Spring is the busiest time of year for gardeners and farmers, so we’ve been busy bees here on 3/4 Pi Farm. So busy, as a matter of fact, that I haven’t had a moment to write about the farm for several weeks!
When last I posted, we had a truckload of compost delivered and had started spreading it around creating new beds. Since then, every spare moment and nice day has been spent moving plants, prepping the vegetable garden, starting seeds, planting them out and spreading more compost. It sure was lots of hard work, but worth every minute the results are fantastic.
Busy Bees in the Vegetable Garden
Our vegetable garden is really filling out! I finally finished all of the digging, prepping and planting by the first of June. Our baby trees are in the first row in the foreground we’ll plant those out around the farm as soon as they get large enough this fall or next spring. The second bed I planted with lettuce and beets, along with Scarlet Runner Beans on the teepee, next is the third bed with carrots, radishes and two kinds of broccoli and bed four has Swiss chard and kale. I planted the large bed in the back with all different kinds of squash, both summer and winter varieties. Along the north edge, I planted 10 different varieties of tomatoes, plus some basil.
Raised Bed Experiments
As you can see in the foreground, I’m experimenting with using some long tree limbs Al cut to edge the raised beds I’m not sure I like how it’s working out. When I water, the hose gets caught on some of the branches. I’m not having that problem with the beds that are simply hilled up.
Al provided the mulch for the pathways. He’s been a busy bee, limbing up trees and grinding up the branches with his new chipper. So we have lots of great wood chips to use on a lot of our new beds and the pathways here in the vegetable garden.
I love using raised beds to garden with mulched pathways to walk around in the garden to weed, water and harvest. The soil in the wide beds stays loose and I only have to water where it is needed. Once the plants get established, they shade out the weeds, so weeding will get easier as well. I can plant rows a bit closer together, and harvest without getting muddy.
Busy Bees
Speaking of busy bees ours are hard at work, out in the clover of the lawn or visiting local wildflowers. Al is making sure they have enough to eat by feeding them sugar-water while they establish their hive.
The Gardens
The Herb Garden
The Pond
A few weeks ago we stocked the pond with an assortment of fish- bluegill, bass, perch and minnows. Initially there was quite a bit of die off that made us sad and disappointed. Amazingly, we recently started seeing baby minnows in the shallows and have sighted a few of the other fish too, so it seems that perhaps enough survived to stock the pond.
Our pond is teeming with life- several kinds of frogs, toads, tadpoles, water bugs, dragonflies and pond plants we haven’t identified yet, along with lots and lots of algae. Mother Nature has been a Busy Bee too!
Since we had such a wet spring, it was getting difficult for Al to mow too close to the pond. So, since we both prefer a more natural look anyways, we’ve left a strip around the entire pond un-mowed. We are pleased with the results! There are all kinds of plants thriving here that we never noticed before, along with tons of clover, a favorite of our busy bees. Where-ever practical, we’ve let the clover grow tall to supply them with nectar.
Here and there we’ve added plants to the wild edge. In this spot we planted Ligularia, a tawny daylily and some perennial blue lobelia (or it could be white). Out in the water, we planted a waterlily we bought last week. The sedges and water plantains along the edge were already here, we just let them be natural rather than kill them off or cut them down.
Taking Time to Rest
Our spring planting season is wrapping up, and we’re just starting to harvest things from the garden to add to our menu. The flowers are starting to bloom, the birds are singing, and the farm is teeming with beauty and life. Truly, this is our slice of paradise here on 3/4 Pi Farm. Come out and ‘sit a spell’, we’d love to see you.
Amazing how fast things fill in. I am still planning on potting up some redbuds for you…
It all looks wonderful. I’m so happy for you. Thanks for sharing!
Ooooo, that would be awesome! We both love redbuds in the spring. I envision filling the treed area along the west edge of our property with spring flowering under-story trees. We have some seedling juneberries and one tiny redbud to fit in somewhere among the maples.
Thanks, Barbara! I do hope you can find some way to make a visit some time.
wow, I can’t get over how all your plants have grown so big in such a short time. I finally planted the 8 tomato plants over a week ago and they haven’t changed much yet.
I am still thinning out the perennials, not the best time now but I have to make room to give the others some breathing space. Need any more plants? I am really happy for you and Al that you both enjoy your new location but I was sad when I saw your names on the RGPC deletion list. Looking forward to your next progress report. Be well and don’t overdo it
Thanks, Margot! I can always use more plants- the ones you gave me are all doing well in their new home, I think they like the soil here, especially the ones planted with a lot of compost added.
Al and I are liking our new church a lot- the congregation is much smaller, but just as welcoming as RGPC. We really like the pastor a lot, and the services are more visual than just musical- something I really appreciate. I do miss coffee hour though! The church will celebrate 150 years next month in the building it is in now, it was founded in 1828.
Most of the hard work is done now, at least until fall. Big tasks, I break down into manageable chunks and work hard for only an hour or so, then go do something else that isn’t so heavy and difficult. It took a few weeks to get the vegetable garden ready to plant and move all of the perennials out of it. I just did it a few hours at a time when weather permitted.
I’m hoping you can come out and see the place in person one of these days!