Priorities

Hastily shouted instructions during the hail storm yesterday:

Me: Mister! You move my car under the carport! I'm going to try and save the tomatoes!

Mister: It takes two people to move the cars--you have to help me!

Me: But...but...THE TOMATOOOOOOES!

Peony Heaven

The peonies have really taken off in the last week. We might actually get blooms off them this year! My little flower garden is showing promise, even after a couple of late snows that definitely damaged some of the more delicate plants.

Even More Progress

The top image is a corner of our yard from last summer--it's hard to tell, but that area is completely dominated by pampas grass (bah!), mint, and the grape. Earlier this spring we cleared out the grass and grape, and I've been slowly pulling out the mint and other weeds. Last weekend I was able to get 10 bags of mulch to start covering the exposed soil with newspaper and mulch to keep the weeds from returning. I ran out of bags before the job was complete but I'm so happy already with the way that corner is looking. Not sure if the pampas grass will survive, but with the mint pulled out at least now it has a fighting chance.

Progress

Spent about four hours in the back yard this weekend pulling mint and composting (more to come on that). To reward myself I picked up some annuals from O'Toole's and got one of my new Brandywine tomato plants into a pot. I had a lot on my mind this weekend and several hours of hard work went a long way toward restoring good mental health.

Follow Up

I posted a few days ago about purchasing ollas, but this article gives instructions on how to make your own. Granted, they don't have the elegant round shape, but they're being buried in dirt.

Hmmm...maybe a weekend project?

Ollas

This year I would like to purchase a few ollas for the garden. Ollas are unglazed clay pots that you bury in the ground (leave the neck above the soil), fill with water, and the water seeps out of the pot slowly to keep your plants continuously watered. This article has a great description and pictures of how they work. It looks like you have to re-fill them every day, though. I don't water that often, but maybe I should be?

This gardening business is tricky...

Image from here.

MIL's Birthday

I have been trying to find an old-fashioned metal watering can for my MIL for over a year. Most places sell those crap-tastic plastic ones, and they're not cute at all. I recently discovered O'Toole's Garden Center and fell in love. Not only did they have the old school metal watering cans, they had them in a wide variety of colors! I may have to go back and get myself a sassy red one...

Echter's

A couple of weekends ago my friend and I took a container gardening class at Echter's Garden Center. I wish I'd taken more pictures of their displays, but I did remember to take a picture of our handiwork.

Something about this spring has made me absolutely crazed, desperate for green and moisture. Denver is so brown and dead (ugly) in the winter and lately it's been getting to me like never before. The late spring rain/snow showers have been nice, but our yard is greening up so slowly that I can hardly stand it. I've never been known for my patience, and this year is no exception. I guess containers of flowers are going to have to tide me over for a few more weeks.

Ranunculus

Trying to keep my pretty alive in the house until May when she'll be ready to go in the flower garden.

Impossible to Kill

This picture is of the Mister pulling mint out of our yard. We have lots and lots of mint because it is the world's most. aggressive. plant. Seriously, the mint took on our 8' ornamental grass and was winning. I know it's eyeballing our grape, but we're trying to prevent that from happening. The roots are a thickly woven mat just under the soil, so you can literally pull it out by the handful. Did a lot of research on the internet trying to find out how to kill it, but it's every gardener's dirty little secret---nobody wants to talk about the aggressive mint, just the friendly, tastes-good-in-mojitos mint that everyone wants to party with.

We're just grateful it smells good while we're tearing it out by the roots.

I Seriously Thought This Wasn't Going To Happen

Something I planted last year is growing back! Granted, it's sedum, a.k.a. "no-kill-'em", but still...not bad for a newbie. The peonies are showing signs of life, the daffodils and tulips are about to bloom, and more plants are on order. I heart spring.

Pending Arrival

I've ordered three rose bushes for the garden that will arrive at the end of May. I can't wait. I love that they come from Oregon, so I'll be growing a little piece of home in our backyard.

