Sights of a Minnesota Gardener

Gardening is a labor of love. Spring comes & I am on a mission to do my part to keep our family eating well with the freshest produce we can get. 

Hummingbirds frequent our backyard & have for years.  This is the first year we've had a feeder out & so far these are the only birds that are snatching up the dripping nectar. I was amazed to hear that you are supposed to clean & replace the nectar in the feeders every 2 days. That's crazy right?! Others have said they only clean it when it's empty - I have settled on doing it once a week. 

The nectar in the feeder is clear. I'm not convinced that "red on the feeder" alone is enough, so I'm getting some red nectar to mix with the clear to see if that makes the hummingbirds come more quickly. I bought another feeder with a bottle that is blue, but now looking back on the decision, I shouldn't have chosen that one! I put together a red floral arrangement as well - hoping that the hummingbirds love it as much as I do.

The Clematis are blooming.

The peonies were gorgeous.

Even sneaked a few pics of the neighbor's varieties - so different than ours.

This is one of the stinkers eating on the plants in our landscape  

- also enjoying our plush grass.

Therefore the best of the produce is grown on the deck - far out of reach for big eyes like these, although the squirrels now venture up to steal a tomato or two quite often.

A small sampling of the plants from seed we have going: Flowering Eggplant (from Tyrant Farms)

FLowering Tomatillos (from Tyrant Farms) for Salsa Verde.

Austrian Winter Peas (from Tyrant Farms)

Sugar Daddy Peas, Super Snappy & Blue Podded Peas (from Tyrant Farms)

There are 3 varieties of carrots in this pot. (Incl one red cored from Tyrant Farms)

Garden Beans & Royal Burgundy Bush Beans (from Tyrant Farms)

Flowering Peppers (from Tyrant Farms)

So many new experiences thus far due to it being the first year I've sowed from seeds almost my entire deck garden. If you don't know about Grow Journey seeds yet, Google it & be prepared to be enlightened & tempted to take a plunge & give the subscription service a try.

I am not being compensated to talk about Tyrant Farms Grow Journey seeds.  From one year to the next, I've learned so much about what to do to improve each year's gardening experience. Documenting will be key to understanding what was done well & what needs improvement for the next season.