It ain’t purty, but this 40 year-old Troy-bilt rototiller still starts on the second pull. I tilled up a couple of early rows for potatoes. You can see the 4×4’s of the new deer fence in the background.
4-6-16….Two rows of spuds go in.
My wife is very happy about the deer fence. It means she can plant some bee-loving flowers without the deer munching them. She’s planting some trachelium caeruleum in our baby bear bed. Once the fence is totally up, we will remove the cages around the fruit trees and Nine Barks.
4-4-16…..The buckwheat has been planted. Several years ago, it blossomed 3 weeks after I planted it. I’m hoping it’ll repeat, but the main reason I’m planting it is to enhance the soil
I hope I can buy one more year out of this raised bed. At the time, it was the only one we could use for the baby lettuce transplants which are growing well.
Those little hypericum seeds from last year have come up. These are almost a month old. I don’t know what I’m going to do with so many…
Amelia sent a photo of her hypericum. It looks like she might have to give some away too. 🙂
The hypericum above started off as a cutting. In December, I sliced off the stem and jammed it into the corner of this planter. It looks like it took…but what am I going to do with all this hypericum???
Clary salvia planted in mid February
4-7-16….Clary Sage now.
4-7-16….Wild prettii echium now, was planted outside 11-27-16.
This is a different kind of echium. I’ve been nursing it along for a couple of years. It needs to be protected from freezing temperatures. I think I can see bud starts on it. See the next photo.
This is the same echium as above. The blossoms are a pretty blue color and we spotted bees on it today.
4-4-16….The deer fence has been started. I’m not a great fence fan, but if this keeps the pesky deer out, it will be worth it.”Happy wife, happy life.”
4-7-16….The wire ‘fabric’ is getting stretched and nailed on, starting in the far corner. Lots of gates for Pat, makes slow going for fence builders.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
A perfect breakfast read; you have been busy, I love the old tiller…they don’t make things like they used to!
I have to confess we only planted the hypericum seeds last week, fingers crossed. Lots off bees out here this morning, very interested in the willow trees!
The seeds seem to germinate well. It’ll take a couple of years before they’re big enough for blossoms, but the bees, they will enjoy them. 😃
What a gorgeous garden!
Thank you, Julie. Being semi retired means I’ve got more time to spend on it. In case I don’t see enough to do, my wife has a few suggestions too. 🙂
That looks serious scouting in Beatrice hive, I would be pretty sure a swarm is on its way. We have small hives up to tempt swarms again this year but not for us, they will be for our friend, Michel, who has not been so lucky with his bees this past winter. The fence should make a big difference to your gardening this year – you’ll still be able to wave Hi to the deer as they pass by on the other side. Amelia
No luck on the Bee-atrice hive yet. We even went out of town for the day in case they wanted to move in without an audience. :), but no luck as the weather cooled down.
Yes, the deer fence has been the subject of lively conversation in our household. It should be done by mid next week. There will be a total of 7 gates. I’ll be building three of them. We are looking forward to planting peas outside the greenhouse for the first time in 20 years. 🙂
Hello Pat,
As usual your posts demonstrate your hard work. I am wondering is there is a way that our club could get a copy of the pollination videos to use at our Farm Days event coming to Carson City. We will not have an internet connection. Is there a method for downloading the videos.
Hello there, In 2015 we have our holidays in Oregon (was great there !) and I love the aquarel “After the storm” Bandon from the artist Sue Reed. I see on your website the postcard but I can’t find on the internet more information about this painting. Can you perhaps tell me where I can find this painting ? Thanks very much and greetings from Belgium, Lilly