Focus: Garden

I mentioned in this post that I would elaborate more on each of the things I am mainly focused on right now.  Priorities,  if you will.  And one of those is the garden.

The garden began coming to life weeks before the cold weather ended.  One of the first signs were these birds.  We have resident Bluejays that visit us regularly, an occasional cardinal, and recently I noticed very small birds that are about the size of finches frequenting our yard.  (Fun fact:  I used to have a pair of finches many years ago named Lance and Lacy.  No, I don't watch soap operas, lol.)

 

The next inkling that Spring was on it's way was these bulbs, peeking ever so shyly from beneath fallen leaves in a bed next to the driveway.  I bought a markdown container of bulbs at Kroger last year and when they faded, I planted them.  These are those.  There were a few more bulbs, but so far only four have come up (one requested to not have me take it's picture because it was feeling homely.)

 

I began a project a few weeks ago called Wintersowing.  I was itching to get a head start on seed sowing but did not want seed trays and potting soil inside the house.  

Although we don't get much of a winter, and I probably should have started the experiment sooner, so far I am enjoying the results!

Since I didn't have as many gallon jugs as I needed for the number of seeds I wanted to get started, I improvised by making tiny greenhouses out of gallon zipper bags to supplement my seed sowing efforts.

 

a peek inside a gallon jug with spinach mustard seedlings happily growing

baby dill inside a gallon zipper "greenhouse"

Other cold weather seed sowing...

radish seeds planted in ground enjoy a moist, warm, glass canning jar incubator on a brisk day

An experiment with layer propagation of a boxwood...

 

I'm hoping to create more of a welcoming sanctuary for bees, birds and beneficial insects this year by having more flowers and flowering plants, and this is just the beginning of that adventure!

Do you have any gardening tips, tricks or advice you would care to share?  I'd love to hear them!

Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