Around the Garden
So what’s going on around the garden here at Chiot’s Run?
I expanded the flower bed up front to accommodate a dwarf cherry tree I planted last year. I was going to move a few cat mint plants to the new garden area, but I decided to plant some of my broccoli & cabbage plants there since I’m out of room in the raised beds out back.
My new batch of lettuce and arugula is growing nicely, I harvested a little for a salad for diner last night. We’ve really been enjoying the salad season this spring.
The garlic is doing incredibly well, I’m very excited to harvest some. As you can see, some of it is about 3 feet tall! Unfortunately the deer ate my peas, so no peas for us this spring. I think if I want peas I’m going to have to grow them in containers on my front porch, or put up a really tall fence.
How’s everyone’s garden growing so far this spring?
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Visiting the Working Gardens in Massillon, OH
Yesterday I visited Scott and Andee at the Working Gardens in Massillon, OH. Working Gardens is a small greenhouse that specialized in native, woodland and shade loving plants. They also offer herbs and veggies, and this year they’re running a CSA. (If you live in the Massillon area, check their website for dates & hours of the plant sale).
I managed to score a few plants that I’ve been looking for. Scott also gave me a few interesting things to try; among them an heirloom Italian Cayenne pepper. He got the seeds from a friends grandfather. I’m really excited to see how it tastes, I’m a big fan of Cayenne pepper.
Scott gave me the tour of all of the gardens including the veggie beds that are part of his CSA program.
Diva the dog helped with the tour.
The veggie beds are filled with lettuce and garlic along with peas and potatoes. There are also a lot of peppers and tomatoes under row covers since we’re supposed to get a cold night tonight (forecasted in the 30’s BRRR that’s cold).
They have a lovely shaded property of 3 acres with a wonderful spring which feeds this great stream bed. They also use the spring to irrigate the crops, how great is that!
Speaking of tree peonies, I spotted this one in his garden as we were leaving, what a beauty!
It’s always nice to meet people that have similar interests. Brian and I had a great time visiting and getting to know Andee and Scott. I met Scott on Freedom Gardens, if you aren’t a member you should check it out, it’s a great place to meet like-minded folks.
What are some ways you’ve met other gardeners?
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Garden Dreams: Tree Peonies
I would love to get a tree peony. I’ve always thought they’re so pretty and so interesting, but oh so very expensive. My mom’s neighbor has one that blooming right now, and I went to a farm yesterday and the owner had this beauty in his flowerbed. I think this is a ‘Palace of the Purple Clouds’.
The bees loved it! He actually has sister bees to our bees, he happened to be picking up his bees at the same time we were getting ours.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get a tree peony, I think I’d have a hard time spending so much on one plant. But who knows, perhaps I’ll get one someday.
Anyone have a tree peony or want one?
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Ants and Peonies?
What is it about ants and peony buds?
It is believed that peony buds emit a sweet sap that the ants like, it is also believed the the ants help the buds open. You don’t need ants for your peonies to bloom, and peonies will not attract ants to your gardens.
Are you peonies teeming with ants?
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Checking on the Ladies
This past Saturday we did a hive check on the ladies. I figured you’d all be wanting an update on them so I took some photos for you. We removed all of the frames from the brood box (that’s what they call the bottom boxes on the hives where the bees live). We checked each frame to see how much of it the bees had covered with comb and how much contained capped larvae.
What you see on the left hand side of this frame is capped brood, those are baby bees that are forming. On the right hand side you can see the empty hive cells, those are bees that have hatched out already.
We were super excited to see that we had our first batch of hatched bees! That is a good sign for sure. We even got to see one bee chewing her way out of her cell. We also spotting the queen, which is much easier now that we’ve gotten the hang of it since she’s not marked.
We’re quite excited at how well the ladies are doing. We added a new brood box because they had just about filled up the bottom one entirely, so now our hive is taller. It’s very exciting to see them doing so well. I’ve been spotting the ladies at work about the yard when I’m out working. It’s kind of nice to see them every now and then.
Anyone else noticing the pollinators this spring now that things are starting to bloom?
