Winter Once Again

Last weekend I spent Saturday working in my front yard.. raking and trimming a few shrubs and tidying up some perennials. Sunday it snowed all day. Oh, well, such is Colorado. Heading into work at Tagawa's today. Pre-Valentines Day sale. And then a few hours tomorrow. Stopped out there the other day.. it is beautiful. A great big huge building full of life and growing things.

Not much I can do yet to prep for the growing season. Too early to plant seeds, too early to work in the garden. Got the one day of cleaning work done and plan to get outside to keep up the cleaning projects. And on top of that I have added one more big job to the yard projects.

POND
In March or April, maybe during spring break?, I want to take apart the pond... completely.... put in a skimmer, take out some of the plant shelves, dig in some bog/plant areas around the perimeter of the pond in place of the plant shelves. Hide the pump hose that leads to the waterfall and rework the waterfall (again!) and hide the waterfall box. And since I have the pond tore apart and am digging up the area, I might as well add a new liner since I have not found that leak yet. It will be nice to get the pond reworked, but I visualize the mess that project is going to make, pulling up the rocks, pulling back the lining in order to dig and rebuild... but if I can work hard and steady on it during spring break I will have it done and up and running before the rest of the yard is under way.

I love my pond, the water sounds, the coolness of it in the evening, the look of the plants and lilies... it is one part of the garden that rests my soul and brings me to peace. And with that in mind, it is the best project to undertake and worth the time and effort to rework. And if I can get it done I can once again sit out in the yard and enjoy the pond instead of looking at it's flaws; the lining and low water level, the tipped over plants. Yes, this is the spring to dive into the pond, again.

With love and dirt, Kristi

What a wonderful day

Forgot to mention something in my post about what my goals and intentions are in using this journal format and gardening. If my primary goal is to use this journal for my list of things to do, I am missing an important element. I also want to use this journal to evaluate and re-evaluate how gardening touches my soul and life. What gives me pleasure and what excites me about gardening.

Got to spend some time outside this afternoon. Mostly raked the front yard and cleaned up some flower areas. Which adds to the anticipation of spring coming around the corner.

TO DO:

*Soil; several areas in the front that could use some soil added to cover the weed barrier.
*Plant some flowers and bulbs under the trees.
*Trim the evergreen shrubs out front by the bench.

ALSO:

*Black plastic to cover areas in the veggie garden.. to prep for spring. Also want to rework the walkways to block weeds and to lower the brick a bit more.

Loving the dirt, Kristi

Ideas and Plans

Next paycheck I am going to get some plastic sheeting so I can lay it out on the veggie garden area to smother out the potential weeds.... and keep it down for the next couple months so that hopefully I can eliminate some of the weeds that come up each summer. And then cover the area every fall. And/or try a cover crop of buckwheat and see if I can smother those weeds out...

I am really excited about gardening this year... really hoping and planning to get out there and make things happen. Lots of plans and thoughts... and if I spend even an hour or two a day in the yard.. I can make them happen. Trying to be patient... yet I know that there are times over the last couple of days when I should have been outside getting some work done... so get on it...

Loving the dirt, Kristi

February: Carry over list of projects

Weather was nice enough to get outside to putz around a little bit. Moved the river rock out of the SE corner... need to get some soil to put into that area. The river rock will go in the small stream that I am taking out.. but first I need to puncture some holes in the lining so that it no longer holds water. Didn't get much done in January because of the weather and now when it is nice enough to do some things outside.. I have no money... hopefully later this week or next week when I get paid I can pick up a few things so that I can keep the projects rolling. Want to get some lattice or wood for a trellis, paint it a sage green.. keep it on the light to white side. and then hang in the SE corner.

Next project is to focus on the East side of the garage.. lots of work in that corner and it's cool enough to do some digging, but is the ground still frozen? That would be the hold up for working on the dirt pile and sifting through the rocks.

But, it's already February.. so springs is closer.

Love and dirt, Kristi