Garden Progress!

I was beginning to despair that it would never dry up enough to  till and plant! But then Wednesday it seemed  almost dry enough to till the  veggie garden on the uphill slope. I spent about three hours trying to enlarge this plot , tilling through the sod on the edges, with the  little Toro tiller.  But then around supper time a neighbor stopped by with his  big tiller behind his tractor, and in about  15 minutes  tilled a new bed for us (the far one in this photo) and  re-tilled this one, incorporating two  front-end-loader-scoops of composted cow manure (courtesy of our other dear neighbor, Frank, who had come earlier in the day with his big machine to clean up our muddy cow yard!) I am so grateful to our neighbors who took a little tinme to help us out despite being equally behind on their own, much bigger farms! We paid them in eggs and dollars, but probably not adequately. Yesterday morning, Cadence planted the tomatoes, basil, and peppers - and it has rained steadily ever since; happily, we got them in in the tiny window of opportunity.

Cadence transplanted some of the daffodils that were encroaching on the asparagus bed to the east side of the garden shed and they seem to like it there.

We are feasting on the most delectable green and purple asparagus every day!

 The garlic is looking great.

Cherry blossoms! The pears are also in bloom, but the pear, plum and apple trees were girdled by rabbits this winter and won't survive. Heartbreaking.

The yellow fence is now erected around the bee and butterfly perennial garden- my Mother's Day project from Rog!  We still have to  make gates and paint the arbor. And the house!

I planted and mulched all day yesterday, trying to make it look presentable for our farm's  grand opening and art fair this weekend - it's getting there.

A little garden sculpture I got at the Gold Rush antique fair last weekend (I spent as much money as I made, but it was a crummy weekend weather-wise and it wasn't much.) I have loved this figure ever since I saw it years ago in Savannah, GA; it is featured on the cover of  the book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

The yellow butterfly magnolia is just about to bloom. It is not as heavily covered in buds as it was last year, before it was so rudely frosted and all the buds turned black, but it will still be pretty.

The serviceberry  bushes are covered in blooms! The blossoms should make the bees happy, and if we can beat the birds to the berries,  it looks like a good crop coming.

Greenhouse crops are doing well.  We have been eating  this fabulous lettuce and spinach!

Red and gold beets in the high tunnel, interplanted with carrots.

Next stop on the garden tour, the silo pond. I removed the greenhouse plastic from the sides this week.

The frog population in the silo pond has now grown to at least seven - I have no idea how they find this pond!

Plants waiting on the patio to be  put into the ground...

More plants in the pickup--please don't tell Rog how many flowers I have purchased this week!