A BRRRRRRRRRR Friday

It was such a cool Friday that I had decided I was not going to do too much outdoors. My plan was to only do all of my critter chores - But - after I got finished I spotted this bird house that I had wanted fixed for 4  years now. The roof had rotten off and I was planning to just put a little metal roof on it and my brother -in-law had said he would cut me out another roof for it , as he was the one who had built it to start with so I had said sure. But, their health went downhill and they have not made it back to Virginia and it has just been waiting for a roof. Then I read the other day that if you have more birdhouses in your garden - maybe you attract more birds  - Who eat more insects???? Now doesn't that sound like a Win-Win situation

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So, I got a new roof on it and put a little piece of metal flashing over the wood hoping to help protect it and make it last longer this time. Then I drove a metal fence post in the ground . I had mounted the birdhouse on top of a metal post that had a hole in it. I tried to life the hollow post up in the air and insert it over top of the regular metal post but I was not strong enough to life it high enough and keep it steady enough to pull that off so I ended up taking wire and tying it to the metal post. I like to use metal so cats can't climb the posts and I like to think that when the metal gets hot in the sun that snakes are not as likely to climb them??? Maybe that is just a case of me hoping so , as I have no proof. But , for the moment I have one birdhouse up in the garden??

Well you know how it is -0nce you get outdoors and start to see things you want to accompish. ?????
I did not put the chickens out with me and I was starting to regret that but it was so windy???

I walked down to my little pea patch and only saw weeds after a month now so I decided it was time to do something about that.

So, I went to digging and I dug and dug and redug the original plott entirely up and then decided to add to it and did more digging with my trusty madic  .Now you can see all the little pea seeds all lined up in the rows just waiting to be covered up -and another job well done.

I was pretty tired by then but I remembered I had treated myself yesterday to these lovely gladiolas for 200 and there are 6 of them so I went hopping around like the Easter bunny -but instead of hiding eggs I was inserting bulbs in the ground and hoping I can remember where I have placed them. I did not put them down the driveway like I would love to because the deer absolutely LOVE them. They ate almost a bushel full a few years back when a friend shared with me and I learned the HARD way.

I was good and tired and headed to the house and happened to remember the seeds I had obtained at that seed swap. One was an envelop of pumpkin seeds. So, I went in and grabbed them and headed to the side yard where I used to keep the guinea pigs in a little lot. It is near the walnut trees though and I have been dying  to know IF pumpkin  would live there??? Soooooo, I decided to answer my curiosity and dig up a spot where the soil is so soft and dark and plant those darn seeds to see what happens???????????????????

Next I moved to the other side of a little falling down shed and dig up another spot and planted the butternut squash there??????  Walnut trees kill off a lot of plants so I will try and find out about these two????

I was good and tired by then and headed to the house one more time and happened to remember I had Two more plants in the house that needed to be planted and here it was all Cloudy and calling for rain and it would be an excellent time to get them in the ground. They would not even wilt. So I gather them up and found these two old bird cages and placed over top of them to protect them from those killer deer .

These little guys are called Honey Berries and this is what I have found out about them:

What are Honeyberries? Fresh spring fruits are something for which we wait all winter. The first honeyberries taste like a cross between raspberries and blueberries. They are excellent eaten fresh or used in desserts, ice cream and preserves. Related to the blueberry and huckleberry, haskap berry is a heavy producing plant that requires little special care. Advertisement Honeyberries (Lonicera caerulea) are in the same family as blooming honeysuckle, but they produce an edible fruit. Birds and other wildlife love the berries and the attractive shrubs grow without much encouragement in temperate and cool zones to a height of 3 to 5 feet. The term haskap refers to the Japanese varieties, while edible honeysuckle refers to the Siberian hybrids. The plant produces a 1-inch, oblong, blue berry with a flavor that fails to be classified by most eaters. It is said to taste like raspberry, blueberry, kiwi, cherry or grapes, depending upon the taster. The sweet, juicy berries are experiencing new popularity among European and North American gardeners.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Haskap Berry Info – How To Grow Honeyberries In The Garden http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/honeyberries/how-to-grow-honeyberries.htm