New England, April 2016

RF is so one of my favorites. No wonder I moved to NH.

Too chilly to do anything out there today, with that brisk breeze. Won't be much longer.

NHGardener wrote:RF is so one of my favorites. No wonder I moved to NH.

Too chilly to do anything out there today, with that brisk breeze. Won't be much longer.

I pruned shrubs and set more peas to soak because the squirrels dug up what I had planted a few weeks ago.

I have to rebuild 3 beds this year, but I'm saving those for warm weather crops.

Taters sprouting in the SFG now! Seems early but I guess they like this weather. No sign of the overflow taters planted outside the SFG.

Picked dandelion greens for yesterdays smoothie along with some fresh kale from last years plant.

I'm watering today as the rain fall was less than 1/4" yesterday.

CC

This wind is insane! We're supposed to have a high of 43 today and a wind chill of 33. I guess I'll have to water again. Problem is I used up all my buckets full of rainwater  when I watered on Wednesday so now I have no source unless I hook up the hose or haul buckets of pond water or fill buckets from the filtered bath shower head.  Maybe I'll wait till tomorrow since I'm feeling a bit nervous about any of three of my neighbors 40 - 50 ft top heavy scrub pines blowing down my way. This property is such a wind tunnel!

I started some ground cherry and zinnia seeds, in heated MM per Beetles example, on Wednesday and stuck them on the heating pad.  The zinnias were up Friday - so fast!. No sign of the ground cherries yet.

Looks like the rest of New England is having beautiful weather today! What are you all up to?

My purple Glory of the Snow came up beside my white Snowdrops (which are fading now) but it still looks like spring.
I pruned my fruit trees yesterday and cleared stuff off the lawns so they look nice.
Today I started by pruning the roses and pulling out the old monarda and other stemmed flowers.  My green spikes of Iris are busting thru the soil.
After a nice long rest, so I can watch Fons and Porter (quilting show) first, I'll be back out there to pull out the tall green fence posts that I'm giving to the community garden.  I need to snip the wires off those, too, since I used them to hold my peas netting in place or braces for my tall tomatoes.  I should have a dozen metal posts or so for them.
The insect barrier cloth and the light frost cloth I am also giving them but will keep just enuf to cover my 4 ft square covered frame I'm removing to my flower bed by my kitchen door so I can put in a few things this spring and summer before the place is sold.  I still have to use my gardening thumbs. 
Latest news on the move:  the place isn't even on the market yet.

Yay QB, maybe they'll put it off till next year.  (If that's a good thing) 

My gardening is taking a backseat for a while, the bees are getting the attention now. I extracted some honey today. Yum. I feel like Winnie the Pooh.

for the Cape from UMass...
Landscape Message: Apr 22, 2016

Winter moth hatch continues; silken strands can be observed on trees and shrubs. Lily leaf beetle is active and feeding on emerging true lily foliage. Cutworms are active, as are Tent caterpillars and carpenter bees. Monitor Canadian hemlock for Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. Adult deer ticks are active. White cabbage butterfly is actively seeking host plants. Dandelions and Bittercress are blooming.
The Cape is a bit on the dry side, especially with all the wind. The last decent rainfall was on April 7th^h; since then the Cape has received less than 0.5”. Be sure to water newly planted trees, shrubs, and perennials.

Click here to find your region in New England:
https://ag.umass.edu/landscape-message-apr-22-2016

Interesting type of message. But, better to be notified of what folks might see going on around them than to wonder, "What the heck is that?" Deer ticks, yuck. I saw a white butter fly today but I don't think I have anything in which it would be interested. She says . . .

