Enough is ENOUGH!!!!

Enough snow already. Everybody has had enough!!!
I need sunshine and warm breezes.
I need to feel the dirt in my gardens.
i am ready for SPRING!!!!

Monster Clematis

 This is year 2 for this "Autumn Clematis."
It is taking over. I thought it had a nice smell to the blooms but it doesn't.
That would have been nice to smell when you come in the back door.

I have blue morning glories running through it too.Very pretty.

BEES!!!!!!!!

 Persuading the bees to give it up!!!

                         Breaking the top of the cone to get the honey.






A clearer honey. It looked like water it was so clear.

               Pantyhose to strain the honey. It was tied to
              the separator and  dripped into a bucket.

                                                 Closeup of the honey draining.

Honey comb with the cells all broken.

Sweet baby!!

                                                      Zoey and her first flower at Gran Gran's
This sweet baby is so precious. She laughs and smiles all the time. She laughs so sweet you can't help but smile.
Love, love, love, this baby.

Spring plantings

I planted this yellow delicious apple tree last spring.


I had a lot of apples on it so I pulled off most of them and left a few. The tree is about 5 foot high and has two branches.

I went to Sharp's Nursery and had Todd put this together for me.
I love this. The hummingbirds love it too.

 



My sugar snap peas are soooooo good. They are sweet and crunchy. I don't have as many vines as I wish I had but maybe this fall I can plant some more. Any way, these things are just good to eat right off the vine.

The strawberries are just going wild. Even with all the rain and flooding, they are still doing very well. A lot of them are rotten down in the foliage but there are plenty to eat and for a pie or two. I have already told my husband to leave two rows in the big garden so I can transplant the strawberries to raised bed rows. They will stay dry better on hilled rows and I won't loose very many next year. Some of the berries are ping pong sized.

This Clematis has been moved twice. It did not do very well in the first two spots. Last year it did pretty well. Blooms were sparse. This year with all of the rain, it has exploded. The blooms are very large and so deep purple. The arbor it is on has a very large clematis on the other side. It is taking over the arbor. The purple one will have to moved again. I'm going to name it, "The Traveling Clematis." Maybe I can give it a permanent home this fall.

I

                                                                              Iris

                                             Clematis- Nelly Moser

                                                                     Tulips

                                    Clematis- Jackamanii

My Spring Garden

Chives, strawberries, Sugar Snap peas and Lemon balm are growing up a storm. We had 2 ripe strawberries this weekend. The first of the season. The Sugar Snap peas are blooming and I can't wait to have some fresh to eat. They are good, right off the vine.

Spring Floods

This flood broke all of the old records. In Humphreys County, TN, we have roads washed out, bridges gone and people are still stranded in their homes after 3 days. It will take years to rebuild. And of course, hardly anyone had flood insurance.Schools are closed and we don't know when they will reopen.
People have been very good about helping. It amazes me, how quickly people pull together to help when things like this happen. People are good. I thank God, no one here lost their life. There were 10 lost in the whole state.

Gardening Time in Tennessee!

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OK, these are my Sugar Snap Peas. These things are sooooo good. I eat them right off the vines. I put them in my salads and in wraps. They love cool weather and start to go by the way when it gets hot and humid. They are easy to grow. If you live in cooler climates, you can keep planting these all season. I will plant then again for the fall cooler weather.
They literally are sweet like candy. You could get kids to try these for a new vegetable.








               
                                      

I planted lettuce and mustard together to save space and because they go good together.   

A neighbor gave me the leeks last year. I planted them and they proceeded to die, or so I thought. Well, they popped up this Spring and are beautiful. So, don't give up. Some things just don't like to be moved.
I can't wait to eat them.

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I planted Chive seeds last year and they came up. This year they will bloom their pretty lavender blooms and make lots of seeds. I love the blooms and I cook with chives at almost every meal. I use them instead of onions sometimes. I also have some garlic Chives. The green leaves are flat instead of cylindrical like the regular Chive.
I am starting an herb garden and the Chives are center stage in the garden.
The blooms can be used to make Chive Vinegar. The blooms are dropped into the vinegar and left. They are very pretty in the bottle.