New growth at the farmette

It's a cold sunny day at the farmette. Still hovering around 0C. We got pummelled with a rain/hail mix yesterday late afternoon. Short and sharp downpour. It was coming down so hard, I was afraid my wee greenhouse would collapse and the ice pellets would come through the sunroom skylight. Fortunately, everything was unscathed.

We had a quiet-ish week at the farmette, although I've been busy planting more trees and bushes. Plus the resident flowers and plants are bursting all over the place, in spite of the cold. So I thought I'd do a wee update.

We have a small collection of trilliums in a wooded area on the west border of property

that never fails to impress. This year's crop of the official flower of Ontario is especially attractive.

My tulips are doing well this year. I put these ones in the front bed because most of the perennials don't come out until much later, so I needed some early colour.

The muscari or grape hyacinth has basically taken over the back bed. They're so cute and tiny. And invasive. Our bed is so big, I don't mind having dozens of them.

Speaking of prolific plants, the creeping jenny I put beside the sidewalk on the east side is looking fantastic. It's a good filler for footpaths because it's pretty much a no-brainer to care for and is contained in a six inch wide bedlet. Later in the season, I have to trim out the tendrils because they tend to creep a bit too much space on the walk.

It looks like we'll have a stupendous garlic crop this year. I'm experimenting with the raised bed on the west side where there's a LOT of sun through the later part of the day. Planted them in mid-October last year.

These guys will be ready to pull in late July/early August, when their tops begin to die. Then, it's into the toolshed to dry out for a couple of weeks followed by storage in the basement. They'll be minced up and put in just about everything we eat at the farmette. Gotta love that taste.

Finally, we had to replace two of our three crabapple

trees.

They were girdled so badly by hungry rabbits that they expired. The tender trunk bark is too tempting when there's nearly nothing else to eat. I finally got smart and put plastic guards on the new ones. They'll soon be bursting with deep pink blossoms.

Gotta tell you it was a fun ride driving home from Owen Sound with this seven-footer lodged between us in the new hybrid. But needs must, and it's safely ensconced in the front yard now.

Gratuitous cat photo courtesy of Wilma, looking beautiful but ready to bolt at any second. Always.