• *About Young Wifey*
  • *My Home & Family*
  • Blessings
  • Featured On
  • Silly Kid Quotes
  • Top 15 Posts

Young Wifey's Blog

~ Adventures in Creating My Home

Young Wifey's Blog

Category Archives: Gardening

It’s Peach Festival Time…

23 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by Young Wifey in Gardening

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

dessert, foodie, fruit, gardening, homegrown, homesteading, peach

Movin’ to the country, Gonna eat a lot of peaches, Movin’ to the country, Gonna eat me a lot of peaches…

I really love your peaches, Want to shake your tree…

My brain keeps shifting back and forth between lyrics from two songs: The Presidents of United States of America’s Peaches and The Steve Miller Band’s Joker. Maybe it’s because the Hale Haven Semi-Dwarf Peach Tree in our mini orchard has produced a bumper crop for it’s first year! Today, I picked over 30 peaches with even more left on the tree (and 5 pits mysteriously on the ground…).

It's Peach Festival Time ♥ Young Wifey’s Blog

It’s Peach Festival Time ♥ Young Wifey’s Blog

Even though we had fresh Georgia peaches (picked and shipped that morning) in our wedding cake, I’ve never actually been a peach fan.      <GASP!>      I know! Then, I took my first bite of our homegrown Hale-Haven peaches, and I’m sold!

The last week of August was always the Peach Festival at my childhood church. Now, I’m dreaming of my own peach festival…

Millions of peaches…

Wanna shake your tree…

Well, I got to run… This was short, but it’s time to eat another peach!

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Advertisement

Mini Orchard Update – Start of Summer

07 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by Young Wifey in Gardening

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

fruit, fruit trees, homestead, orchard, summer

My Summer Heaven ♥ Young Wifey's Blog

My Summer Heaven ♥ Young Wifey’s Blog

The first Sunday of my summer break…

Lazy marshmallow clouds are masking the azure sky and bright June sun. The rustling leaves and cheerful birds creating a calming chorus. The nearby horses are talkative today. Under an oak leaf canopy, I’m sitting in my blue Adirondack chair listening and watching the world around me. Ants tickling my toes, and butterflies fluttering across the clover blossoms. Belle is resting beside me while Rory and Opal watch from inside the house. I cannot recall when was my last relaxing day…

The air is cooler than usual for this time of year. Our mini orchard is producing fruits, and I’m thrilled at the promise of fresh pick home-grown taste.

Young Wifey's Mini Orchard Update 2015 ♥ Young Wifey's Blog

Young Wifey’s Mini Orchard Update 2015 ♥ Young Wifey’s Blog

There are branches that need trimming, weeds that need pulling, and grass that needs mowing. But, not today. Today, I sit and listen to the world around me…

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Berry Business

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Young Wifey in Gardening

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

blueberries, gardening, landscaping, raspberries

I love berries. Hubster & I decided it was finally time to work on incorporating berries into our garden.

Friends of ours have golden raspberry bushes in their garden that we’ve coveted for so long, and they’re given us a few canes to transplant. My parents have red raspberry bushes and spared a few canes to add to our garden. We have some black raspberry bushes growing on the steep bank along the road so Hubster dug them from the hill. All these raspberries were transplanted into our far raised garden bed.

We also purchased 3 dwarf blueberry bushes; 1 jelly bean blueberry bush and 2 peach sorbet blueberry bushes. While I’ve been resting my sprained ankle, Hubster planted them in the front of the middle raised garden bed.berrybusiness

We should figure out some netting or caging to keep the plethora of birds away from our new crops, but we’re just not that far yet. Hubster loves strawberries, but we haven’t built a proper strawberry box yet, so they might need to wait another year…

What type of berry is your favorite?

XOXO,
Yong Wifey

Our New Herb Garden- Le Château de Chenonceau Style

13 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by Young Wifey in Gardening, Landscaping

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

cooking, France, French, gardening, grilling, herb garden, herbs, landscaping, potager

Since our potager isn’t located close to our kitchen at all (it’s further away from our house down on the first bank), it wasn’t an ideal location for my herbs. I can’t just run out quickly when making dinner to add a spring of something or another.

Four years ago, The Town Mouse posted a picture of the herb garden at le château de Chenonceau (Chenonceaux, France) that I have coveted ever since. The recessed pots are adorable and would help deter mints and other herbs from taking over the entire garden.

Town Mouse's picture of an herb garden at le château de Chenonceau (Chenonceaux, France)

Town Mouse’s picture of an herb garden at le château de Chenonceau (Chenonceaux, France)

The perfect spot for the herb garden was just off the back deck. It is the perfect location for both kitchen and grill access. At the beginning of last year, we turned a tight v- shaped corner (between the deck, pool deck, and pool) into a garden bed. We removed the grass, lined it with black plastic, mulched, edged it with mountain stone, while lining the pool side with small river rock. The only plant in the area was a spiraea we transplanted (and rescued) from next to the AC unit.

Last night, I purchased terra-cotta pots and herbs for my new garden. On the upper lip of the pots, I brushed on 2 coats of a terra-cotta sealant, 2 coats of paint (formulated for terra-cotta), and finished with two more coats of the sealant. I had these supplies left over from a previous project.

