Spring Work

Praise the Lord! Much has been accomplished on the property this spring thanks to the availability and cooperation of the whole family. In addition to starting the garden, working the beehives, and maintaining the orchard, we had ordered almost 70 new nut trees, fruit trees and shrubs. The plan was to dig a large hole for each one and amend the soil 2 to 3 feet in depth and a similar width depending on the size of the plant. Some of the locations had been prepared last summer but there remained 36 to go. These needed to be completed between the time that the ground thawed and the time the trees arrived in late March and April.

Newly planted pie cherry, 'Bali' from NY Newly planted Chestnut tree 4-27-09 The morning of March 3 the temperature hit 8° F and the next morning it was 10° F – a little too frozen for digging. Two days later it was 70°, and the next day 76°! I began to wonder what kind of spring we were in for! Everyone pitched in with the dirt-pitching and even Robert and James gave it their two shovels’ worth during their short visit. A friend’s backhoe significantly sped the process with the larger holes and every single one was finished before the deadline.

Seedling trays We have tried some new things in the garden including lemon balm, lavender, calendula, shallots, husk tomatoes (“ground cherries”), and purple coneflower (“Echinacea”) – and onions from seed have done decently well for the first time.

Peach bloom on Reliance 4-27-09 Dipping below freezing only about four times since March 4, the spring turned out to be unusually warm. Bloom was good for the fruit trees and some of the beehives are up to three weeks ahead of schedule.

Wood-splitting crew We had to cut a few trees, and a large tree fell across the driveway, affording us an extra dose of wood chips and firewood. Thanks again everyone who whole-heartedly put all their strength into the work, “as unto the Lord and not unto men.” The woods are now green, the grass is growing fast, and summer is just  around the corner. “Praise the Lord from the earth… mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars: beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl: kings of the earth and all people… let them praise the name of the Lord: for His name alone is excellent; His glory is above the earth and heaven” Psalm 148:7-13.  Staddon Homestead 4-27-09

Alpine Strawberry plants, 4-27-09

Spearmint

Bush Cherry in bloom 4-27-09

6 Comments

  1. Hannah Burnett May 5, 2009 at 5:57 pm #

    Wow!! Y’all have a BEAUTIFUL place! Maybe someday our family will take a tour out east. 😉

    By the way, I would welcome any tips on gardening, especially about seed starting, compost, bed designs, etc.

  2. Lisa&Duong Vo May 5, 2009 at 7:23 pm #

    Dear Staddon Family,
    We miss you all very much and hope to hear from you soon. I showed my mom your pictures. She is very surprised to see how each and everyone of you has grown. Duong is graduating sometime this year. We miss you all dearly. My mom still finds it hard to believe so many years have past since we have parted ways. How are each and everyone of you? I’ve decided to go into writing journalism, but I’m not too sure what I want to be. I hope to see you soon, and I probably should have just sent you this comment in an e-mail shouldn’t I?
    Oh well !

    Bless Your Souls,
    Vo Family

    P.S. Tell Johnathan that I’m sorry I didn’t e-mail him a happy birthday wish when his birthday came around in December! Oh we still have the photo of your family from our first Christmas ever! We love you all very much !

  3. Dad and Mom May 6, 2009 at 6:55 pm #

    Wow – I can’t believe we will have 70 new trees planted this year. You have done a great job in planning so many ways to make our property fruitful. Praise the name of the Living Lord!

  4. Michael May 7, 2009 at 6:26 am #

    Lisa and Duong! Thank you so much for leaving your comment. We love you too and are so glad to hear from you. If God is willing we will see you again some time. Do keep in touch. 🙂
    Hannah, I’ll have to do a blog post some time on gardening. Some things will be done differently in a western climate than they are in ours. For now I will highly recommend “The New Seed Starters Handbook” by Nancy Bubel. Also, don’t get discouraged when things completely fail. Happy gardening 🙂

  5. Jonathan May 15, 2009 at 11:22 am #

    Thanks Michael for letting us get our exercise in such exciting ways like planting trees. It is really a fulfilling sight when spring rolls around.
    That’s fine about the birthday card. I still remember the first birthday with you all. It was one of my favorites.

  6. Crystal May 16, 2009 at 2:43 pm #

    Sounds delicious.

Leave a Reply

Notify me of followup comments via email.