This year my white mulberry produced fruits for the first time, only for them to freeze a couple of nights ago. Everything in bloom/that had newly formed fruits froze at the orchard, but these mulberries are what I'm most disappointed about.

Orchard and garden in the beginning of April.

There's not much growing in the garden so far, but everything else is such a vibrant green.

Trying to grow bay laurel and rosemary in the ground for the first time. The bay laurel was in a pot on the kitchen windowsill before. The rosemary is new. We'll see how it goes, they're in a pretty protected spot and I'll cover them during winter. Would love for them to make it, they should be growing so much bigger this way than in pots.

A year's worth of growth for my lil nectarine tree.

The birdhouses are still standing at the orchard. We have around 25 now and birds use them every year.

Blood peach in full bloom 🌸

I've been eating from these 4 sorrel plants all winter. They stayed fresh and green, apart from a few days when we had around -10°C and lost some leaves to frost damage.

Blood peach, apricot and nectarine trees are starting to blossom.

This year I'm adding two new stone fruit trees: a flat peach and a flat nectarine.

I have this small, potted columnar apricot tree that's not quite columnar anymore and I'm thinking of trying my hand at grafting it with every type of stone fruit I have. Will have to wait until next spring for that, but I'm looking forward to it.

Red vs regular hazelnut catkins.

It's already March, but this past Saturday was my first time going to the orchard this year.

Did a little spring cleaning and planted a row of 10 black locust trees in a far back corner of the orchard we don't really use. There are some very old plum trees that barely produce anymore and will be cut down soon. In their place we transplanted some young black locust trees that popped up along the front fence of the orchard, from seeds from these guys. Black locust smells and looks so pretty in the spring, feeds the bees and is one of my favorite woods to burn in the fireplace. It crackles and pops so nice and has a good calorific value as well.

It'll be a long time before they'll be used for anything, but I'm happy to have them there.

This year's tomatoes. 35 varieties sown yesterday, of which 7 are new (of which 1 is a surprise variety I got extra for an order).

Yesterday I finally got around to mulch the berry garden. And today is raining, so I managed to do it just in time.

Hi! I know you've survived medschool or nursing school (iirc). I'm currently during my first year at vetschool, and I won't lie, its really hard to find any spare time just to clean my room. Do you have any hacks/tricks about how to keep vegetable gardening even with no free time?

Hey! I did survive med school. Currently surviving my last year of residency.

Medical school is rough (be it human or veterinary) and the first year in particular is brutal. It's a big adjustment of both studying style and lifestyle, so give yourself time to get the hang of it (and you will!).

How I made it work was by gardening only on weekends and school breaks. Choosing mostly native or resilient plants (but make sure you sneak in some plants you're really excited about as well), that wouldn't mind being neglected for longer periods of time. And most plants aren't that delicate anyway. As long as the soil is good, they're fine with some weeds or a few diseased leaves or inconsistent watering. You might not get the best results, but your garden will be fine. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Companion planting can help as well. See what kind of watering system might work in your situation to make your life easier.

I also got some plants for my apartment, mostly citrus trees and a couple of berry plants, just to get me through the week and help me decompress by taking care of them for a few minutes now and then.

I don't now how helpful any of it is as I have no idea how/where you garden or what your plans are, but if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. And good luck with your work!

Do you think you could survive with just the food you grow?

Maybe, but barely. And that is if I'd be very careful to use and preserve everything I grow. As it is now, lots of veggies end up in the compost pile because we're often too busy to process them on time.

Chioggia beets patterns.

I've barely moved from this spot in the past 3 days and I plan to do the same for the next 6.

Dried luffas ready to be peeled.