goodies from mom and planning for Williamsburg!

I was at my parent's house last weekend, and my mother had made some candy for Easter - peanut butter eggs, peanut clusters and non-pariels. The seedlings are getting bigger. I cannot wait until the remainder of them push through. Yesterday, my very kind supervisors at work granted me the two days after Easter off - allowing my husband and I to plan a short trip to Colonial Williamsburg - our favorite place to be. I have been on cloud nine ever since! We have a couple of friends among the staff there, and cannot wait to see them and participate in all the wonderful activities that fair city has to offer! We dress in costume when we visit, and I have finally finished a new shortgown for myself, which I will be able to wear!

Raised bed project

I have decided to try and create 4 raised beds in an area of our property that has traditionally been difficult to maintain as grass. We could really use the extra space also for root vegetables. It has been hard to grow them in the garden, as the soil is not yet loose enough or deep enough to make it the ideal situation for root crops. I was originally going to purchase hardware sets from a garden supply company, and lumber from the local supplier, but then had an idea…
Why not make woven raised beds from cuttings around our property! Several good reasons for this:
1 - Cost effective; I don't have a lot of extra money right now, and even though I would consider a good investment, it would still be quite expensive to start them. With the cuttings, they are free, and it is just a little extra time to build them.
2 - Using "green" or renewable resources versus feeding the commercial lumber industry. I am very much trying to more conscious of what items we buy, use and what we recycle.
3 - Use proven method that has worked for centuries! My husband and I frequently visit Colonial Williamsburg, and have seen such woven retaining walls in use in their colonial nursery. Also, I believe this method is, and has been used in Europe.

Above you can see the start of the first raised bed. I used branches that were about 1 inch thick for the corners. The other uprights are approximately 1/2 inch thick, spaced every 6 inches or so.

My piles of Rose of Sharon that I cut to make into the weaving stems. The pile on the left are the prepared branches. The pile in the middle are prepared, but thicker, more useful for the corners. The pile remaining on the right are the original cuttings. We have Rose of Sharon that spring up all over our property, and they get to be quite plentiful, so when I was contemplating this whole pursuit, I thought we could make use of all the extra branches we have.

Above, a couple of pics of the weaving so far.

A ground view - it is up about 4-5 inches! A few more to go though! I am hoping to get to at least 8 inches high, maybe even 12.

Seedlings peeking through

I was very excited to see that the cabbage and brussels sprouts seed that I planted last week have begun to appear topside! I had originally left them outside since the weather has been so warm, but now the temperatures have begun to return more to "normal" so I brought them back inside.  On Saturday I spent part of the morning laying out the remainder of the large vegetable garden, and planted Spinach and some pole sugar snap peas. Some blooms from around our property. The lovely purple ones that are closed (since the sub was not shining when I took the photos) are actually from rhizomes that I originally purchased as possible ideas for wedding favors. We never did use them, but they are a wonderful reminder of that day never the less. They have spread to several locations on our property, so we can enjoy them even more!

Garden is started!

I was so happy these last few days to have some warm weather with the sun shining. One of my favorite things to do is garden–both vegetable and flower gardening.
Tuesday, my father came over and helped prepare our vegetable garden for planting. We have decided to expand the garden another twenty feet, bringing the total space to 50' x 15', which is a pretty nice size. I plotted out the space, and planted the onion sets that afternoon yet. I also started some seeds for other plants that will go out once we are past the last frost date for our area. The seeds included tomato, pepper, cabbage, celery and artichoke (which is a stretch, but will hopefully work). I am hoping that tomorrow I can get the peas and lettuces planted, as well as work on some raised beds that we want to create for root veggies and herbs. I am going to try and weave the surrounds for the raised beds from fresh cuttings off of trees on our property. I know willow branches would work the best, but I don't have any willows, so I am going to try other fresh cuttings, which will hopefully be supple enough to work. I am hoping to get at least one of the beds completed over the weekend. If I get that far, then I can plant the radishes, carrots, parsnips and beets.
I hope your spring is off to a great start as well!
Here are a couple of photos of the garden with its newly extended section, as well as the seed pots.

Glorious Day!

Today is absolutely beautiful! The sun was shining bright all day. The temperatures are incredibly warm. I am sitting by the Bethlehem Public Library, taking in the sunshine as it begins its slow descent towards the horizon. The magnolias behind the library are beginning to bloom, and giving off such a beautiful scent of spring (even thought they make me sneeze a little). The other trees are beginning to bloom and sprout leaves, as large bumble bees (wood bees) buzz around me, almost like I am a flower they are trying to own...I think the salmon colored shirt is fooling them.
This is definitely a perfect night, after having worked in the vegetable garden this morning for 3 hours to prepare it for rototilling tomorrow morning.
I also got the chance to work on my knitting for a while today. The photo below shows my progress only after a couple of hours. I am working on a blanket for our new niece, who is scheduled to arrive in May. This is my first real project, after knitting two dish cloths as my practice pieces.