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eorIt's springtime in New England. That means one day will be sunny, warm, and t-shirt weather and the next the temps will never get above layering levels.
For the last two weeks I've been working on extracting as many buckthorn trees from the lower part of the property as possible. Buckthorns are invasive, have thorny structures, and make berries that birds don't digest well. We have a lot of them. Now that we've removed almost all of the rose, grape, Virginia creeper, bittersweet, and honeysuckle, the buckthorn becomes the next in line. Spring is the perfect time to remove them roots and all if you can get them leaning first one way then another until the roots start to let go.
Today I clipped and transported the 20 or so small trees we had uprooted in the last few weeks (buckthorns don't usually get over about 20ft tall). It doesn't make good firewood because it gives off a nasty smell, but I couldn't pass up that much wood, so I hauled the trunks which were big enough to bother with up to the sawing areas. The roots, smaller parts of trunk, and twigs all went to the burn area. I'm not sure how many wheelbarrow loads of clipped stuff I took over, but it was a lot. That was about my entire day.
We still have probably ten or fifteen more to pull down in that area, but I don't know if I'm going to get to them this year. It would feel good to finish off the area, but that's a lot of work.
The garlic in the garden has sprouted and every day seems to grow half an inch or so. We got our first few flowers in the yard over the last couple of days. More are getting ready. The flowers which Derien transplanted in front of the house last year are coming up, not ready to flower yet, but probably in the next week. Buds are swelling on lots of bushes and trees so pretty soon everything will be leafing out.
I've gotten a slow start on seedlings this year. Much of my first batch was held seed from '17. Not good germination rates on that. Although I was amazed I did actually get some germination on lettuce from '17. Not much, but I was amazed any of those little tiny seeds could last that long! So I've got about 10 tiny lettuce seedlings and about 14 pepper seedlings which are in the two proto-leaves stage. I've started a second batch of lettuce with seed from last year and have a second round of peppers soaking tonight for starting tomorrow.
Tomorrow I hope to start the peas and the first round of radishes out in the garden. This time of year there is so much to do and this year I'm particularly out of shape. I haven't been exercising as much as last year and my left shoulder is frozen so I'm trying to everything with severe limitations on one arm.
For the last two weeks I've been working on extracting as many buckthorn trees from the lower part of the property as possible. Buckthorns are invasive, have thorny structures, and make berries that birds don't digest well. We have a lot of them. Now that we've removed almost all of the rose, grape, Virginia creeper, bittersweet, and honeysuckle, the buckthorn becomes the next in line. Spring is the perfect time to remove them roots and all if you can get them leaning first one way then another until the roots start to let go.
Today I clipped and transported the 20 or so small trees we had uprooted in the last few weeks (buckthorns don't usually get over about 20ft tall). It doesn't make good firewood because it gives off a nasty smell, but I couldn't pass up that much wood, so I hauled the trunks which were big enough to bother with up to the sawing areas. The roots, smaller parts of trunk, and twigs all went to the burn area. I'm not sure how many wheelbarrow loads of clipped stuff I took over, but it was a lot. That was about my entire day.
We still have probably ten or fifteen more to pull down in that area, but I don't know if I'm going to get to them this year. It would feel good to finish off the area, but that's a lot of work.
The garlic in the garden has sprouted and every day seems to grow half an inch or so. We got our first few flowers in the yard over the last couple of days. More are getting ready. The flowers which Derien transplanted in front of the house last year are coming up, not ready to flower yet, but probably in the next week. Buds are swelling on lots of bushes and trees so pretty soon everything will be leafing out.
I've gotten a slow start on seedlings this year. Much of my first batch was held seed from '17. Not good germination rates on that. Although I was amazed I did actually get some germination on lettuce from '17. Not much, but I was amazed any of those little tiny seeds could last that long! So I've got about 10 tiny lettuce seedlings and about 14 pepper seedlings which are in the two proto-leaves stage. I've started a second batch of lettuce with seed from last year and have a second round of peppers soaking tonight for starting tomorrow.
Tomorrow I hope to start the peas and the first round of radishes out in the garden. This time of year there is so much to do and this year I'm particularly out of shape. I haven't been exercising as much as last year and my left shoulder is frozen so I'm trying to everything with severe limitations on one arm.
