Just checking in.

We had a lovely weekend even if Sunday turned out cloudy and cold. 

Saturday was warm even if the breeze had a coolness to it. That just made it more comfortable to work outside.  I weeded the front flowerbed and decided to plant my broccoli there. It gets great morning sun then when it is hotter in the afternoon it gets the shade.  We shall see how the broccoli plants like it there.  I have a small lot so I must make the best use of space that I can.

This is the before…



Yes, my front yard looks a bit shabby still. 

My husband was helping me Saturday by hauling wheelbarrow loads of compost from one spot to another and he perused the homeliness of this front space and asked with a disdainful curl to his lip, ”Does it always look like this at this time of year or is this year particularly bad?” 

It does look bad this year but you would too if you had 6 feet of snow sitting on top of you for several months!

He is more used to it looking like this, and this is not really up to par. 



This is my broccoli in the ground.  It is small and if the deer will leave it alone it will fill in fast(note hoof print in ground, already, and I am missing a broccoli plant) , also we need the sun to warm back up.  We had starting temps in the mid-30’s this morning…brrr. Last week it stayed in the 40’s at night.



So slowly I am getting the yard tidied.  I cut back my broken down Butterfly Bush, it should recover quite nicely.  My tulips out front are starting to bloom and so are my Hyacinths. 

My tomatoes in the greenhouse are more than ready to be planted, but I must wait until after the 3rd weekend of May.  Our last projected frost date.  Lots of Brandywines, some Marzano’s, Camp Joy cherry and my favorite sauce tomato, Costoluto Genovese.



My English Delphiniums are coming along, I have only lost one seedling and that was my own fault, it dried out and keeled over. 

When I get so many plants going in my greenhouse some get overlooked.  I need to get rid of what I am not keeping then it will be more manageable.  Plus it got fairly warm last week, 2 days it hit 80 degrees here so it really heated up in the greenhouse. 

This is one of the mixed colors but my blue ones I started a couple weeks after these are catching up quickly.



The chicks are getting big, the 4 to the right are the Black Copper Marans and the 2 on the left are the Welsummers.  All lay the darker brown eggs.  I can’t wait until they start to lay to see how dark.  Of course, some of the Black Copper Marans may well be roosters.  I know one is as he is noticeably more aggressive than the others. 



I now have them in the pen with the older hens. I only keep them cordoned off so the big hens do not eat their special food and visa versa. 

You can see the fencing separating them in the background where the green waterer is

I have let the hens out a couple days this last week to forage and scrounge for worms, they love pecking the green sprouts (be gone weeds!) and roaming.  I keep an eye out for local dogs (I need my yard fenced), coyotes or other chicken killin’ critters!

I was thrilled to see that not all my Raspberry Ripple geraniums were taken out by a weird fungus.  This one survived, thankfully.  I love the fun sprinkles on the bloom.



Yesterday afternoon I tested the Chalk Paint I want to use on my potting bench. 

I am painting a sign using the leftover cedar fence boards from building our potting bench and I base painted it with the Old White and some of the Country Gray.
I have to say I am already loving it. 

 Karen at Classic Wall Finishes explained to me that the Chalk Paint weathers beautifully outside with no protective finish, like wax or the varathane I use.  I am anxious to see how that does go.  I will only use the paint on my potting bench with no other product and give it a test run. 

Well, today I need to get all my shopping and errand running done.  I have a large order of signs on my docket and I need some painting supplies.  I need to make out the weeks menu so meals are easy and I can be sure to have all ingredients on hand then the rest of the week I can focus on painting. 

Happy Monday!

To see my signs just click the photo below, it is a link to my website.