What A Difference Eleven Years Makes In The Garden

I know I only just posted about our blooming garden, but I couldn't resist sharing a few more photos with you. I never cease to be amazed at the transformation in the garden during late spring. Also, I am reminded that this spring marks eleven years in our home, and our garden reflects this (here's a lengthy garden tour post from 2010.) Hint, the garden used to look like this:

In The Garden : Flowering

Well, we have finally had some much needed rain, which means now, the garden is greening and the fruit trees are blossoming. We've planted our vegetable bed, the peas are up, the rhubarb needs harvesting and every day, I make to do lists for two houses and two gardens. Every little thing that needs done, needs to be done twice, both here and at the farm. (If you're looking for an update about what's been happening, there, read this.) Let's just say, this spring and summer are going to be interesting. And very full. (It's all good, though, reallyreally.)

These photos are from May 4, and already, there's so much more growth.















From May 8.









I know, squirrels can be a nuisance. But this particular squirrel stays close by when we are out in the garden and poses for photos. I can't help being smitten.



On the way to the kids' choir concert, last week, we saw a moose.



And this week.















It makes me exceedingly happy to see all these future apples, plums, peaches and pears, blooming in our little garden by the sea.

On His Fourteenth Birthday

Our Adam turned 14, yesterday. Like I imagine all parents must, from time to time, I wonder how it is that my baby has grown taller than me? I know for a fact that he is kinder, more patient, sweeter and nurturing than, well, a goodly portion of the people on the planet, so that doesn't surprise me. But taller? Well, that doesn't compute, somehow.

We began his day with our traditional birthday breakfast, made by Alex, at which point, Max the cat was convinced he needed a little something from our plates, followed by Adam opening his cards, then his gifts.













Since Adam is an avid gamer and has been delving into Machinima, we thought he needed to upgrade his hardware. He was a little bit psyched. As in a lot psyched. Like, a lot. Psyched.





Which had to be set up immediately, of course. Even before cake.





Last week, Olivia had made a white cake with a buttercream frosting flavored with our own maple syrup for Blunt, which was apparently a hit, and Adam decided he wanted the same cake for his birthday.







In the afternoon, we went out, and stopped at Coast City Comics, where Adam scored a 2001 Nintendo Game Cube. We then had an early dinner, and went, where else? To see Iron Man 3. (We liked it, surprisingly so.) Of course we stayed for the end credits (as one should stay for the end credits to all Marvel movies because there's always an extra bit).



I asked Adam a few days before his birthday if he was looking forward to being 14, knowing that sometimes, my children have resented these older years laying claim to their childhoods. He shrugged at first, and gave the question some thought. Later, he said that he liked "turning 14 better, because I feel more aware of things. I feel like I know more and understand stuff better." Oh, my thoughtful, imaginative boy. Never have we doubted that. Happy Birthday, Adam.

Digging In At The Homestead, Planting Our Roots

We were up at the Fedco Tree Sale last weekend, and while we did buy trees (70 trees, to be exact), this year, we selected trees for the homestead. This May is different. This May, we aren't thinking about our one small, intensively planted garden near the beach, we're thinking very long-term and on a much bigger scale. We're thinking about orchards, trees that will grow to 60 feet tall, trees and bushes that will provide decades of sap and fruit for our children and their children. We also selected plants that will add beauty and structure, and in a sense, our taste, our personality to a landscape that is newly ours.





And as this is our first summer with the homestead, we cannot hope to grow the huge vegetable garden Nana grew, while completing work on the farmhouse, let alone dividing our time between two homes. Still, the lure of seed potatoes and seed packets was too much to ignore. So, with Olivia leading the charge, we will have a much smaller vegetable patch up at the farmhouse, and one in our raised beds in our urban garden. Olivia has her heart set on growing squash and beets. Papa, too, was hoping to track down some Purple Viking seed potatoes, but had to come home with some other varieties, instead. Once a gardener, always a gardener, I suppose.







With all our various plants and seeds tracked down, we packed it all into the back of our van and drove the much shorter distance to the farm (than our usual two hours home - well, the beach home, home is getting to be more of a gray area, these days, and both have our hearts and minds).



The weekend was perfect for planting; dry and sunny and just cool enough to make all the digging bearable. One of the (many) challenging things about planning (and planting) at the homestead, is that there is so much that needs to be undone or repaired, that it makes it difficult to know where to begin. We have so much space there, but so much of it is overgrown and needing to be cleared, that knowing where to plant is difficult. One solution was to clear, at least a little bit, which is what Alex did, on day two of planting, by hand. All afternoon.





Farmer Olivia. She is so, so happy and joyful when she's at the homestead, planning and managing.



Alex chose to put his new apple (eight) and elderberry (twelve) seedlings on a little hill next to the old apple trees, but this required much clearing of bramble, first. Adam and Olivia were very helpful, and did a lot of the step and fetching needed for a project like this. After they found Papa's old bike (and later, a pack basket), this task became fun. And just like that, we have the small beginnings of an orchard.



In the lower garden, I did some clearing, too, and I was able to get in all the winterberry. Adam helped plant all the blueberry bushes and we also planted hostas, daylily, sweetspire and forsythia around the house.  Farther afield, we planted willows, redwoods, larch and sugar maples. Adam is somewhat more reticent about the doings at the homestead, but maybe that is changing some, too, now that he has a hand in the actual transformation of the house and farm, itself. Whatever the change, it was wonderful to have him by my side most of the afternoon, digging holes and making decisions about where to place plants. Perhaps our Taurus is feeling the land beneath his feet?



Perhaps, as I mentioned, we're all feeling just a little more connected to the land and the place, making it ours, having planted roots in the soil.