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Sunday, April 22, 2012

The Country Garden Showcase- Week 17

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir
This week warmed up.  It was down right hot today.  
Temps inside my greenhouse got dangerously hot (96 degrees).  I had to get a fan going to cool it down.  It's hard to believe it's so warm today when it was only a week ago that I was nearly snowed in...
I took this picture last week on a trip to my favorite quilt shop downtown...
My grandson Thomas came for a visit and we went to the Bakersfield College Garden Fest to celebrate Earth Day.  We had so much fun and I found some wonderful salvia plants for my honey bee garden.
 We saw koi, citrus, landscape and gardening booths full of great ideas and lots of really neat yard art.
 Check out this picture frame planted in hen and chicks...  
 Thomas stopped to smell the orchids.  The local Orchid Society was there too selling dozens of orchids...
 We had to stop and sample these baby cakes mini donuts with cinnamon sugar... Yum!
Thomas and I really liked the living garden sculptures.  They were everywhere...
 We got home in time to get a few pictures of my garden.  My tomatoes are growing well.  I think they'll need to be re-potted into 5 gallon pots really soon.  I am going to try to keep three heirloom tomatoes growing inside 5 gallon pots through winter in the greenhouse.  Wouldn't it be nice to harvest tomatoes during a snowstorm?  I think so.
My pansies and violets are enjoying the sunshine this week too.
Beans are outgrowing the greenhouse
My peeps will soon outgrow the brooder too.  They move in to their new spacious coop this week.  Today they went out for a playdate in the sunshine.
 My potatoes have been covered in snow four times in the last few months, but somehow they're surviving.  They've burned back a few times, but they keep coming back for more.   
 The flowers are also hanging in there.  These stock were under about 5 inches of snow last Sunday.  You'd never know it by looking at them today.
 Apples, crabapples, and pears are all blooming now
 Their blossoms are so delicate and pretty.   It's so exciting to see my very own honeybees flying from flower to flower.  I can tell them apart from the local feral bees by the colors on their abdomen.  
 There's one of my girls now... She'll eventually fly home, sacks full of pale yellow pollen.  Woohoo!
That's my week in the garden.  How was yours???




7 comments:

  1. Wow! Crazy weather you are having! Your tomatoes look awesome. I am dreaming of planting mine...but that won't be until the end of May/beginning of June. I have planted peas/bok choy/swiss chard/spinach though, and I am hoping that the rain we are getting this week will help them along...although it might end up drowning my poor seeds.

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  2. Your greenhouse looks amazing! Our temperatures got chilly and potential frost last night, still too early to tell. Oooo, donuts! I'd have to sample them too.

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  3. Wonderful post! All of your plants look like they are faring well, even after their dealings with the snow. We lost a whole row of tomatoes after we had one night of 'freeze'. I covered them and mulched up over them, but it didn't make a difference. I was sick to see how they looked when I removed their cover :( Oh well, everything else did alright so we will be picking up more tomato plants in the near future to get in the ground. Hopefully, our cold snaps of weather are over for this winter ☺ Visiting you from the 'Homestead' hop.

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  4. Thanks for sharing your pictures. Those plant art sculptures are quite impressive.

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  5. Oh My Goodness!!! I almost dropped my teeth when I saw the Tehachapi water tower. I lived there for 30 years! We used to have the ranch up by Mountain Park!This was my favorite time of year there, with the poppies and wildflowers all blooming up in BVS and Gorman. Nice blog!

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  6. It's been really hot here the past few days, too. So much so, that I got a sunburn...but that part was my fault, because I forgot the sunscreen. Yesterday it was cooler. Today it is slightly overcast and it might rain. I'm walking today, so if it rains, hpefully I'll be indoors when that happens ;) :)

    I just love all your photos...oh and donuts made fresh, right in front of you, are the best ;) :)

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