Dreaming of Gardens...

 

I love this time of year.  Spring brings such hope and promise.  After moving into our new house and unpacking some of it, all thoughts & effort have turned to the garden.  We want to plant the garden on time and we're racing to get there!  Interestingly enough I've just learned, the right time here in the Southwest not only includes the last frost date in our area but also when our Spring winds stop blowing. We live in an area where we get sand storms in the Spring and they can easily dry up fledgling plants.  This may be why my seedlings didn't do well last year.  

 

Now, I'm not at all sure when to plant, though I'm glad to have a little extra time because we have a lot of work to do!  If you remember last year we did a ton of yard work, as seen here.  We went from dirt and weeds to Shangri-La in our tiny backyard.  We had a really successful little garden  Now, we are starting over.  I want to cry just a little bit when I look at my yard & gardening posts from last year. But that's a bit self-indulgent because we have much more space here and lots of potential.  Eyes forward, right? 

At this moment, the above stump is slowing us down a little.  It's a Mexican Elder stump right in the area that I want the garden beds.  We could avoid planting here but little sprouts are coming up and so rather that have the garden compete with tree roots, we're ripping it out.  The kids and I got this far before seeing that an axe was needed.  I'm lucky to have some good helpers!

There's a nice area all along the brick wall, beyond where I want the garden, perfect for some sunflowers or a zucchini or two.  Right now we're working on removing the old pebbles & rock that were there.  It was an old Xeriscaping that was turning weedy and covered in sandy dirt.  I think the rocks will be fun to use elsewhere. A sand pit for the kids?  A flower bed? A border for the garden space? 

There's much pruning needed as well. This is a Chaste tree that should be just beautiful once it begins to flower. 

Here's wood for 2 more square foot garden beds!  I see such promise here and get a little thrill every time I see this wood... just waiting. So we will have 3 garden beds total and I can see us putting in one more in the future.  Four square foot garden beds could probably feed us and all our neighbors! This year I'm reading about Potager gardening, a formal, French, kitchen type garden that includes flowers and herbs that attract the good bugs. As well as flowers that will discourage garden pests & diseases.  All so fascinating & beautiful!

I found some lovely heirloom seed varieties that I can't wait to try this year. It's so amazing to me that these tiny little seeds contain all the information needed to grow a tomato vine 8 ft tall. It's awe-inspiring when you stop to think of it.

Gardening is such an adventure and challenge.  What I'm most enjoying and hating at the same time is the near bursting of ideas I have for making this space beautiful.  I have more ideas then I have money or energy to see them through.  My problem is that I want to it to be beautiful NOW!  Gardening is ever the teacher of patience though isn't it?  With a little creativity & thriftiness, I think we can make it a lovely space. 

Until next time...