This morning, we were ready to create our new herb garden. I’m actually surprised Hubster was so agreeable to this design, when I first showed him the picture years ago, he didn’t care for it. First, I laid out the pots to determine their arrangement. Then, I pushed aside the old mulch and cut a hole in the plastic, and Hubster loosened holes in the clay soil. Once I recessed the pots into the new holes, I back-filled any exterior gaps with the clay soil and filled the pots with potting soil. I smoothed the old mulch back around the pots and planted the herbs.

I planted thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage, fennel, chives, peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, and bee balm. I actually think we’re going to add two more pots and create a fourth row in the back. I already have two types of basil and a lavender that I’d like to add there. Most of the herbs are perennials and will come back each year, so it’ll be easy to supplement the annual varieties.

Our New Herb Garden - Front View

Our New Herb Garden – Front View

Our New Herb Garden - Deck View

Our New Herb Garden – Deck View

Our New Herb Garden - Poolside View

Our New Herb Garden – Poolside View

I can’t wait to update this post when the herbs have filled out and been topped off with fresh mulch!

UPDATE:
We added two more pots in the back!

Another Row Added

Another Row Added

What do you think of our new herb garden?
What herbs do you keep in your garden?

XOXO,
Young Wifey 

How Do You Like Them Apples?

03 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by Young Wifey in Gardening

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

apple, orchard

Only one month after planting our mini orchard, these beauties appeared.

Three Apples changed the world. The first one tempted Eve, the second inspired Newton and the third was offered to the world half eaten by Steve Jobs. RIP - Unknown

Three Apples changed the world. The first one tempted Eve, the second inspired Newton and the third was offered to the world half eaten by Steve Jobs. RIP
– Unknown

Our red delicious semi-dwarf tree is very happy in its new home. 🙂

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Our Own Mini Orchard

16 Friday May 2014

Posted by Young Wifey in Gardening, Landscaping

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

apple, cherry, fruit trees, gardening, landscaping, orchard, peach, pear, plum, potager, redbud, trees

Last year, Hubster & I planted four weeping cherry trees and a Japanese maple. One weeping cherry didn’t make it through the first year, but we had a one-year warranty and replaced it. While we were at the garden center, we decided to finally start our own mini orchard.

The past few weeks we’ve been busy planting, mulching, and watering our 12 new trees. Two were ornamental; the weeping cherry and an Eastern redbud.

Own Own Mini Orchard

Own Own Mini Orchard

We planted 10 fruit trees in a line wrapping around from the top of the hill behind our house and curving down the hill to the left side of our house. The new mini orchard perfectly frames our pool, fire-pit, and hammock. Starting from the back to the front we planted one of each: Golden Delicious Semi-Dwarf Apple, Red Delicious Semi-Dwarf Apple, Methley Semi-Dwarf Plum, Bruce Semi-Dwarf Plum, Keiffer Semi-Dwarf Pear, Bartlet Semi-Dwarf Pear, Elberta Semi-Dwarf Peach, Hale Haven Semi-Dwarf Peach, Black Tartarian Cherry, and Bing Semi-Dwarf Cherry.

Foliage is Filling In

Foliage is Filling In

The foliage is already filling in nicely, and some small blooms have appeared. I’ll post an update once they’re a little more established.

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Lucky Pennies

06 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Young Wifey in Gardening, Landscaping

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birdbath, gardening, landscaping, penny

We have a nature preserve 1/2 a block down the road, and the trees (and porch lights) around our house are home to many birds. For ultimate pest control, we have to make sure we keep our feathered friends as happy as possible.

Algae has been a major issue for our bird bath, and let’s face it, I don’t want to scrub the bird bath often. Last Spring, I found a link on Pinterest that mentioned pennies (minted before 1982) would help keep our birdbath clean by preventing algae from growing. Although we saw immediate results, we wanted to see how it worked over the course of a year.

Pennies in Birdbath

Pennies in Birdbath

I am curious if this also works with UK pennies (and other countries) since I’d love to add a 2p coin to the mix. Riotflower, care to give it a try and send feedback (BTW Happy Birthday!)?

The only slight set back was when our sweet niece thought she found the “Find a Penny, Take a Penny” jackpot (she was so thrilled!), and I had to search for more pre-1982 pennies for the birdbath. You’d be surprised how many pennies you may have to go through to find them!

XOXO,
Young Wifey

← Older posts
Follow Young Wifey's Blog on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to subscribe to Young Wifey's Blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,500 other subscribers

Baby Baking Beauty Being Green Beverage Blogging Candy Centerpieces Cooking Creating Crochet Decorating Entertaining Ethnic Food Frugality Gardening Handmade Jewelry Holiday Home Improvement Home Maintenance Kids Landscaping Life Poetry Preloved Refashion Sewing Travel Uncategorized Weddings

YW’s Blog History

Craft & DIY Blogs

  • Addicted 2 Decorating
  • Ana White
  • Decor Chick!
  • Fearless Homemaker
  • Me and My DIY
  • Pretty Handy Girl
  • Tatertots and Jello
  • The Graphics Fairy
  • The Inspired Room
  • The Ugly Duckling House
  • Thrifty Decor Chick
  • Young House Love

Food Blogs

  • A Cozy Kitchen
  • A Healthy Jalapeno
  • From the Bartolini Kitchens
  • Katie At The Kitchen Door
  • Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide
  • Samina Cooks
  • The Kitchen Prescription
  • The Newlywed Chefs
  • The Root Cellar's Garden

Life Blogs

  • Athenapearl
  • Riotflower's Realm

Blog Stats

  • 482,666 visitors!

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Young Wifey's Blog
    • Join 312 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Young Wifey's Blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...