Around the Garden | Spring 2017

Being a photo heavy blogger has lent itself to being more difficult these last few months. The interest in processing large quantities of photos waned and I found myself wanting to spend a lot less time on the computer during the evenings and weekends. When I did process photos, I then could never find the time, rather, prioritize the time, to sit down and write a blog. What would I write about? This is blooming, that is blooming, we’re harvesting this and this and that. Sometimes it all seems rather monotonous to keep sharing but I know that I definitely regret when I look back at particular points in this blog writing phase and realize I didn’t write about something. Sometimes I have photos in Flickr or my computer but no entry.

It seems like so long ago that spring was new, that the air was crisp in the morning and just right in the afternoon. The skies with their crisp blue with the promise of new growth—ah, I do love those moments of spring. After we finally got everything mulched in the vegetable garden everything looked so clean and weeded, full of hope. It was a nice pat-yourself-on-the-back moment of success but I knew better than to get too comfortable. New mulch would be needed again and more weeds would come in as well as various crops fading while others began.

In a month we will have been living in this house for five years. The gardens are about 3-4 years old, depending on which phase we’re in. All of them are starting to show their age in some respect. The vegetable beds are starting rot at the posts—not the main perimeter of each bed—and thus we will need to begin considering what to replace the posts with—-more wood or something else? I’m a little frustrated with the decomposed granite in the flower bed paths because not only do they need to be touched up with new granite but I’m tired of fighting the weeds. Occasionally Chris will spray vinegar there but I don’t think it is all that effective and the more I read I’m not so sure it actually is all that great to use anyway as a ‘safe’ alternative. Part of me wishes the path was just grass and we would weedeat it a few times a month—seems easier than constantly weeding it. I kind of feel the same in the vegetable garden, too. Don’t listen to me, I’m just tired of weeding at the moment.

My favorite section of the flower beds are definitely the side yard. No surprise, it typically has less weeds because it is also shadier and plant seems to thicken up and spread out quickly, preventing open space for weeds, but it is also due to the tropical vibe the side yard gives. There are plenty of other areas in the flower garden that I love but there are several spots that need work, plants added or moved, and gaps that need filled. The fence still needs to be repaired from last year’s tree limb storm incident but the fence is old and replacement parts aren’t typical so that hasn’t been done. Along with that, the vegetation from the neighbor’s yard is increasingly encroaching and creating more shade and other issues so that has been frustrating. It is pretty incredible to see how much the vegetation has changed on that side from when we moved in and how it is now. Which reminds me, I didn’t do a follow up post to the other beds like I did back in January for the side yard. Will try to do that soon!

There is certainly always something to do around here.

Weeds or not, it does look pretty dang good right now!