Rain bows

A rainbow  from a few nights  ago,  no rain at our house but some lucky person south of us got rain. 

A rainy week,  my new rain barrel is full !

The garden is starting  togrow,  beans,beets, kale, cilantro, potatoes, pumpkins are up.   The green lettuce mix  is  looking good  and I will start to pick that this week.  Also planning to move my row net to the beet rows  just to make sure they will be safe.  So far I have not noticed any evidence that a bunny has been in the garden.

 The herbs from Lorri are  looking great-   the small planter in front with the Thyme and Oregano is growing , it looks  good.   I trimmed  the Sage bush some more,  I trimmed it in early spring but was not sure how much to trim, but  there was a lot of new growth so  I trimmed up the long stems to a more reasonable length.  I will know now for next year that I can cut back farther then I did this year.  The wooden herb planter on deck is doing well also,  the  lemon Basil looked  really sad  for  several days  but is  doing well now,  so  it was just in shock from being moved from it's  safe pot to this bigger  area.  Can't wait to make recipe that calls for fresh basil !! And I have a couple of experiments  that do need it .

  I received  a  wonderful  Mothers Day present ,  a   wooden  rain barrel with a  red pumper  handle.    It  is  really  great,  NO more filling  watering can  with the garden hose.    Brings  back memories  of  my childhood  at  grandma's  house , she had a  water pump in back yard, that as a  child  I used.

 Also  Nikoles  mom Lorri has a  green house  and  has  produced  " beautiful  huge  tomato" plants  , and I was lucky to get some , plus basil, lemon basil, parsley , yellow squash. My garden is complete now,    can't wait to have tomatoes  to eat , can for use in the winter, salsa.  But I know I  will need to wait till July/ Aug.         I had bought tomato plants at a  local green house ,  they were ok  but  no where near as  nice  as  Lorri's.    My store bought ones are  in the back ground with 1/2 gallon milk containers on them.

Also   planted Wild Ginger  that   Brad found  at  St Paul's  farmers  market.  I love  wild ginger , a  very pretty green forest wild flower.      Needless to say I am going  to be  busy the next several weeks  watering all of my plants at least daily.

 So appreciative of my kids   Nikole, Brad, A-Lisa and Richard    Thank you to all of you .

We had  .31 in of much needed rain yesterday,  the grass is really green and we will need to mow  soon, the trees  are getting leaves.    I decided to plant mixed greens  and  carrots , and  next week I will put my row net that Brad and Nikole gave me  over the rows  to further bunny proof .

Always  amazing  how after  being inside  all winter I can't wait to get out there  and plant things  and play in the dirt.   The rhubarb that I transplanted last year all came up but  the plants  are very very small and the rhubarb  stalk is  just  a little  thicker then match stick.  I hope  that during this summer they will continue  to grow  and get bigger.  I will just borrow  rhubarb from my sister.   I like to make  a  pineapple / rhubarb  jam  and  then  Nikole has a  REALLY good   strawberry / rhubarb  cobbler  recipe  and I want to make that at least  twice!   Strawberry shortcake.

I  have been thinking I might go to MN for strawberry picking as  the ones  I picked down here last year  were not at all good.   I also  have used all but  2 packages of Blueberries  so that means  a
 field trip to WI. in July .

Now  just need to wait for about 6 weeks  and I will have  fresh salad greens.

I have  tried again to change the blog name,  I hope I was able to accomplish that this time.

Sort of spring up and down temps,  I am ready to plant my garden but I must wait  a few more weeks.  We borrowed the garden tiller  on Mon. and that all done.  We made it  bigger  by about 4 feet, and also tilled  a small area in " clover pasture " for my pumpkins , then they can go where ever they want.

 My garlic that I planted  last fall is up , but  not all of it made it , so I have soaked  garlic cloves  over night and will plant those  today.
 The tomato and Kale seeds  that I started in the house are growing, getting a second  leaf on the tomatoes so  I will add more dirt to the little cups.

  I am still missing Mars and it has  been almost a year.      We seemed to have been adopted  by a
"cat",  he lays in the sun in barn stalls and runs inside to hide if we get close,  we call it Barney .

 I  am trying to change  my blog title ,  as  Mars  is in Rainbow  Heaven  waiting on us !!
  Not sure if  I have  done it correctly or not,  if I did great , if not , I will have to try again.

In May we made the hard decision to put Mars  down.  He had not been able to see for about a year, he was sleeping   at least 23 hours a day,  eating very little and not drinking much. He walked slowly, he  hadn't gotten up to greet me when I came home from work in several  months. He probably would have lived longer , but it was so hard to watch him as he was,  knowing what he had been like. A  happy playful dog, that loved to go in the car,  or on walks, or just to follow us around in the yard.
 So  this will not be the Adventures  of Bobbie and Mars  I have changed the name.

  I have not done so well with the garden this spring.  Either it has been to wet, to cool, or I planted almost everything to deep, as the only thing up so far are my beets.  A few potatoes are poking  out of the dirt as are a few onions.   So  by this coming Sat. it will be  3 weeks since I planted and if nothing more is up I think I will  replant and try this again.

  I planted  my tomatoes and peppers  today.  Also the basil in the herb planter on the deck .  I put the rosemary in a medium sized pot and it is sitting in the front walk flower bed, beside the sage plant that Lorri gave me and the chives. So  I am thinking I will get another rosemary plant and actually plant it as it is a  perennial and see if it will make it over the winter.

Planted impatiences  in pots on the patio and by the cabin. Put marigold seeds  by wagon wheels at the driveway.     I also had planted  marigold seeds  by the side of the potting shed and they are coming up.

  My sister and I had  done a mail order and  the Bleeding Heart are coming up and starting to bloom , one of the 6 ferns is coming up and  the astilbe is coming up .    If it stays  warmer I will put the boston fern from last year  out ,  it did rather well over the winter.  So I would guess the " reefer" room is a  good place as far as day light and temp is concerned.


 I checked  and the Blue Bird  is still sitting on the nest.  After  all the rain we had this past weekend I was hoping she didn't give it up.  

 Mars hasn't help much this year with the planting , he would rather sleep, so we let him sleep. Getting old, slower, and not at all interested in a walk or playing.

Lets hope the warmer temps and sun will make my garden grow.