Last year, I did monthly garden posts on Facebook, showing the progression from tiny seedlings to jungle forest. It was fun for me to click through and see how everything changed over the growing season. This year, since I'm doing this blog, I decided to also post it here.
This month I'll share my To Do List aka "The mountain of work that I'm not sure I'll get to." I always start by making a list. Having this can be a double-edged sword: I feel pressure with a list hanging over my head, but without one I am aimless and overwhelmed, and don't get as much done.
So I start a list in March, when I make my garden plans for the year. Then I add to it as the year goes along. I'll just tell you, the list gets long. Too long. And I never end up doing everything on it. But I do most of it! And seeing those items marked off, along with enjoying the fruits of my labor, gives me a lot of joy. Like, a dorky amount of joy. Like, "Calm down, freak. It's just a few garden beds and some chickens." It makes me so happy to work outside and get to be a part of growing green things.
Here is some of the list, for anyone wondering:
A lot of the strawberries died off over the winter. I noticed that it's mostly the ones in the path of the wind tunnel that goes through our yard. I need to fill in the gaps by transplanting some of the ones too close to the blueberries, and make sure to mulch that section heavier this fall. I already pruned the blueberries, acidified them, and gave them some fertilizer. Last year we had a handful of handfuls of blueberries--not too much of a yield. And I'm not expecting much more for this year. Hopefully they'll continue to grow and establish themselves. I want to put a border in the soil to keep the strawberries from encroaching onto the pavers, but don't think I'll get to it this year. (It's a low priority.)
All of the fruit trees came back happy except for the fig. The chickens dug up the fig's root system sometime during the winter and I didn't realize it until later. So that guy is a goner. We're deciding if we want to replace it with an older and heartier version ($$$) or wait.
As far as the fruit trees go, I pruned them last month. I missed my window to spray dormant oil on the trees since spring came in all at once and everything had huge buds on it before I realized. Hopefully I don't battle pests all year because of it.
I dug the perimeters around each tree since the grass had encroached this spring. Then I added a very thick layer of last year's compost, about 4 inches deep.
I'm leaving the blossoms on the trees until they start to die back, then need to go through and remove them all, to tell the tree to not use any energy trying to produce fruit. I'd like them to spend at least one more year working on getting bigger and building better root systems.
This compost pile is our second iteration and we already have a better idea for next year. We're going to move this whole thing over near the chickens, then plant grass to cover the space. It makes sense to have the compost pile as close to the source of manure as possible. No more hauling loads!
Jackson and I raked up all the loose straw, manure, and dirt from the chicken yard. One side of the compost area was empty after putting it on the fruit trees, so we turned the pile and layered grass clippings, compost, and everything from the chicken yard as we went. We also added coffee grounds. Every time we added a layer, we watered it in. We found the most monster earthworms I've ever seen. So many beasts! I should have taken pictures.
We don't add kitchen scraps to our compost pile because we live in a subdivision and don't want to risk having a smelly pile that might bother the neighbors. As it is, our compost pile doesn't smell at all. I'd rather it take longer to compost and be a good neighbor.
The chicken coop needs a lot of attention! I need to pressure wash the outside, do my spring coop clean-out and disinfection, rake out the chicken run and add more sand, re-stock the area where we keep pine shavings and other chicken supplies, and add some soil and diatomaceous earth to their dust bath area. I basically add DE to everything, even some underneath the pine shavings in the coop. I know some people worry about respiratory issues but by putting the DE under the pine shavings, it keeps the powder from going up into the air.
I also need to attach garden fabric to the bottom of the fence that we share with our neighbors because the chickens throw dirt at it like they're actually trying to make me mad. No matter how much I rake the loose dirt and straw up and away from the fence, they throw it right back there in heaping piles. It is maddening. When we put in the permanent fencing, we'll make sure there's a barrier between where the chickens can go and the property line fence, but for now I just need to make sure they can't throw things through the fence and into the neighbors' yard. Chickens can be menaces, y'all.
Anyway, getting the chicken area all tidied up for spring is the highest thing on my list right now.
So much to do here. I fertilized the garlic last month, and removed its winter layer of mulch. Then yesterday I planted grass seed, to fill in the areas the chickens destroyed before they were sequestered to their portion of the yard. They did so much damage in such a small amount of time! Now I've got to go through and fix everything they did. Lesson learned!
I'm re-working my lower & leans completely this year, planning to tie the plants to secured cattle panels instead. I got the idea from a friend and think it will work a lot better. I've learned that so much of gardening and chicken keeping is trying a new solution once you realize you're unhappy with the last solution you came up with. I wish I could know everything right now, so I could do things the best way and not have to do them again.
I need to get the rest of the beds cleaned out, amended, and ready for transplanting.
You can't really see it from the angle here, but our back fence tried to fall down over the winter. The fences on our property have been a problem since we moved in. Our neighbor told us that the previous owner built them himself, using indoor screws and not securing the posts into the ground properly. He installed the gate kits upside down, didn't level the boards, and didn't stain or seal the wood, either. This is the main thing we are addressing this year.
We're going to begin at the front of the house, since that's what the neighbors can see. They've had to look at these fences for long enough! haha. We'll rebuild the gates, then stain and seal the new fencing. It's a little overwhelming to think of this job as a whole, so I'm thinking of it in sections. The front of the house, then the back fence, then the side we share with our neighbors which is ugly but holding up fine. One step at a time.
I also have an area along the fence that I need to plant with flowers that will grow tall over the course of the summer. Last year I did sunflowers and zinnias but this year I am adding in:
All of the volunteer flowers that came up! This is where I had my Rocky Mountain Bee Plant last year. Now I've got 50 volunteer plants that need to be moved. I'm planning to move what I need and then give away or sell the rest. I have other volunteers that came through as well!
This is where I had calendula two years ago. I'll take some of these volunteers and put them in my flower area. I have no idea if these will all look nice next to one another, but it's worth a try since I've got them.
We have so many other things on the list that these pictures don't show. Here are a few that are high priority:
- Prune the shrubs in the front yard.
- Spray weeds on the utility side of the yard.
- Pot the elderberry volunteers to get rid of.
- Clean out sprinkler heads.
- Create a solid platform and move the garden shed closer to the garden.
- Pressure wash the entire house.
- Clean up the utility side of the property and figure out a way to make it look less like a junk yard:
I have an idea of what I'd like to do on this side of the yard, but do I have enough time to get to it? That'll be the question.
Okay, so that's the garden in May. Check back in June to see if I ended up getting any of this done. The first year we were here, we put in the garden. Last year we put in the coop and chicken run. This year we're hoping to tackle fences. If that gets done then I'll be fine with whatever else I manage to get to.
Happy May, friends!
Sarah
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