Bungalow Ranch Style

It’s only mid March and we’ve already started tearing up the yard again. Part of it has been driven by the insistence of the plants. They aren’t waiting.

Last weekend we HAD to put at least the start of an arbor over the main foot path from the front of the house to the back/side yard, because the rose was insisting that it needed to vine in that direction. The resulting arbor is a bit of overkill though – which will probably force me to plant a companion rose. I just need to decide between orange, coral or white.

The weekend before that, we leveled out a section of the backyard and planted two varieties of raspberries – one ever bearing and one early summer fruiting. And, currants – one black and one red. They seem pretty happy in their new home. The rest of the level area is hosting a couple of experimental straw bales. We’re attempting to grow some strawberries and maybe some lettuce in them.

We also have radishes, butter lettuce, spinach and carrots planted in the raised beds and the cold frame. The asparagus is starting to poke out of the ground and the parsley is acting like there never was a winter. I’m putting parsley in everything – white bean salad, tabouleh, pasta, omelets …it’s endless but probably good after a relatively low-greens winter.

The chickens are also back to laying 3-4 eggs per day and the refrigerator is overflowing even when I’m giving eggs away. They’re also really enjoying ranging in the yard right now and are amazingly efficient at eating grubs. I’m hoping it helps cut down on the fly problem later in the year.