Spring in Maine is here and with April into May showers my gardens have started to fill out. Here’s what’s been budding out and blossoming~
Unlike suburbanites with their cult-like obsession with the perfect green lawn, here on the Sweet Potato Homestead I go out of my way to encourage and spread the divisive Dandelion (left). At the moment, I’m admiring their sunny faces and lush greens but once they start to go to seed, I’ll begin spreading them to the back yard to start the process over. This ensures my dandelion collection grows which will make me and the bees very pleased. Additions to the side gardens and forest paths include the dainty Bluet (center) and everyone’s favorite, the wild Strawberry (right).
In the leafy greens department, the very distinctive and memorable leaves of the Common Cinquefoil (left) have started sprouting in their gravel patch. I harvested a couple of plants from this area last year and it’s hardly seemed to matter to this guy~ In the potted plants sub-department, a couple of common Valerian (center) sprouts have taken off and will need to be transplanted in a week or so. This wild Yarrow (right) I poached from the yard last year has really started to fill in this large pot and will be very useful for future medicine.
One of the first plants I identified when we moved here was the Lilac bush (left) in the side garden. Once it’s past the blooming phase, I’ll give it a hair cut and cross my fingers that it blooms next year~ After our first winter, I planted a more intentional Lilac bush (center) in our side yard. The pictures don’t quite capture how much it has grown in the past 4 years but with just one worm castings fertilizer application, it has become so bushy! I’ll give this one a hair cut as well and I may get to enjoy a blossom or two in 2026~
While not the most attractive part of the backyard, my Hugelkultur mounds have started to come back to life. After raking the loose brush, oodles of dead leaves and pine needles out of the way, little plants here and there have started to fill in. Mostly overwintered clover plants that I had sown last year to get more biomass into the area, but some wildflower seeds, Shrubby Cinquefoil and Evening Primrose have made an appearance. My most favorite update to the back garden has been the revival of my Honeyberry plants (left most). They had previously been planted in the shady medicine garden to the side of the house the first spring here, but I moved them out into full sun and thought I had fried them to the point of no return. But they have come back and were flowering on April 29th on a very sunny, 80 degree “Spring” day. I look forward to the next update after I’ve harvested a couple of berries. Other plants that have woken up include the versatile Comfrey (2nd from left), garden Mint and a big floret of Mullein (2nd from right), in addition to some Evening Primrose and clovers. Another way I’m trying to help my clay and rock-heavy soil and paths, I planted a mess of creeping plants (right) including white, red and yellow clovers, and eventually yarrow and dandelion plants since they put up with some foot traffic and will take over the area.
As for other new parts of the garden, brambles (right) that I dug up from along and at the end of our shady and sandy driveway have now been moved into the Hugelkultur beds out back. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to figure out what berry they are now that they’re in sunny and fertile spots. The already established blackberry brambles (center) have taken off as well and will probably stay where they lie until I get to that edge of the backyard. They’re clearly happy in gravel and scorching summer sun so moving them elsewhere makes little sense. Continuing my quest of grow spaces among the forest and gravel I’ve surrounded myself in, I’m experimenting with a makeshift garden bed from Birch stumps (left). I’ve woven branches around this 5 stumps and plan to add layers of small brush, leaves, moss and whatever rich soil the tractor can dig up. A lot of squash plants are waiting inside for their chance to grow in this area and I’m really excited to see how they do here. Finally, my collection of free plants continues with some small Lilac plants (not shown). The bush that established itself in the rock wall on the side garden started putting out baby plants which were easily dug out and potted. These should do well in the backyard once more space has been cleared of gravel and established plants that don’t fit my plans.
🌼 Look for more updates including harvesting and maintaining my worm composter and new maps covering my property zones and wild plant locations coming shortly~