Life On the Farm in March

Do you remember the our warm weather in January that led me to some winter planting by planting tomatoes in the milk jugs?  Well here they are ready to transplant.  Looks like I have my work cut out for me!  

Then in February, I planted tomatoes and peppers in small cups and placed them in the egg incubator.  They are just about the same height as the milk jug plants, but I don't think they are as strong looking as the milk jug plants.

Many of these are ready to transplant too.  The peppers will have to wait awhile, they seem to take longer to be sturdy enough to transplant.

Out in one of the garden beds, the peas have decided to pop their heads up finally.  This is the first year that I soaked the peas for 24 hours before planting and it really paid off!  I've heard that it's good to soak your green beans first too.  Do you soak your green beans, and if so, for how long?

By the way, I suppose peas can cross pollinate.  On one side of this panel are shelling peas and on the other side are snap peas.  I guess I won't save any seed, I was just hoping that they'd grow because I've not been able to grow them very well in the past.

I don't have any grape tomato seed, so when I saw one of them at the local MFA, I grabbed one.  It's planted in the garden already, but I might have to cover it at some point.  With the warm weather we've been having, I might not have to.

To give you an idea of how warm it has been, I thought I'd share some flower pictures with you too.  

I love creeping phlox, they are so cheery and colorful and we have them along our driveway for everyone to enjoy when they drive in.

The Magnolia tree is in full bloom!

And the Redbud's are also in full bloom.  The Dogwood's are not far behind either.  One of the beautiful things about the Ozarks are the native Redbud and Dogwood trees.  They grow throughout the forest all over the Ozarks.  This time of year, before the oak leaves pop out, you can look down into the woods and see the flowering trees that grow wild everywhere.  It's simply beautiful!

Even though this Bleeding Heart isn't blooming yet, I am very pleased to see it making it's presence known again this year.

You see, my brother passed away 14 years ago on Mother's Day.  The following Mother's Day, I got my Mom a Bleeding Heart for her flower bed.  When they moved from Minnesota to the Ozarks, she lovingly dug it up and brought it with them.  It has done so well, she gave me some starts from it and now it is also in my flower bed.  At the time, it represented beauty to us while we walked through our own Valley of the Shadow of Death, and now it reminds us of how good God is to heal our grief.  

Time in the garden has a way of healing, strengthening and rejuvenating a mind and heart.  I personally feel very close to God in the garden with my hands in the dirt.  

There will be no gardening today though, we have had a lot of rain this week.  In fact, we were actually flooded in ... here take a look for yourself!

Coming down off our mountain on any side, you travel through a valley to get to any main roads.  That means that a good healthy rain of any kind will more than likely cause us to stay home.  Lord willing and the creek don't rise literally pertains to us.  We don't complain since it doesn't take much of a reason for us to stay home.  Home is where our hearts are!