Garden 2024 Update #3

 I've been BUSY outside, so here's how things are looking nearly mid-April.

We've had the most unseasonably mild weather, and that's allowed for a lot of work out in the garden, getting things ready for spring planting.  It's probably one of my most favorite times of year.  For the first time, after a long winter indoors, being able to walk barefoot through the garden, hearing the birds singing, and the sound of a warm spring breeze rustling through the trees.  There's really no other feeling quite like it.  

I've been doing a little tidying up, and moving furniture around in the back corner of the garden where the pond is.  I've moved grandpa's bench to the Honeysuckle tree and will be doing some landscaping around that area with some wild flowers and mulch, just to tidy it up a little. No pics yet, since it looks pretty rough, but those will come soon.  I added these cute solar lights in the Lilac bush, and will be hanging solar string lights in a canopy from the fence to the garden cottage.  These red Muskoka chairs will be replaced hopefully sometime soon. My goal in this part of the garden is to make it as inviting and cozy as possible, so I'm hoping for some lovely, thrifted bistro chairs here, with nice waterproof cushions.  I love  having multiple places in the garden to just sit for a moment with a cup of coffee in the morning, or a glass of wine in the evening, and simply enjoy being there, in the beautiful moment.  

My garlic is coming in nicely, with a 99% success rate.  20 cloves planted, and 19 have come in.  This location for my garlic was supposed to be a temporary experiment to see how it did in this bed, but it's become rather convenient and now this is the 3rd year I've grown it here.  It's planted on Halloween then harvested usually by Canada Day or the 4th of July.  After the garlic is harvested in July, beets will take their place. I have to say that now I fully understand the popularity of those stainless steel raised beds that are up to 3 feet tall.  Being able to amend the soil, plant the seeds, water and harvest without ever bending over or getting down on my knees is rather enjoyable.  These kinds of raised beds would be perfect for anyone with mobility issues where bending or kneeling may be difficult. 

These chives I planted very last minute last growing season, and I wasn't sure if they'd survive winter at all but sure enough, they survived just fine and have made a sweet comeback this spring.  I didn't get a chance to use them much last year but I did manage to snip a few here and there for salads & baked potato toppings.  Very pleased to see them come back so strong, and so early.

My indoor growing space has been wonderfully productive. 

Nothing fancy at all, just a couple of wire shelves, a few heat mats and some grow lights. Growing here are strawberries, onions, ground cherries, tomatoes, rhubarb, lemon balm, peppers, green onions, cucumbers & potatoes.  My carrots have already been planted, and the onions will be going out as soon as this latest rainy weather system passes by, this weekend. 

A really fun new addition to the garden this year is a DIY Feeder Cam station I set up with a spare Ring spotlight cam.  A couple of years ago the lights stopped working on the camera, so instead of using it to capture the night time wild life, I'm now using it to record all the birds and other critters that venture into the yard and dine at the feeder. I've made over my old Youtube channel thats been sitting dormant since 2006 and now it will be home to my Feeder Cam videos.  Brand new content so not a lot there yet but there's a lot being edited & prepped for uploading soon.  My hope with this fun little hobby is to create enjoyable videos that are also educational. You can see that here, at Barefoot in the Garden.

I hope I've encouraged you to get out there, and get planting your own garden!