I copied this from the Farmers Almanac.  It is a history of Mother’s Day.  I always like reading about the history.  Thought you might too.  

 

Sorry for all the ads, but here’s the link:  https://www.farmersalmanac.com/when-mothers-day

 

It’s nice to know the history, but even better to remember your mother.  Ours was the best!!!

 

 

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

 

The mild winter seems to have been a real blessing for our orchard.  The peach trees are so loaded with peaches that I think we might be able to open a fruit stand.

 

The last couple winters have been a bit harsh, and the peach trees have really felt it.  We haven’t had any peaches for the last few years because the frost came about the same time that the flowers needed to be pollinated, or they got pollinated, then the frost came and all the baby fruits were frozen.  Either way:  no peaches.

 

Well, this last winter was so mild that the peaches, the pears, and even the cherry tree have all set fruit, LOTS of it.  

 

Every year is different at Crazybrook Farm.  We just roll with it, and are grateful for all that we get.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The sage is blooming too.  It is the most beautiful purple.  And the smell is divine.

 

Sage is good for you, great in the kitchen, and so easy to grow.  And the good news is this:  the deer leave it alone.  Can’t beat all that.  

 

Our sage is planted just outside the front steps, so it’s close to the kitchen.  Easy access for happy hour cheese accompaniment, good base for chicken on the grill, and even pretty in a little vase.  We love it.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

And while you’re looking up, do notice the Tulip Poplars.  They are really easy to spot.

 

Even at 45 miles per hour, you can see the orange flowers covering the trees.  Spectacular!!!  The flowers are tulip shaped and they are green and orange.  

 

This one is just outside my kitchen window, so I get to see it every day.  I love it when they are in bloom.

 

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!

 

The wild roses are in bloom.  And they are all around the neighborhood.

 

You can smell them even before you can see them.  So when you’re out for a walk, and you smell something beautiful, look around.  It could be roses, it could be Black Locust.  

 

Don’t you just love spring?  

 

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!

 

 

Look UP!!!  The Black Locust trees are blooming everywhere.  They are all over our neighborhood.

 

If you can, get up close.  The flowers are pretty, and they smell so sweet.

 

Even if you can’t get up close, you can still appreciate how pretty they are in bloom.

 

 

HAPPY MAY!!!

 

I went out the other day to get a little rosemary for our chicken, and I thought the rosemary was blooming!!!  In May?  Not hardly.  Rosemary usually blooms later in the summer.

 

All these little purple “flowers” are dead flowers that have fallen off the Wisteria.  When the wind is blowing, it looks like it’s snowing!  Snowing Wisteria flowers.  There were so many blooms on the wisteria this year, that everything is covered in dead wisteria flowers.  

 

My world is covered in Wisteria flowers right now.  I guess it could be worse.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

And can you ever have too much cilantro?  We cannot.

 

I sowed coriander seeds in February, and this is what we have now.  There are enough good size leaves to start harvesting daily, and enough baby plants to keep us going for a couple months.

 

Psst…this section of cilantro is about 5 feet long.  It is gorgeous.  I will show you again when it gets taller.

 

Growing cilantro is a two-fold pleasure.  The fresh leaves are called cilantro, and are delicious in everything, and the seeds are called coriander.  Coriander seeds can be ground and used as a spice (also delicious in just about everything) or saved and replanted to grow more cilantro.  

 

I haven’t bought seeds for cilantro in years.  I just keep replanting the seeds that my plants give me.  

 

 

I AM A HAPPY GARDENER!!!

 

 

 

And growing near the tomatoes:  Borage.  These are baby Borage plants that planted themselves from last year’s seeds.  Fortunately, lots of them are in the tomato rows.  And where there aren’t any, I transplanted them near tomatoes.

 

Borage is a good companion plant for tomatoes.  They deter tomato hornworms.  Not sure why.  Maybe the hornworms like the Borage better than the tomatoes, or maybe they hate the Borage and go someplace else.  Don’t really care.  All I know is that Borage keeps the tomatoes safe from hornworms.  

 

I will show you the Borage again when it blooms.  It is delightful as well as useful.  Can’t beat that.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Yay!!!  We got our tomato plants planted into the garden.  It seems like a small project, but it took us two days.

 

The soil was already prepped with mushroom compost and eggshells.  But then we had to dig deep holes, plant the two-liter bottles, plant the tomato plants, then secure the cages.  

 

I know I’ve told you this before, but it is such a cool system that I learned about 40 years ago from our friend Alma Barrett, that I’m going to tell you again. 

 

The two-liter bottle is planted upside down with the small opening deep in the soil.  We add a little gravel to keep the opening from getting clogged.  Then the tomato rootball is placed next to the opening of the bottle.  Tomatoes can be planted up to their top two sets of leaves.  That way all those tiny hairs on the stem grow roots.  And the rootball is deep, getting watered through the bottle.  We don’t get water on the leaves (which tomatoes hate) and the roots get deep watered (which they love.)

 

And all those brown leaves?  Free mulch.  What’s not to love?

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!