Well I've been meaning to post about the garden for a while now but early spring has been delightfully busy. There's not all that much to tell (unless you're a gardener and like the dirty details but I won't assume that is the case for all of you). Suffice to say that we've learned quite a bit from last year. We've started things much earlier, paid more attention to companion planting and have much better soil amendments (we have compost and worm bins but we also bought supplemental amendments). There are now structures around the keyhole beds to keep out the squirrel gangs and we've had fun greeting all the perennials that came back (hello sweet raspberry patch!).

We also have chickens. I named mine Tallulah, which is an Irish name meaning "abundance"...it seemed fitting and I thought it went well with "Virgina" (which is what Pam named her chicken, though she's being called Ginny). You can see pics of the chicks and their cute coop here. I want to paint the coop red, but appear to be the only person who finds this desirable (some folks just don't know what's good for them). ;>)

I've included some pics that I took of the garden about a month ago. This was before things were getting nice and green but it is interesting to see them in comparison to the back yard last year.


Keyhole beds (now enclosed)


We have a few raised beds...one of them is now an asparagus patch. MMMMmmmm.


Outside the keyhole enclosures we have other beds which we fill with things that we hope are less appealing to the critters...the bunnies are fairly easy to fend off but the squirrels are brutal.


The land-people put in a pergola as well last year...this photo does not do it justice.


This is the lower porch where I hang out to talk with the Fae...you can barely see my altar back there which is made from river stone from my ancestral home.


The bluebells and forsythia are the first bits of color that we get here. The abandoned house next door has quite a yard of them. Now we are finally getting lilacs...*bliss*



While the link above has great pictures of the chickens and their coop, this is a shot of the nesting house (on the side of the coop) which is a feature I am fond of



I'll try to better shots when things get more established later in the season...it's so much prettier then. In the mean time I am dreaming of basil and other herbs, tomatoes, berries, root veggies, Brussels sprouts, greens, peppers, melons and so much more.

May our summers be blessed and full of joy.