Many more to come

Here is the update on my garden, one of many to come I'm sure. Spring is here, then winter, the spring again, then winter, then.... you get the idea. Actually I think the last winter was a fluke and spring is really on its way. It has rained a lot and snowed too. Wednesday night after raining all day I saw this: I didn't think it would last but the next morning there was tons of snow.

Lots of trees around town split or lost big branches from the wieght of the snow on the blosoms.

half our neighbors tree split and came down.

My neck is sore today. Either I've got meningitis or just from cutting down tree limbs of our neighbors tree. This is the toy I got (and broke already but its still usuable). ps you can tell teh snow melted quickly.

This is the pile I of limbs that are no longer shading the old garden.

(its a pretty big pile but doesn't look that way)

See? No Shade!

Here is the old garden partly planted, haven't really decided how to lay out the newer sections yet. Mostly brocoli in the far one next to some strawberries, then carrots and radishes in the next section over. After that is lettuce and peas (cucumbers to go in when its warmer and they'll take over the bed once the lettuce and peas are done).

I dug up the good soil for my walkways and heaped it up for the "beds." I put down newspaper and then composting hay for the walkways to hold the dirt where it should be and make it so that my feet don't get so dirty working out in the garden.

I got the strawberries planted conference weekend and then every morning dug some holes and the evenings filled them up with bushes. Kate dug some holes for me for the blackberries and Cathy helped with the strawberries, and cutting up the red things and sunflowers along the back wall. I put weed barier over the top of strawberry bed, planted the strawberries, and then covered them with straw. I put down weed barrier over the herb garden and I'm really hoping that cuts down on the maintanence needed for that area so I can focus on some of the other.

Here is the "before" back wall so you can kind of see what Cathy cleaned up for me. I' also got some of the berry bushes planted there now.

I only have 2 bushes left to plant a Hanson Cherry (Sand) and a Sugar Sweet Cherry (Nanking). . Ok 3 because I bought a black currant to go with the red one. The problem is I miscalculated and only have one more space planed for the cherry bush so I'm not yet sure where I will put the other one. I think I might move 2 more bushes and make a hedge along part of the sidewalk to the front door or something. hmmm. Other garden stuff left to do is get more hay (using it for the walkways between the beds that I'm raising), soe some more lettuce/spinach, plan out the big garden, get the potatoes and cabbage in, lay out the rest of the soaker hoses, put down some lawn fertilizer/weeder, weed the flower beds, put weed barier around all the new plantings, buy and plant an apple tree and a necterine/peach, etc, etc, etc

Remember when the catalog companies all shipped at the same time and I was going to sister's weekend and home for the weekend after that? I had to "hill" in my little bushes because even though I got a couple planted every day, I had too many to get them all in, especially when it was snowing.

Here is the list of plants boughten (so far) and mostly planted. From Henry Fields: 2 saskatooons (like blueberries), 6 Blackberries, 6 raspberries (3 boysenberries are on back order)

From Gurneys (actually the same company as HF): 50 strawberries, 2 native plums, 3 Hanson bush cherry, 10 chokecherries (i planted 2 gave 2 to the jenks and the other 6 to mom), 1 red currant.

From Four Seasons: 2 manchurian bush apricot, 6 dwarf Flowering cherry (same as Hanson or Sand), 5 dewberry, 4 sugar sweet chery (Nanking), 2 elderberries.

From local stores: 1 Gooseberry, 2 everbearing raspberries, 1 grape, 1 black currant, icelandic poppy, 8 cabages, 12 brocoli ( i hope, one was labeled funny), 2lb potatoes.

A few of the planted bushes along the firepit.

Looking over the list I wish I had gotten more Nanking Cherries then the other kid cause i think its fruit is better. Oh well. I also want another grape, and I think I found a location for it :)

Its a good thing the snow came so I could get my inside chores done on Friday . While waiting for snow to melt and the soil to dry out a bit I got the kitchen cleaned up and moped, got the bathroom clean, straightened my room and got the living room lookin better. Need to sweep the living room again as it got messy from all my yard work Saturday.

Mandy is in town for a Warner wedding and I watched Fay and Kimball while she went to the bridal shower Friday night. We had a good time. Here is a video on my cheap web cam of Kimball playing with some bubbles. It didn't pick it up very well as its slow. And there is no sound.

I took a break for some lunch Saturday at "Cafe Fresh" in the Good Earth store after planting things all morning. It was way tasty. Fresh real lemonaid, fruit salad that was bigger then 3 pieces and the sandwhich (turkey avocado on wheat focatia) was soooo tasty. I love good earth. Got more food there that I didn't really need but its fun to try new things. Then stopped at the nurshery for some sulphur for the potatoes and my new tool (also impulse bought the cabbage, brocoli, grape-sortof i was planning on buying it-, black currant, and marigold seeds- also planning on that one).

Then was in the yard until it was too dark and worked on my primary lesson. that took longer then expected and I went to the store to get some food for dinner and some fruit for the lesson.

I am beat. I think I might have a cold coming on, but also i think i got dehydrated yesterday.

The lesson went well, but I need to take a nap. Instead I will go to choir and then get dinner ready. Good luck to me. Here is Kate enjoying the beautiful day today. Hope she doesn't get sunburned!

My tulips are still going on but the daffadills are just about done.

I know they're weeds but this picture doesn't do justice to the bright yellow and blue "flowers" growing in my yard.

My Seedlings are growing under the grow light. I've taken outside a few times so they'll get used to real sun and cause the wind causes them to grow stronger stems.