Such a beautiful day to do some socially distanced gardening at Terra Nova! Lots of chive buds just waiting to pop open and welcome the bees into their fragrant florets.
We arrived to see the kale and blueberry flowers blooming their hearts out. No bees in the blubes, but the kale flowers were humming with honeybees from the nearby hives.
And we found the horsetail has proliferated in the gardens. Le sigh. Lots of work to do.
We've left the beds with the vetch cover crop as bee food. They'll make the soil nitrogen rich for planting winter vegetables in the fall.
So lovely to see this cover crop (crimson clover) already in bloom. It's lovely mixed with Phacelia tanacetifolia.
Jenn and I got to work weeding out the morning glory and horsetail. That bindweed has roots that travel quickly and break easily. Leaving any part of root in the ground means it will just regenerate. A losing battle, really. The beds need to be raised to a higher level to deal with this problem.
We planted peas marigolds, calendula, and some radicchio.
Luckily, we have a wonderful volunteer "Mr. B" who is weeding and watering the garden. Thanks so much for the Nature School at Terra Nova for "lending" him to us! I gave him some homemade scones as a gift and he said he'd been baking too. He makes orange cranberry muffins, but has run out of cranberries. Kate, from the Nature School went home and got some out of her freezer for him. They did a safe exchange using that nice big basket. Love these gestures of kindness! We must get Barrie's recipe!
We also added our David Suzuki Butterfly plants including kinnikinnik, goldenrod, sea thrift, camas and more! So exciting to finally get them in the ground. Once established, they should be able to compete with those troublesome weeds.
Jenn and I went for a stroll and lo and behold we saw a California tortoiseshell butterfly!!!!!
There were lots of hawks and crows chasing each other and songbirds galore, including this bring yellow sweetie!
Willows are going to seed. That fluff is perfect for nesting birds!
These willow catkins are amazing!
It's so wonderful to see the trees and the shrubs leafing out. These willow leaves are soft and silvery.
And these silver cinquefoil leaves reflect the light beautifully.
Elderberry and crab apples are in full bloom.
May is such a lovely time to garden. Even if it's putting a few seeds in a yogurt pot on your windowsill, I hope you can grow something to witness the thrill of watching it transform and bring forth the miracle of life.
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