Spring Has Arrived

Well, we are ahead of where we were last year. That is a true blessing. We have 15 Buff Orphington chicks in a large rubbermaid ready to go out to the chicken coop and two 4-H weiner pigs in the pig pen. One cut his right front shoulder on something and we have been putting on a topical cleanser. Pigs don't like to be handled when the handling causes any discomfort at all. We grab them by the back legs and it is like holding on to a small jack hammer. Tony has spent a lot of time with his trees on the side hill. Getting rid of vegetation around the tree trunks, shading the small trees (1 to 2 feet tall), and fertilizing them takes a lot of time. We are attempting to stabalize a hillside with trees, grass, and proper watering techniques to avoid erosion. I planted three cherry trees. I have a bing and it has never flowered because I had another bing that died. Come to find out it wouldn't had mattered because bings can't pollinate other bings. A cherry farmer suggested I use Rainer cherry trees to cross pollinate and the lady at the nursery suggested a Stellar cherry. I bought two Rainier and one Stellar. We'll see. We are also putting a fence between us and the neighbors. The boys are excited to be using the post hole digger. The fence will help keep in the dogs and define the property boundaries when we have guests. The garden has the first till and I moved the spot where we'll put tomatoes. They say it is good to move the tomatoes to decrease pest problems. We had great success planting rye grass to limit the amount of punture vine on the west side of the house. This year we decided to go a bit more drought tolerant by planting thick spiked Critana, which is a wheatgrass that grows well in sandy soil. We tilled and planted two weeks ago and it is starting to come up. I planted 5 Lincoln rose bushes in the front patio area to try to prevent the dogs from sticking around in that area and trampeling down my herbs. The information says they are great smelling and beautiful all summer. Hope it works. Once I find my camera I will post some pictures. Happy planting. Remember you can plant in small containers or include vegetables in your landscaping. Lettuce worked great as an edible ground cover last year in my side flower/herb bed.