Monday Inspiration~ Every Bloom Matters ~

 The gardens are slowly coming out of dormancy and so am I! I feel like a kid at Christmas. The anticipation of winter clean up, sowing newly acquired seeds and seeing the farm in bloom again is nothing short of exhilarating. I should take up jogging or something to get rid of this nervous, giddy energy I'm feeling! While the ground ( and I ) continue to thaw there are plenty of things to tend to in order to get a new season off to a running good start.

PRUNING

Anything that grows on new wood can be cut back now. This goes for roses, some varieties of hydrangeas, perennials and ornamental grasses. The harder you cut them back the better.

 It's also a great time to divide over crowded perennials and pot them up to share with friends or neighbors. My largest border is quite over-grown and over-due for some pruning and thinning. 

One of the things I'm doing this season is adding some smaller raised beds in the bare spots of my large perennial borders so I can trial new varieties without giving up prime growing space in my raised cut flower beds. I'll keep you posted on the progress there.

Bee Balm patch ready for thinning.

COMPOST

Order in some organic compost to top off your raised beds and replenish your existing established borders.You'll be rewarded ten times over. 

 The Little Red Hen House, bee balm ( Jacob Cline ) and Culvers Root ( tall purple spike plant)

English Lavender, Sunset Cone-flower, Butterfly Bush, ( Black Knight)

English lavender, yarrow, Russian sage and ornamental grass.

 There's nothing like good old fashioned cock a doodle do for the garden. If you're fortunate enough to have a chicken run ( and coop) to shovel out a couple of times a year then you won't have to order in as much compost. You can also purchase it by the bag at  your local nursery or agricultural center.
Chicken poo in the run composts quicker than the shavings inside the coop. The compost I shovel out of the run can safely be applied over the top of existing beds or turned in to new areas. Pine shavings from inside the coop are best added to leaves, twigs and grass clippings in a sunny spot where it can decompose a little longer before adding it to the garden. Cleaning the coop is a given every spring and something I look forward to and so do the girls!

 There's nothing prettier than a healthy garden brimming with electric green foliage and beautiful colors. Having flower beds and borders in addition to annual cut flowers for cutting creates natural biodiversity in the garden and makes for some fun flower arranging opportunities!

Sunflowers, hydrangea, sedum, dahlia and grass plume.

California poppies, ( front row) bachelor buttons, ( middle row) cosmos, ( back row ).

 It all starts with healthy soil. You wouldn't send you babies off to school or an important event without the proper nutrition and expect them to do their best. Your garden sprouts deserve the very best environment you can give them because every bloom matters.

How is your spring garden prep going? Share your plan and progress!

Get the Dirt~ Soil Tips for Growing Beautiful Cut Flowers

Planting soil is the foundation for a healthy, beautiful garden. Before you can even dream of your first harvest of cut flowers you want to make sure your soil is prepped and ready for seeds and seedlings. Not all dirt is created equal. But you already knew that! The needs of the plants you intend to grow, as well as the region you are gardening in will determine what kind of soil mixture will be best for nourishing your cut flowers.

 A good quality planting should contain the following ingredients:

• Nitrogen to promote leafy, green growth. If nitrogen content is too high, it can delay flowering plants and vegetables. 
• Phosphorous for encouraging strong root systems and helps increase fruiting.
•  Potassium for overall plant strength and flowering. 

 

  Raised Bed Gardening 

  When my raised beds were first constructed I filled them with an organic horticultural mix that I order in by the yard from our local landscape supply company. It comes premixed with the ingredients listed below and goes by the name, Horticultural Mix. Other companies might call it Premier Soil Mixture.

•  Peat moss – Neutral, nutrient rich peat, excellent for retaining moisture
•  Organic Compost – Neutral, high organic, nutrient rich compost
•   Top Soil – Variable PH naturally occurring loam material, with valuable nutrients 
•  Sand – Neutral medium, excellent for creating a soil that will drain excess water and allow air and roots to pass through it 

*Another option is to mix your own depending on how much ground you are preparing. I recommend testing your soil first to determine how much you'll need of each element. 

At the end of the season, I top off all of the raised beds with a layer of dried leaves where they are left to compost over the winter months. Come springtime I remove the driest leaves from the top. Using a shovel, I turn in the decomposed leaves to add more rich organic matter to the soil prior to planting my first seeds of the new season.

My established borders always get a top dressing of rich compost material such as DE-composed leaves, grass clippings, and some composted top soil straight out of the chicken run. ( make sure it has had a chance to soak into the floor of the chicken run for a few months before adding it to the garden) I generally spread this mixture on top of any area that is cleared and ready for planting new perennials or shrubs. Once the area has been covered dig it into the area about 6- 8 inches deep.
 

Early June border

 Be aware of your climate, how much rainfall you get and the content of the soil your are working with and make adjustments from there. Pay attention to the growing needs of each plant and beyond that, give your plants lots of love and care and cross your fingers for beautiful blooms. Whether you're planting acres and acres of flowers or farming your garden like me, there's will always be surprises!

The Bee-Friendly Garden BOOK GIVEAWAY

 

 Well, this is exciting! About 6 months ago I was contacted by Ten Speed Press to see if I would be willing to contribute some photos of my bee-friendly garden. Of course I said yes and then I sort of forgot about it until last week when I received an email from the publisher telling me the book had been released and my copy was on its way. 

