One Year Anniversary For COUNTRY LIFE TALES

i'm rewriting this post because it disappeared from my log and when I tried to access it on Mark's computer, it didn't show so I assume it was lost somehow.

This week is the one year anniversary of first publishing my blog! It has gone so quickly and was daunting at the beginning but now I thoroughly enjoy it. Thank you, dear readers, for staying with me and for your great support this past year. I also want to thank my international readers for checking into my life on the high plains of America.

I wish we had smell-a-blog so you could share the luscious fragrance of the lilacs in our front yard. We have 2 very old bushes. We pruned them by 1/3 last year and it certainly rejuvenated these old lovelies. The wild plum thickets are plentiful around our place so before the lilacs, the air was filled with the sweet smell of plum blossoms. The spring smells in the country are heavenly and help offset some of the animal smells of the country! Ha

The vegetable garden is flourishing. Above are French radishes closest to the camera with 2 varieties of beets surrounding them. We've been enjoying the radishes already.

This is the potato bed. I planted 1/2 the bed the old traditional way with potatoes in the ground and as you can see the plants are up. I planted the other half the "Ruth Stout" way with just laying the potatoes on the ground with a good thick groundcover. They too are forming plants. With the terrific soil the potato crop should be wonderful this year.

Oh, strawberries! What can one say but...I can't wait for the berries! The plants are healthy and growing like crazy. We should have berries in June.

Above is the spinach that survived in the cold frame. The cold frame wasn't a great success during the winter but we'll make adjustments and next winter will be different. It sure is great now though.

And these are Angelique tulips. I love these flowers and have had them in my garden forever. When our granddaughter Kelsey was born 21 years ago today, I brought Angelique tulips to the hospital to meet her for the first time. Now I think of Kelsey whenever I see an Angelique tulip. The flower beds around the house are in full bloom with the bulbs I planted last fall.

For those of you who vegetable garden, this website, Vegetable MD Online from Cornell University is an excellent resource to check about vegetable problems. Check it out at:

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/

Thanks to winter cold we get to enjoy the spectacular spring blooms I've shared with you here.

I hope you stay with me on my blog for another year in the country, season by season,
Delores