Dreaming of Gardens, Ducks and Roses

Life was quiet this past month. Yes, it certainly was! Quiet on the Mountain Farmstead. Quiet in the cottage. Quiet on the blog. One after the other, each day passed by. Sometimes with clouds of grey, sometimes with skies of blue, sometimes with soft falling snowflakes and others times, with such a stillness, I could almost hear the quiet.

But now I’m back, eager to tell you all about my spring plans for the Mountain Farmstead! So brew yourself a cup of tea, snuggle into your favorite chair and let me spill my hopes and dreams to you, my direction for this new season.

 

Dreaming of Herbs and Flowers

You know I’m a practical, hands-on type of girl, right? But did you know I also have a not-so-observable love for soft and harmonious beauty? It’s true. The older I become, the more it affects me. In fact, I’m beginning to realize it’s something I need in my life. And this spring, it’s going to manifest itself in the cottage garden beds.

Instead of growing vegetables in these areas, they’re going to become spaces where I create beauty and life with flowers and herbs! I’ve already placed an order with a seed company: sweet peas, echinacea, lavender and lupine, hollyhocks, columbine, alyssum, viola and poppies. I’ll be implementing my favorite herbs among them!

Flowers. I have a confession to make. Not so long ago, I was having a difficult day and suddenly realized I was craving beauty and life. I did something I’ve never done before, something I’ve never even thought about doing! I bought myself some english, David Austin roses.

Those glorious, forever blossoming, beautiful climbing roses that have an exceptionally rich aroma? Yes, those! And I bought them…(gulp)…not from Canada and not from the US of A.

I purchased them, directly from England! Sometime within the next 2 months, an airmail package labeled “Lady Autumn” is going to arrive, containing bare root, pink Wedgewood and Malvern Hills yellow roses. And I can’t wait to plant and see them climbing up the sides of the mountain cottage….

 

Bigger Gardens, More Vegetables

Now if you’ve been following me for any length of time, you may be wondering. You know that last year my cottage garden beds were dedicated to growing vegetables. Why the change?

My man and I decided to focus our efforts and monies on expanding the vegetable garden this spring, bringing it up to full size. If all goes according to plan, we won’t need the cottage garden beds! This leaves me free to do as I had originally envisioned, cultivating beauty around the Mountain Cottage.

It’s going to be loads of work, this vegetable garden expansion, and we’re both gearing up do it! It’s at times like this that we both wish we owned a truck and trailer. We have to keep reminding ourselves that things happen one step at a time. One day, we will. For now, we rent/borrow from those who have.

Oh, did I already mention we’re hoping to put in a full size root cellar this spring? Wouldn’t that be amazing?!

 

Ducklings for the Farm

With the arrival of spring comes new life and in this case, ducklings. Last year we butchered off all our ducks and turkeys. We needed new blood in the flock and I wanted to start over again, this time with pure breeds. But as we considered the amount of work laid out before us, my man encouraged me to stick with one type of poultry: just ducks or just turkeys. Not both!

I love duck eggs and I’ve been eagerly waiting for the day when I can have a real laying flock. So I decided to go with ducks for this year. Instead of just purchasing Khaki Campbells and Welsh Harlequins, we’ll also be getting Pekins for meat.

Ducks are one of my favorite birds to have and watch. So quirky! Such personality! Now if I can just convince my man to create a permanent pond for them in (what will be) our orchard area….

 

Moving Ahead

I’m eager to move into the season ahead of us, even if it means lots of hard, hard work! At this point in the game, I say bring it! I’ve ordered my garden seeds, have 20+ asparagus crowns and a package of sunchokes on the way. One more month and I’ll be seed starting tomatoes, peppers, basil and some of those warm-weather crops.

Spring is coming, and I want to do my part, to make sure I’m ready for her when she arrives!

Yes, this is what I’ve been doing, tucked away in my little home in the hills. Dreaming. Planning. Scheming. Drooling over the idea of bring this place to life, ordering too many flower seeds and buying expensive roses!