This book was written by Sustainable Gardens designer and expert, Kate Frey and Professor Gretchen Lebuhn, of San Francisco State University and co-author of Attracting Native Pollinators and The Common Bees of California.  What an honor to be in such good company as these two dedicated women.

The book is a buzzing hive of information for the novice and experienced gardener alike.

My bee-friendly border in Mid July

 If you are a gardener who is sensitive to the issues we face due to the declining bee population you''ll love the intensive list of bee-friendly annuals, perennials and shrubs. You may even have some of them in your garden already. If you're mostly a landscape only type of gardener, you'll be inspired to add more bee-friendly plants to your garden space, sure to bring more pollinators and color to your landscape.

Featured Photo ( pg 168) late August, early September bee-friendly border.

 Or, maybe you're like me and want to cultivate every bit of  bare space in your yard into a brimming, buzzing flower field. 

Where ever you are in your gardening goals, I know you'll enjoy The Bee-Friendly Garden for its beautiful photography, ( gorgeous full-color gardens on every page) and mounds of information about how to plan and plant your just-right bee garden. 

I can't keep all this goodness to myself, so I'm

  giving away a copy to one lucky winner! 

Leave me a note and tell me what bee-friendly plants you already grow! 

 

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 205

 

 Welcome back farmgirls! I don't want to admit it but I was almost positive I could smell Fall in the air last week. And, I'm beginning to daydream about inside painting projects that I want to complete before the time change goes into effect. I know!!! What am I thinking? There's still a whole month of Farmers Markets ahead and two September weddings to design flowers for. I'm not the least bit ready to say goodbye to summer, I just find it interesting how we humans are so biologically tied to the seasons don't you? 

 Debbie ( my farmgirl co-Hort) and her hubby are knee-deep in a DIY kitchen remodel right now and watching green tomatoes on the vine for any signs of blush pink or red tinges.

 They're counting the days till harvest time.

It's time for another great round up of farmgirl posts!

Let's see what cha got! 

Have a great weekend and we'll see you on the hop!

Farmgirl Friday CHRISTMAS Blog Hop # 181

 

Merry Christmas, Farmgirl Friday Friends! Forgive us for getting our hop up late this week, but Santa has had me very the last couple of days! Here's a little run-down for ya!

• Mail Christmas Cards~CHECK
•  Pow Wow with hubby to see how close we are to being DONE! CHECK
• Pay bills. CHECK
• Get packages mailed. CHECK
• Wrap some gifts. CHECK 
• Check out a big shoe sale. CHECK
• Have lunch with Grammy Joy. CHECK
• Get flat tire fixed on Grammy Joy's car. CHECK
• Make Grape-Nuts Maple Pudding for Beach Farmgirl Blog post. CHECK
• Publish Beach Farmgirl Blog Post. CHECK
• Remind you  there are still THREE days to enter Sarah Hudock's Christmas Ornament Giveaway! CHECK
• Feed the chickens and give them fresh water. ~ Thanks, honey! CHECK
• Tell you that Cheri Duncan won Debbie's Cowgirl Boot Ornament Giveaway from last week! . CHECK.
• Congratulations Cheri! 
• Congratulate Cheri. CHECK.
• Thank you all for sharing your fabulous farmgirl entries with Dandelion House and Farmgirl Unleashed each and every week! CHECK.

We'll be taking a break until the NEW YEAR and we look forward to resuming The Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop with you all in 2015!

Enjoy these last few day's of preparations and blessings to you all for a very happy holiday! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND MUCH LOVE,
DEB AND DEBBIE  ( aka Farmgirl Unleashed) 

PS.. See where it say's, "Get the Code here" below? Grab it and put it in your post this week and share our hop with more like-minded blogging friends! 

The Soundtrack of My Life...

 

 Do you ever wonder what life is really like behind the scenes of your blogging buddies? I do! I don't mean which rooms aren't being featured, or where the laundry pile is stashed. I'm talking about the heartbeat behind what drives us to create and share. The motivation and inspiration that fuels us to keep an open heart, our eyes pointed towards beauty,our ears tuned to the extraordinary and our desire to share it with the world!

 If you were to drop by here on any given day you would probably find me busy writing, cleaning house, tending the garden, paying bills, taking shots for my blog and tending the chickens and max. My hair might or might not be tended to, my teeth might or might not be brushed and the toilets may or may not be scrubbed. That's what you would SEE.

 Some days are quiet, peaceful and nature is my soundtrack, but more often than not it's music, sweet music that's playing in the background of all of my days. 

Both of our children are music artists. Aspiring music artists. Our son is a hip hop artist and our daughter is a singer songwriter. Some days they work together on music. Most days I hear loud thumping and rapping coming from one room and piano music coming from another. They inspire me to be fearless in my creativity and in living life.

I love it when the heartbeat of our home gets pumping with the sound of music!

Today, I'm happy to share with you our daughters first recorded cover on you-tube! She gave me permission to share it with you and I'm so glad she did.

She's singing " Stay With Me" by Sam Smith 

It's a beautiful song and I hope you enjoy her version of it. 

Thanks for listening...