Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Early Bloom Day

March is such a crazy time (in a good way) for gardening and gardeners in Austin. I never seem to find the time to post as often as I'd like. In particular, I missed Bloom Day. April is not looking like it will slow down much so I thought I would just go ahead and post what's blooming now.

The top photo is poppies, grown from seed I bought at Natural Gardener and from some I got from Patty Leander. The larkspur is from MSS at Zanthan Gardens. I've fallen in love with the dark blue blooms that I know MSS tags and saves.
This iris is from my friend Eleanor who is now blogging at Garden of E. About half of my plants are cuttings or divisions from her plants, but I don't think even she could have imagined how prolific these irises would become in my yard.
The sweet peas are also growing right along. I normally don't bother with annuals but these are so easy to grow I think I'll sow some every year.
Even if I do say so myself, I'm kind of impressed with this layered look of blooms. It almost makes me look like a real gardener.Closer up to the house, near the back porch, I've got another happy vignette going.
The rose arbor has finally made a liar out of me.I can grow them! I just can't remember what kind they are. Ideas? Lori?

Out in the vegetable garden, despite the fish head/tomato plant/dog debacle, the vegetables are starting to, excuse my French, kick some ass. The beets are beet-iful and bountiful.
If President Obama would only give (roasted) beets a chance, I think he would want them in his new garden.
I also don't remember seeing fennel in the White House garden plans. To be honest, I would not have cared about the oversight--I don't really like the raw anise flavor--until I roasted them with a little pancetta and plopped on some fresh salad greens. Yum. Seriously.

I also just harvested my celeriac. I'm not exactly sure why I grew it except for its exoticness.
Anyone have any good recipes?

I've also been expanding my own little mini-farm. After hearing about everyone keeping chickens, I decided I couldn't wait until the Funky Chicken Coop Tour on April 11th to build my own. I need eggs for Easter.
I still haven't named her. I wanted to make sure she survived the threat of the aforementioned dog.

I'm amazed at how much the chicken poop has improved my soil and my vegetable output. I've had to rent a tractor from time to time to keep up with the workload.I've also started packaging up the excess flowers and vegetables and giving them away every Wednesday and Saturday to my friends. Leave me a message and I'll let you know where to come.








I know that at least of a few of you figured this out early on, but in case I caught any of you--APRIL FOOLS! I took these pictures this morning at Boggy Creek Farm, where I have the good fortune to cashier on Wednesday mornings. Stop by and say hi. Unfortunately, though, you will have to pay for your flowers and vegetables. Carol Ann and Larry wouldn't want me giving them away. And yes, I've done this before!

17 comments:

  1. Vertie, you had me going for awhile. Then I started thinking "Hmmm, I don't remember her house being white, and where has she been hiding that huge bed of irises?" By the time I got to the tractor, I was laughing.
    Happy April Fool's Day!

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  2. Good one, Vertie. I'm so gullible! I didn't get it until the tractor photo, and I go to Boggy Creek every week! Thanks for the pretty photos and smiles.

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  3. I totally remembered your April Fool's prank from last year (which you totally fooled me with), so I knew what to expect when I saw you'd posted today. :) Happy April Fool's Day!

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  4. That was excellent Vertie! I was loving your garden....and all ready to ask you to ship them to me! gail

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  5. Vertie, I was really getting impressed with you and feeling really lousy about me! Awesome post, and I need to stop by and see Boggy Creek these days - beautiful.

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  6. From one April fool to another, good one! That's quite a tractor.

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  7. I was all excited by your chicken news and then I recognized the shot of Boggy Creek Farm. I'm pretty gullible. But the larkspur was real, wasn't it?

    I'll have a report soon on the larkspur experiment. They are not all coming true from seed. So the next question is: are they cross-pollinating or is it just a natural balance between dominant and recessive genes? What I like about science is that a question answered usually leads to quite a few more questions.

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  8. Oh, I adore your spring meadow with the larkspur and poppies! I threw seeds in a couple of places hoping for the same effect, but nothing really happened. Also, those irises-- WOW.

    As for the rose, I can't really tell what it is without a close-up of the foliage and flowers. Is it a once-bloomer or fragrant?

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  9. Huh, I guess we'd better put together a garden blogger expedition to Boggy Creek Farm sometime soon. I've never been there either!

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  10. Carol didn't fool me, but if you hadn't clued us in with that tractor, I'd have bought the whole 'farm' as real. Duh.

    Did your neighbor actually give you any iris? They're so beautiful!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  11. I pretty much bought into the whole thing although I did start wondering when I saw the tractor and the farm view. I was thinking to myself, "I didn't know Vertie lived in the country." Next year when I read your AFD post, I'll be forewarned!

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  12. Oh you're good! You had me -- especially since you mentioned MSS's larkspur. Then I saw the chicken & tractor pics and thought, "Wait a minute!"
    Well done! LOL!

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  13. YOu had me going . . . I was getting more and more impressed with each picture - the rose arbor is amazing but your shot of the veggie and cut flower garden made me begin to wonder . . . wonder where in Austin there are lots that size AND how many hours a week you put into that garden. Thanks for the laugh!

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  14. Ummm, I don't want to publicly say what I was muttering under my breath as I saw the beautiful blooms you had going...but it rhymes with witch. How did she get that gorgeous garden so fast????

    Thanks goodness I feel we can still moan about our gardens together!

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  15. Beautiful flowers, cool tractor, great garden, wish I was there, want my address to send my flowers? And I think we must be related because we have the same sense of humor!!! Jennifer

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  16. I didn't catch on until the field photo with tractor! Haha:) Beautiful photos...thanks for the laugh Vertie!

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  17. I love it when I happen upon perfect photos, which is not as often as I would like. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos.

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