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

Waiting for Spring

I can't wait for warmer weather to arrive. I am making a vow to myself to put away the distractions and time killers in my world, those stupid petty things that get in my way of getting the projects done that I want to get done. What a wonderful sense of accomplishment when I get a project completed and then I can relax and enjoy one more part of my house or yard rejuvenated.

This morning I visualized how I would like the pond to be revised. BUT I will only work on the pond once I get the SE corner and the East side of the yard completed... then and only then will I tear apart the pond. The pond is wonderful I don't regret putting it in, however, it has been a time consumer over the summers. As I have tried to revamp the pond several times to make the waterful nicer looking... and now I have a small leak and can't keep the water level up to make it look nice. So this year I need to replace the lining... and if I am going to do all that work I might as well tear out the whole pond and redig the area and fine tune the pond.

I want to put in bog or plant areas that are fed by the pond but they do not leech into the pond. Tired of trying to balance and keep plants upright and looking good in the pond. So I want to put in rock and blog areas around the perimeter of the pond. And dig in a rock ledge around the edge of the pond.. and put in plants and grass around the edge. Put first I need to get other work done... but I want to work on the pond in April/ May otherwise it will be too hot to work on the pond. Lots of work to do...

BUT in order to get it done I need to devote myself to the tasks at hand... to include house work and clearing out the house.. simplify and declutter!!! I want these things to happen this summer and they will..... time to get it together some more on my goals.

With anticipation... love and dirt... Kristi

Not exactly Garden work.

Okay so it wasn't exactly garden work, but it was a step in that direction. I spent a couple of hours today cleaning out the garage... which essentially means I was organizing the garden tools and pots.. so it was close to garden work. I was looking through the list of things I want to do for pre-season prep and hope to get to some of them this coming week. The weather has been chilly but nothing that a coat and some work won't fix to keep me warm.

I bought a yard swing this weekend... hopefully it isn't going to be too big for the area I hope to but it in.. but it will be nice to have. Thinking of putting it in the SE corner. Therefore the next project I focus on is going to be that corner.

Move out the river rock, put in soil, plant vines (later this spring) and put up a trellis and window boxes. Debating if I should put up cedar lattice, white lattice or painted lattice. A splash of color in that corner would be perfect. The plants should be fragrant and colorful so that they can be enjoyed in the evening. Colorful in the corner and then leave the moon garden plants for the perennial, raised bed area.

Love, hugs, and dirt, Kristi

Delays

Not able to get any work done from my list of outside projects that I want to do... Too cold, too wet/dirty, and too much snow right now. So I have been focusing on the house and planning. Not much to "report" as far as jobs completed or moving forward on... so just have to be patient and wait for the weather to cooperate. I do have some other personal things that I am working on that do not pertain to gardening... one is to delve into artistic or creative endeavors; painting, scrapbooking, and papercrafts. The other is to write an artistic journaling format for doing the 12 steps.. a guide for Megan to work with as she is doing her 12 steps. And wouldn't it be great to use it for others also... but that is getting ahead of myself.

Til later, waiting for the warmth of spring.. can only garden so long from the armchair.

With dirt, Kristi