twine, netting, and everyone working at once to make sure the fence is straight and tight. The result was impressive.
Finally, four or five adults and kids carefully planted the second round of corn, laying the seeds about three inches apart. We're talking four 75 ft. rows here. That's a lot of bending down and carefully depositing seeds. Backbreaking for the big people...the kids are closer to the ground, so they don't have to bend down quite so far!
One thing I want to say about this wonderful morning. Anyone who wants to see good parenting at work should visit us when our member families come to the farm. It is just so heart-warming to see all of these kids - little ones, pre-teens and teenagers - ALL of them - pitching in and working and smiling and eager to do whatever was asked of them. Makes one know that the future is in good hands. Excellent work, moms and dads...

First April Weekend

It started off like this...We had planned our first Farm Day of the new CSA season, but when I woke up and saw the rain, I hurredly sent an email to our members, telling them it was just too wet in the garden to get out there and do anything. Thankfully, some people just don't look at their email in the morning! Several new members showed up, the sun came out, and off we went.
When it was all said and done, the garlic and strawberries were weeded.
I always worry that we'll wear folks out. Don't want to do that. It's hot out there, and the work is something one has to become acclimated to. Thankfully, those who stayed to help called time when they had had enough. We're glad they had not gotten the first message. We do need the help. Everyone went home with lettuce and cabbage and some with carrots as well. There aren't many berries yet...it's the beginning. But I did manage to snag a few for Monday morning breakfast. We got quite a bit of planting done by the time the weekend was over. Red beans, Horticulture beans, zinnias, Bright Light chard. Probably things I'm forgetting. It's beginning to snowball, but that's a good thing.