I went out to do all the stuff I haven't been able to do a winter, beautiful day even if we didn't have full sun, It was very warm with no wind today, so I was greeted by the black flies every now and then. I was ready for them though, I spread the bug juice on pretty good, because the ticks have been hitching a ride on our dog. At the end of the day, no bug bites, and I found one tick crawling on my arm, under my long sleeve shirt.
Great day in the yard, birds were singing and the ladies (my hens) were getting extra protein and sunning themselves, All my hoses are hooked up so now I can start to tidy up each garden and turn my compost piles. I have not seen any moths, only a few spiders, 2 wasps, and 3 large flies. Rock

Love Spring! Me too!

I noticed the black flies today too! They're out! 

Also, the wasps, wow. Not the yellow jackets, but the big brown wasps. 

My garlic is about 6" high. Not seeing the asparagus yet.

We're going to have another freeze I think, I saw 30F in the forecast one night, so maybe some of these bugs will die off.

The place I just moved to, strangely has mosquitoes! I killed nearly 10 mosquitoes in April alone! 

This is more like June! Or with above-average rain! But, neither!

This is one of the drier springs I have seen, but at least it is not hot, but staying kinda coolish

Rock, its amazing how much your dog photo looks like our Daisy.  Twins.

He or She isn't my dog, it is a picture that shows a dog that is identical to my favorite dog who passed some years ago. I get so much joy out of the pic, it reminds me of the really good things in life. I hope your dog brings you the same joy. Rock

RJARPCGP wrote:The place I just moved to, strangely has mosquitoes! I killed nearly 10 mosquitoes in April alone! 

This is more like June! Or with above-average rain! But, neither!

And now come the black flies.

Yup, they're back! But today has a cold breeze that keeps me bundled up and the black flies off of me. The sun is out and it is a beautiful day. Now back to the gardens I go. Rock

bigdogrock wrote:The sun is out and it is a beautiful day. Now back to the gardens I go. Rock

 
Lazy drizzly cool day here...thank goodness for cat warmers.  

I'm stuck indoors planting seeds for broccoli, cosmos, zinnias and marigolds.  Actually, not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

CapeCoddess wrote:

bigdogrock wrote:The sun is out and it is a beautiful day. Now back to the gardens I go. Rock

 
Lazy drizzly cool day here...thank goodness for cat warmers.  

I'm stuck indoors planting seeds for broccoli, cosmos, zinnias and marigolds.  Actually, not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

I have one of those. I can't figure out why they like bony old knees and shins, but then cats do sleep in crazy places. 
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/241013017535921122/

You sure do! lol
I can't see it too well coz it's so small and I don't know how to use pinterest.  But it looks like she's sleeping on your starts...? HA!  

Once we use up all the sunbathing space with our seedlings, poor kitties have no room anymore.  I have a photo of mine somewhere on here, sleeping with her head in the tomato starts.

Did you know that we have a SFG Pets thread?  But be forewarned before posting...some members get upset when kitty has no sunbathing space anymore.  

CC

CC, You should also post this under Pets.

CapeCoddess wrote:You sure do! lol
I can't see it too well coz it's so small and I don't know how to use pinterest.  But it looks like she's sleeping on your starts...? HA!  

Once we use up all the sunbathing space with our seedlings, poor kitties have no room anymore.  I have a photo of mine somewhere on here, sleeping with her head in the tomato starts.

Did you know that we have a SFG Pets thread?  But be forewarned before posting...some members get upset when kitty has no sunbathing space anymore.  

CC

LOL! What till you see all the sunbathing spots Hubby has built for our kitties. Cats rule and humans drool at our place. Didn't know we had a pets thread. Once I find it and start posting, I could crash the whole system! Hint: We live at a sanctuary for special needs animals and I treated myself to a new digital camera last year. Need I say more? 

sanderson wrote:CC,  You should also post this under Pets.

As soon as I recover from planting 29 berry starts, I'll find that thread and start posting.

'GUS!!!

I think I need to eat this second one now, right? It's 6 or 7 inches long and much larger than a pencil.

*Whispering softly to self* This will be my first very own Gus...

Hooray>>>>

Don't know anything about Gus so can't help you.