Garden Update!!
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The first thing that wakes up that blossoms are our Crocuses.
…and then the Grape Hyacinth…
…and all the tulips that we never planted but were gifted by our loyal legion of Squirrels!
These two were a treat and new for 2022. We like to thank the half-breed Grey/Red Squirrel family that’s had a few generations in our yard starting with the full-grey squirrel we named “Postcard” because if you wanted the finest specimen of it’s type for use in a postcard photo… well, he was IT. Years later either “Son of Postcard” or “Son or Son of Postcard” got busy with a Red and now there’s a mottled red/grey family around the house.
Espalier Apple Tree (6x Varieties of non-commercial apples), and if you look at my “lawn” i’ve been terraforming it into a 
field / wildflower / NO WATER “lawn”. U still have to mow but when there is a drought I’m the lawn that’s still green without spending money on city water 
.
Rose Hedge (several varieties, all grown from cuttings my Grandmother)
To elaborate, my gran ended up walking up and down the streets in our block knocking on doors and asking the neighbours with the BEST roses for a “cutting for an old woman”… which she then stuck into the ground and covered with an open top pop bottle… the following spring there was a rose plant growing lol.
Years later my partner weaved them into a proper British hedge; and when it fills in we don’t see the ugly monster house in the far back. 
Garden lion is prowling… (Heathcliff)
…and drinking…
…and claiming our Hugelkultur pile 
Black Cherry Tree; this is growing from either seed or a root shooting from 15 feet away where the “old” Cherry tree was…
… by old I mean it’s been on the property since the 1950’s and finally passed away 5 years ago after dealing with that “fungal TURD-on-a-stick disease” aka: Apiosporina morbosa.
I hope it’s shoot doesn’t succumb but all I can really do is 
Goji Berry; I need to net this off this year IF we actually want any wolfberries this year lol. We have so many 
's! 
The Rambling Rose Arbor is filling in nicely. In a months time there will be only growth and no sky to be seen 
The **Grove On a Hill Above the Underground River" is out and the PawPaws are filling in. Yes, my backyard has a buried river under it which means I have a VERY HEALTHY ecosystem to care for, a sub-pump in my basement that MUST RUN every 8 HOURS or I have an indoor pool and a natural barrier against evil spirits without the need for salt or iron! 
All my Citrus got FUCKED this winter with the bi-polar hot/cold which my electric baseboards always have trouble maintaining steady temps… Oh well, it is what it is and I’ll let them drop their leaves and then grow in new shoots before I start cutting back the “actually dead” material.
The largest tree-in-pot is my 30 year old White Grapefruit.
It’s family cause it’s been growing since I was 11 when I planted the seed with my Dad from a fruit we grew together from a tree we had in Ft Meyers Florida. (Grandparents “snowbird” home they rented out off season to afford to have it… back then it was $99 round-trip from Toronto to Florida so travel wasn’t a major cost either.)
On the far left the hops are growing-in well. I then added a “Tree” I made out of maple branches for Bubbles our 
but he never liked using it so after 3 years it’s getting set-up for backyard birds. (the whole structure is now 12ft tall)
Prepping the raised beds for this weekends planting by removing dead matter and covering up all my cannabis beds with cardboard to keep the weeds from pissing me off again. The bed that’ll have the 8x 5gal autoflowers is getting a 24" tall chicken wire fence around it to keep the garden-lions from breaking my heart. I’m not worried about the 2x 30gal plants as they are already HUGE and the cat’s got no chance of killing them through curious consumption unless they pretend to be beavers.
I’ve also covered every walking row with layers of cardboard and have my for a free wood chip drop-off in the next few weeks to fill in these rows with the material and enough leftovers to toss under the berry bushes lining the edges of the yard
I’m doing a “good enough” install of power so I can get this pond’s water flowing instead of standing. Last year there was so much green bloom that the compost heap got a long of scoops of bubbling green fuzz regardless of my barley extract applications.
I’m looking out for a cheap or curb-side bird bath which I plan on rigging with a water pump to make an ever-overflowing bird-bath so theres:
- Agitate and oxygenate the standing water to minimize blooming algae
- The birds can drink and bathe safe from the garden lions while the land-bound fauna can still access their water source.
- The sound of falling water is most pleasant
The water sound will also draw in even more wild-life and possibly piss-off the backyard neighbours, who we rather don’t like, so this is a good thing for our household
I’m also sick of the grass taking over the edges so I’m going with bio-warfare and will be planting Creeping Jenny plugs all around the pond in the stones. In a few years time NOTHING ELSE WILL BE ABLE TO GROW because it’ll be too choked with Creeping Jenny.
I know this will work because it’s what I did with the pond in the image above where Heathcliff the 
is seen drinking.
They also sport wonderful yellow 
's and can LIVE AS A WATER PLANT.
More to come later as things progress. I gotta thank my partner for the photo’s as she’s the shutter bug outdoors as I continue to thrive in the soil.
In fact not any leaves either.