William Shakespeare

Elegant Beauty

Glamis Castle

Yard Work

The older gentleman who owned the house before us buried 5-gallon plastic buckets in all of the flower beds. We thought we'd dug them all out last summer only to find FIVE MORE today. Do you have any idea how long it takes to dig a five-gallon bucket out of clayish soil? The Mister and I should start a pool on how many we end up finding back there. We haven't even started digging around in the Dead Zone yet. Aiiyyy!

Plant Heaven

I placed our orders for our fruit, vegetable, and flower seeds/plants tonight. So much fun! Names like chickadee, brandywine, jazz, and cherokee purple have been stuck in my head for weeks. I ordered dahlias, roses, tomatoes, squash, beans, and a variety of perennial flowers that are also drought-tolerant.

We haven't had much moisture this winter, so I'm hoping we get pounded during March--typically one of Colorado's snowiest months. I often joke that the state motto should be, "We need the moisture..." since every weather report ends with that phrase. I guess I'm ready for March because I know that springtime comes right after the snow.

Weekend In Review

Still mulling over the school problem, but I'm feeling much better about it. Spent some quality time with Nephew this weekend and his drooly grin makes me feel better instantly. It's exciting seeing all of the developmental changes that happen almost overnight. He's crawling, feeding himself Cheerios, and pulling things off shelves.

This weekend I posted my final grades for the Methods class I taught, and it feels good. Taking teaching contracts on top of my full-time job is rewarding but very time consuming. Time to relax a little bit more and enjoy my weekends again! I'm not on the calendar to teach until May/June.

The Mister and I discussed our vegetable garden last night--what we want to plant, when to get started, etc. We marked off an area in the back third of the yard (known as "The Dead Zone") last fall and put down layers of newspaper and mulch so the soil can be easily amended this spring. It's a trick I learned from Martha. So far the only plants we've agreed on are pole beans, tomatoes, and squash. In addition I will be planting a couple of rose bushes, dahlias, and perennials that have not yet been picked out. It's an ambitious plan, but if you've seen our backyard you'll understand our sense of urgency--we have an area known as "The Dead Zone"! The soil back there is like concrete; even the weeds find it unwelcoming.

What spring/summer projects are other people planning, garden or otherwise?

Anticipation

Tonight is the season opener of The Closer, my absolute favorite show.  I don't watch a lot of TV, but for some reason I've become addicted to Brenda Leigh's sassy antics.  I've been looking forward to this night since November!  The bottle of wine is chilling, my friend is making dinner, and I've got the dessert all planned out.  I'm also bringing my gardening catalogues as we may be planning our spring/summer gardening projects during the commercial breaks.  Oohhh...so nerdy!  I love it!  Promises to be a fun evening.

Our House Is A Land Of Plenty

We ate our first home-grown tomato last night. There was no time to photograph it--after the first amazing bite we demolished the poor thing in about 10 seconds. Good thing it only took 2 months to grow! There are several more tomatoes on the plant so we should be able to harvest more in a few days.

On my way back from faculty training in Grand Junction last week I stopped at the fruit stands in Palisade and bought a whole box of peaches. It's been so fun to deliver a few here and there to family and friends! You have to stand over the sink to eat them because the juice runs down your chin. It's absolute heaven and we've been eating 3-4 per day per person. The huge box that I thought we would never get through is emptying quickly.

The Bing cherries were on sale at the grocery store, so I bought 2 pounds and took them to a breakfast meeting this weekend. The combination of sweet and sour makes me so happy. I love this time of year--our trip to the farmer's market on Saturday yielded sweet corn, green beans, beets, and more tomatoes to hold us over until the next batch of our own are ripe. It's so easy to eat healthy food when it's abundant and flavorful. Besides good food, the farmer's market also provides me with prime dog-watching! There's an English bulldog that attends regularly that, if its parents don't watch it very carefully, might end up coming home with me.

Photo via hamron

Yucca Yucca Yucca

Huh. So that's what it looks like when it blooms! This is in our front yard. Good to know...

Can't Even Wait

The weather's been hot and my tomatoes are going crazy! I've never harvested tomatoes that I've grown because they were always stolen before they turned red. These babies are tucked away in the back yard where they get lots of sun, water, and protection. Good eatin' pretty soon!

Our Yard