I have been pretty tapped out spiritually so I’m going to dig into my gardening plans (pun intended). Just yesterday, I sowed my first seeds – Echinacea. This year, I’m starting my seeds later because last year was a disaster. I started them way too early (I had spring fever.. OK?). As a result, I was dealing with huge gangling plants that were pot bound and needed watered every day… or else! Then to top it all off, I set my overgrown seedlings outside on a warm spring day to harden off and a gust of wind knocked them all over. They fell out of their pots and many stems were snapped. I’d estimate that I lost 90% of my seedlings. This year will be better.
Here is the short list of all my goals for the season and then I’ll go into each one in more detail.
- Fill up the new-ish flower bed on the south side of the house
- Fill up the raised garden boxes
- Plant the baby trees from Arbor Day Foundation
- Fill up the new raised beds next to the back patio
- Do a better job of composting
- Install drip irrigation for patio plants and raised garden beds
- Enjoy the fire pit more
South Flower Bed
While I was pregnant with Michaela, I installed edging to establish a flower bed around the south side of the house in the back yard. That was in 2018. I’m just now getting around to planting something in it. This area gets full sun for most of the day and it is brutally hot. The hope is to fill it up with medicinal and culinary herbs, as well as pollinator-friendly plants. There is a special place in my heart for bees and butterflies and I consistently have hummingbirds visit my feeder every year. So, here is a list of seeds I’ve bought… so far.
- Echinacea (Purple Coneflower) Magnus – classic, favorite
- Asclepias (Butterfly weed) Red Butterfly – I didn’t realize this was the tropical variety when I purchased it. Next year, I’ll try harder to find a native variety
- Catnip – for our cats Flower and Domino. It also makes good herbal tea.
- Chives – nice flavor booster for baked potatoes and so much more
- Sweet Basil – classic. An herb garden wouldn’t be complete without it. Plus the bees love it.
- Borage – This one is completely new to me. I have no idea how to use it. I just thought it looked pretty.
- Greek Oregano – This one is also new to me and I hope to use it more in our recipes.
- Thyme – I always need more of that.
- Cilantro Calypso – My absolute favorite herb in the whole world.
- Parsley – for cooking and for the caterpillars
- Dill – also for the caterpillars
- Sunflowers – just for fun I bought a variety mix. Not exactly sure where I’ll put these. Possibly on the south side in the front yard.
Raised Garden Beds
That takes care of the south bed. Now for the raised garden boxes, I’ll plant some veggies. My goal here is to plant stuff the kids love so they can learn about where their food comes from and watch it grow. I have three 3ft x 6ft raised beds that I made from old fence boards. In one box I’ll plant sweet corn. In the second box, I’ll plant cantaloupe (Burpee’s Ambrosia Hybrid). Caleb requested cantaloupe which surprised me because we never eat it at home, however, he enjoys it when we go out to eat at restaurants. In the third box, I’ll plant either tomatoes or green beans. I haven’t settled on that one yet. As of right now, I am the only one in my family that will eat tomatoes. However, we all love green beans. So I guess the choice is obvious…green beans!
Arbor Day Trees
I purchased some little trees from the Arbor Day Foundation. I am hopeful that the little trees will establish better than larger trees from the nursery. Here is what I’m getting in March:
- American Redbud – this will go in front of the house between the walkway and the foundation.
- Red Buckeye – this will go in the back yard a few yards away from the master bedroom window on the west wall.
- Red Maple – This will go in the front yard between the two existing Bradford pear trees. The plan is to cut those down eventually since they are considered invasive species.
- Kieffer Pear – This will produce edible fruit. I will plant this in the back yard directly south of the existing pine tree. Caleb announced he LOVES pears which was also news to me. I love them too.
- Two free Forsythias – I don’t know where I will put these, possibly in the front yard on the south side of the driveway. This will create a sense of privacy and property line definition.
All that cost me $60 (tax and shipping included). If you are willing to put in the time to grow from little trees, it may be worth the wait to save some money.
New Raised Beds
During the Christmas shopping season, I took advantage of a sale from Gardeners Supply Co. I bought two modular raised beds. These will go on the front edge of the backyard patio. My grand idea is to add a trellis and some flowering vines to provide privacy and dappled shade during the brutal afternoon summer sun. The patio faces west.
Unfortunately, I still have to purchase some top soil/compost mix to fill them up with before I can plant. However, I do not have a pick-up truck. The last time we bought soil in bulk, we rented a truck from HomeDepot and the cost of the rental was just as much as the bulk soil. So now I am considering trading in my Subaru Forester for a small pick-up truck to serve as my “gardening truck”. I feel like it would be worth the switch for several reasons. First of all, we do not drive my Forester very often. Secondly, I would like to begin purchasing mulch in bulk which would be an annual event. Finally, woodworking has been on my hobby to-do list for a while now and it’d be nice to have a way to haul lumber.
New Compost Bin
This winter, I built a new three bin compost bin out of hardware cloth and re-bar. This is my third attempt at successfully composting. Right now, my pile is too small to get very hot but I’m determined to compost as many kitchen scraps as possible. In the past, my only inputs were grass clippings when the lawn got too tall. I was really low on “browns”. Since then, I’ve been saving up more browns such as cardboard, autumn leaves, pine needles, and shredded junk mail.
Drip Irrigation
I desperately want to install a nice drip irrigation system for my potted plants and raised garden beds. With two kids and two cats plus a full time job, it is difficult to find time to water everything during the peak of summer. I will hook it all up to a battery operated timer and then I just have to check on them to make sure the system is working like it should. I’m really excited about this idea.
Fire Pit
I also want to enjoy our fire pit more often than never. Since 2011, I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve lit a fire. I also have a huge wood pile that I haven’t touched in two years.
So far, these are my plans and goals. I apologize for the lack of photos. I’ll back and add those when I get the chance. I am so ready for spring. When night time temperatures stay above 50 degrees F, I can move my houseplants outside. By that time, my house plants are begging to get back outside.
Luckily, our weekends have been fairly mild so I’ve been able to go outside and play in the dirt! Ugh! I’m so excited. I just pray that my motivation, morale and energy can keep up. I have my readers now so I’ll have the additional accountability to document my progress and share it with you. So check back often to see how I’m doing!
