A Productive Weekend

We did have a busy week-end tackling projects that need to be done, marking each one off of the list, so that we can get on to the next. I put each project in a collage.

Project: Cutting Hay

Our hay field is about 2.5 acres. The previous owner, also a horse owner, had the foresight to plant good grass hay. The grass stood quite tall, thick, and lush. We have a custom cutter cut it; now it lays neatly in rows to dry out. Of course, we are at the mercy of Mother Nature not to rain on the downed hay and spoil it. Hopefully it will be dry enough to bail by the week-end. We should get about 70 bails, enough to keep Sun Dance well fed through the winter. We will get a second cutting in August.

Project: Saving the Water Lilies

At the old house we had a 750 gallon water garden. We brought our water lilies with us to the Garden Spot. Since we have yet to dig our new water garden, the lilies live in a horse tank. 

1. the tank has fouled, growing red scummy, gunky stuff

2. loaded up the pots in the EZGO gold cart, rather ratty looking, but alive 

3. dumped them out of the pot and washed off gunk and old soil

4. using a sharp knife, I cut divided the tubers, getting into several small plants

5. prepared a clean pot

6. added plant food to the newly potted lily

7. covered them with just plain garden soil

8. eleven new plants

9. back in the horse tank with clean water

As long as the water is kept clean and fresh, the lilies will grow and do well. I have two colors, a yellow which I purchased and a dainty white one that I transplanted from my dad's pond. I was told that it was one that he had brought from a friend's pond in Texas, so it has special meaning and I don't want to lose it. It will probably even bloom in the tank; it did last year. I have more lilies than I will need in the new water garden, so I will give some away. They are quite easy to keep and divide and share. We have a third one loaned out to the next door neighbor. It will probably need to be divided too. Hopefully we can get the new pond dug in the next few weeks. 

Project: Organizing Seeds

How do we end up with so many seeds? I got tired of the pop corn can full of seed packets, so I sorted them, clothes pinned them together, and stuck them in an old tupperware bread box. Over at Animal Instincts, the writer wrote several weeks ago about attending a seed exchange at their local library. What a fabulous idea. I have enough seeds to plant dozens of gardens for years to come, but at least the packets are now well sorted. Then it was time for lunch, a nice pasta salad. I add a can of salmon the the pasta, veggies, and Zesty Italian dressing for a light, healthy lunch.

New Visitors Just Passing Through

The ratty, old snowball bush that my horticultureist daughter says has aphids sure provided a banquet for the birds headed to the high country. The Bullock's Oriole won't hang around and neither will the Yellow Warbler. We will see him again in the fall as he heads back south. I remember when my grandson was about three showing him aphids on the underside of a leaf. I asked him what eats aphids and taught him the best answer: lady bugs. So from then on I would ask him from time to time: What eats aphids? He would give a big grin and proudly answer: Lady Bugs. I did see a lady bug wandering on one of the sickly snowballs and hoped that the birds wouldn't eat her too. 

So. It was busy week-end. We also made a trip Ft. Collins Nursery and bought Black Knight butterfly bush, a new peony, and a clematis that will bloom all summer. 

 I am taking this next week-end off. Headed to my friend's home 2 hour away to spend the week-end scrap booking. We will cut 'n crop, laugh, stay up way too late, and let the world go by. I will probably have a few pictures of my friend's garden to share. cheers.