Pulling in, right at golden hour, as the sun was setting, we nearly drove passed it, because it's tucked into the woods so sweetly. When we parked, we noticed all the blackberries... growing EVERYWHERE. They weren't ripe at the time, but they were plentiful. The birds were chirping, you couldn't hear a car... and the sun was setting right behind the house, which made the house glow. We didn't even look at the house, our eyes were fixated on the property that surrounded it. It didn't have a view of the water... it didn't need the view of the water, it had already captivated us.
That house became our home... no others contended. We settled in 3 years ago (this summer), and we haven't thought twice about that decision.
So many projects have been on our mind. One of those, has always been a garden/shed/chicken coop area in our sunniest spot on our property. I've dreamt of keeping a cut flower garden for many many years... with chickens roaming, and bees doing their thing. There's SO much work involved with creating such a space, and that can become extremely overwhelming. I'm trying to compartmentalize, and tackle it one thing at a time.
First up, was testing the soil with spring bulbs... I planted some tulips, narcissus, and ranunculus... and they all have done well. To keep this going, through all the seasons, I brought in 15 yards of organic compost, topsoil, and volcanic sand for added minerals. This is just to get us started and to begin experimenting... next year, I'll get a more thorough soil test done to prepare the garden a bit more.
We had to move all that soil, and thankfully at the same time it was delivered, our inspections for the guest house were approved, so we could cover up our trenches. The hubby rented a skid steer and got to work. He brought all the soil up to the garden area, carved out the retaining rock wall area that was going to run alongside the garden and in the back by the guest house, covered up all the trenches, dug out old tree stumps... he used every penny that we threw into that piece of machinery!
A few Father's Days ago, we gifted Daddy a promise of cherry trees... this spring, we delivered. We found a Van cherry tree in our favorite store. From there, we learned all about the fact that it wasn't a self pollinating fruit tree... and it needed a partner. We found a partner for it, a Stella cherry tree... planted them a little over 25 feet apart from one another. We wait and see what's to come of them... hopefully buckets full of the yummiest cherries.
We cut down most of the tulips and narcissus, and that was the HARDEST part so far. I love bringing flowers inside, no doubt. There's just something about that first cut... so I handed the scissors over to Marley, showed her how to cut one, and then let her go to town. Seeing the joy it brought her, totally was a bandaid to the whole cutting process... and I'm sure it'll just get easier from here on out. We let the greens from these spring flowers sit a little more, soaking up nutrients, before we dig them out and store them until the fall planting.
Planting the dahlias up in the garden area, will be a test run this year, and same with gladiolus bulbs and other seeds. I'm learning as I go, and I'm excited for all this trial and error. I dug up my dahlias last year, split them and stored them all winter long. Yesterday, I pulled my bin out, and it turns out, I lost 5 tubers... but, I still have WAY more tubers than I did the year before... and seeing the "eyes" and their fresh new growth, is just amazing.
I bought a tiller to begin this whole process, and it should be here within the week... I won't till the ENTIRE area, but again, start with one little part of it at a time... each year growing bigger and bigger. Learning what grows well here, versus what is hopeless to grow. We are still a ways off from having a fence, shed/potting area and chicken coop/run... but that's in the works, all while dreaming up this space.
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