I said I’d do better, and I am, but I’m still behind keeping you all updated as to my activities. Let me just say, I’m busy. With the change of seasons, everything goes crazy for me. The garden and yard maintenance is the most guiltiest of thieves behind my time loss. I do put most of it on myself, but sometimes things just happen.
We’ve had quite a few storms this spring. I took care of most of the standing water issues last year with more drain pipe ran out to the pond. We get horrible wind at times, however. There really are no windbreaks around us, just empty fields. A couple storms ago, the wind brought down two large trees. They were dead ash so no big loss. However, Mother Nature probably laughed when she laid them across (and in) the pond. I cut on both sides of the pond and pulled the rest out. That finished me for that day.
They logs, some as long as 20 feet, are still laying there. That’s a project low on the list, but important. Not low on the list is finishing planting the garden. I have planted 18 of 20 beds. I do need to replant corn in two of them because oddly those two didn’t do well. The other three corn beds are thriving two feet away. I still have to plant two beds with cucumbers, but if I don’t, it’s ok. We are still heavy on pickles canned last year.
By the way, my onions are doing amazingly well as long as I don’t try to pick them too early like I usually do. We use onions daily in our kitchen and I get excited for free ones. I put peas along the outside of the interior fence. I’ll have to take pictures for you to understand. They’re doing nicely. The peas, not the pictures. Radishes were planted along with them. Ready for harvest. Some repair work needed to be done and I’m almost finished along the fence.
I have a little repair job to do on the strawberry beds. One is rotting at the corner. I have to combine some boxes so I can empty two of them for huckleberry. I finally got the grass killed off around them and put down weed barrier. After that, I mulched. It looks absolutely amazing. We’ve already had a harvest of strawberries.
The expansion for vine veggies is moving slowly. Nature won’t give me consistent dryness. By the time the ground dries back out, it rains again. Half has been tilled. It needs tilled again. The other half just keeps getting mowed. It has to happen. I have stretched the fencing, but it lies on the ground still. I’m only good for a few posts at a time. I did put some potatoes in, but I’m sure they have been flooded rotten. More await planting.
The most urgently needed task is planting the rows inside the inside fence. That’s my lettuces, cabbage, spinach, broccoli and the such. All of them should have been in a month ago. Nothing is stopping me other than everything else.
Then there are the wife projects… Extend the poop hill. We have a septic system. The person that had it installed put all the dirt from the tank’s hole on top of the tank. We planted wildflowers there. This was after six years of trying to get rid of the asparagus that was there. Why would you plant any food on top of your septic tank? Even asparagus! So the wife has me extend the mound. Grass is killed off and rocks from the shape, but it still needs filled with soil.
Last week I made four trips to a local farm and picked large rocks to bring home. No, it’s not a rock farm. The last rock of the day killed me. I am now a ghost writer. That damn rock was every bit of 100 pounds. Easy enough when spread out over, say 8 feet. But this was no wider than a foot. I took the next two days off. Eventually, all of these rocks will serve as a pond, in the circle, around a gazebo, surrounded by a tea garden. Only pictures will make you understand.
There have been other wife projects. I dug up blackberry bushes to create a berry field. She replanted them and half made it. I only need to do about 50 more. We are surrounded by properties with hundreds, if not thousands, of blackberry plants. There are very few on our own property in comparison. We seem to be the only ones to harvest them. You can tell by the blood that runs down our arms from the thorns.
There are other smaller wife projects, but I can usually knock them out quickly. They are nice distractions for my ADHD brain.
BTW: in our almost ten years here, we have transformed this plant desolate property into something beautiful that we are quite proud of. There are still dreams for future projects. I’m slowly moving my way into the woods to extend my hosta oasis. Donations of shade plants are always welcome.
There are many other things that have kept me busy this spring ( or have kept me from being busy). Went through the whole process of getting the youngest granddaughter’s last name changed. There will be more on that in future posts. I’ve actually been writing. I was staying fairly focused on one writing project until yesterday when I woke up remembering part of a dream that I am determined to turn into a screenplay. I have been 3D printing lots of useful and non useful stuff. My health has sucked. I haven’t heard much lately. New hearing aids are on order. Hopefully they will help.
Anyhow, busy. And I need to get back at it. Some day I will be able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of all my labor. If not, I’ll sit back and watch that blockbuster dark comedy movie And Now a Word from Our Sponsor. Never heard of it? That’s because I’m just getting started writing it.
Let’s talk soon…
The Renaissance Maniac 