March 11, 2009

Spring Fever!!!


I have been antsy!! It dawned on me that I must have a serious case of spring fever this year! I guess the weather over the past few days here in Ohio has just spoiled me rotten!! We were in the 70's the one day....and it's still nice here. I have been too couped up all winter. I have a beautiful home and it is nice and all....but I want OUT! Heehee! I want out of bulky sweaters and socks! Green grass and blue skies, flowers and bee's...croaking frogs and fireflies....

I worked out in the garage on the nice day and in a few short weeks we'll be getting the tracker up and running here for the weekend mowing's! We have 1.2 acers here, most of it mowed. This year we are going to let the kids try some mowing! We'll see how that goes. DD is 14 now and in a few short years will be learning to drive.....I think handling the tractor will be a great trial run to learn basic maneuverability and things like braking, backing, shifting... and hand- eye -foot coordination. I was 13 when I started helping my dad and DH was even younger at his childhood home.

Other things on the spring hit list: work on new garden space. We were blesses to find a used tiller end of season last year!! I am SO excited about this (and VERY thankful).....breaking ground by hand is HARD! I usually put in a small what I call salad garden by the house. Tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, onions, and cucumbers and a few herbs. This year I can move the garden to the center of the yard and go with a few more things....I'm thinking some peppers and squashes...maybe some sugar snap peas-YUM. I DO NOT garden to keep food year round. Although I do can or freeze whatever tomatoes are left end of season and that's not too many as I like to share with others too. I garden for the sheer fun of it! It brings me JOY to see my little seedlings grow through the season and for me....it's just plain fun to dig in the dirt! Of course the fresh veggies are great! But I like the process...I love house plants for this reason too.

We took shrubs out last year by the front and it looks like we may have to take out a few more. I don't know how old they are but last season 3 of them just died out....and it looks like one more may not have made the winter. If that's the case then I'm just gonna take the remainders out and re mulch over the whole shebang and put in some hostas or something simple. We are doing away with 2 raised flower beds in the back. The railroad ties that boarder them have rotted away and we've decided to just move back to grass in those areas...this will make it easier to mow....less obstacles to maneuver around! One held my strawberry plants but that has been a battle to keep them watered there. Those plants will be moved to the far back of the property and just be left to go natural. I'm hoping in a few years they will produce a small area of their own filled with hardy plants....we'll see how that goes. I'm also very interested in reading the book Perennial Vegetables
and maybe I'll go more that route over time so I don't have to replant each season. I may be a tad lazy in my gardening but I do love the idea on planting once and having food for years! It's the frugal way to go too! This year's yard stuff will be low key and easy to maintain- this seems to be a reoccurring theme in my life right now. When we got the pool last year.....we discovered that it takes some time so we'd like to keep "yard pretties" to a minimum and enjoy these last few summers with the kids before they decide their parents aren't cool~LOL~and fill their summers with jobs and friends. I'll probably not be on this computer as much and that is a blessing....with little to do in the winter months.....I've spent too much time in cyber land anyway! Hurry up spring!! I hope everyone else is looking forward to the new season as well!! God sure knew what He was doing when He created the seasons.....just about when you get sick and tired of one....He ushers in the next!! Brilliant!

2 comments:

50s Housewife said...

I'm looking forward to spring too. It's been so nice and warm here lately, but now we are having a cold spell and I am back to my fuzzy sweaters. :)

Jen said...

Our weather is jumping back and forth now...cold hot cold hot....my poor body is confused to no end! LOL maybe it's good practice for menapause !!