More Early Spring Gardening

For me, being able to be out in the garden really means spring is here. Since our irrigation system isn't usable, I water most of the plants that I plant daily. It is a good way to get a little fresh air since I tend to be a hermit and stay inside most of the time.

In an earlier post, I mentioned the annuals, the new peach tree, and some other plantings for this spring. Digging the hole for the tree required a bit of effort, but the rest wasn't too bad. Then I started my spring cleaning in the garden. The spring gardening really started last fall when I emptied one of the compost barrels. Half went into the asparagus bed; the other half went into one of the garden beds. I had hoped winter would help finish the breakdown of the compost, but we didn't have much winter weather.

We have an area that helps drain water from our walkway into the street through a meandering path. Unfortunately, that area is in the midst of scrub oak, which means it regularly fills with leaves. I spent a couple of hours cleaning it out and moving the leaves to an area I would like to keep the water out of. Other than pruning, on which I'm late, this is the most labor intensive of all the gardening jobs at our house.

In February, I started my tomatoes and some herbs. They are currently growing in the kitchen windowsill. The Pro makes jokes about eating the little doughnuts in the window.

Last month, I talked about replacing two of the ollas in the asparagus bed.

I have started watering it and they seem to be working. After replacing the ollas, I added a few bags of topsoil to the bed to replace some of what has drained out. As you can see, I've left a lot of space-the beds are double height. I do this because the HOA does not allow a garden fence, and I want to limit the depredations of the rabbits, deer, javelina, and skunks in the neighborhood. It seems to be working.

This week, I added a bag of manure and more topsoil to the other garden beds. One will hold the tomatoes in a few weeks. In the other, I planted some carrots and some chard. The Pro loves to pick carrots and eat them fresh. Chard isn't something I find often in the store or my bountiful baskets. It is a good addition to salads and smoothies.

There are still some shrubs and trees that I will have to prune. I have left it a bit late, but it must be done. Luckily, these things are incredibly hardy and will bounce back quickly. I generally do not get this done until things warm up a bit.

Early garden work

Since all the plants in my yard are convinced spring is here, it is time to do some yard work. I spent a lot of time Saturday and Monday cleaning up and planting. Of course, there is still so much to do, but I am happy with the progress so far.

 First, some general clean up. I removed the mulch from the strawberries and the asparagus. This is the asparagus bed. Those things in the middle are ollas, a traditional deep watering method. Two of them broke the first winter, and another post will show how I'm replacing them with an improvised option rather than spending twice as much to buy new-and then have them shipped.

 One of the trees in the front died, so I have planted a dwarf peach. We love peaches. Hope this does better in that spot.
 

Just above the peach, there is a space in the fence for a planting. We've put in pansies this year.

  
The two blue pots here contain new blueberries. The white one has a two year old plant. They sit in the entry way on the steps approaching our front door.

Just outside the front door, I planted a hyacinth last spring which you can see is already in bloom and smells heavenly. I planted two new ones this week. They should be blooming in a couple of weeks.

On the fence just past the hyacinths is a pot of raspberries. This variety is supposed to do well in pots.

 Just to the right of the raspberry, you can see these pinks. They are similar to carnations but should be sturdier in my climate. We'll see. I love carnations.

Along the same wall with the pinks is my herb garden. New this spring is this lonely parsley plant. It sits between thyme and oregano which are veterans of the garden.

On the other side of the oregano are these six strawberry plants. They get full sun most of the day. The real question is whether they will survive the rabbits in the yard.

The rest of the strawberries are in an abandoned fountain. Two have been in there a couple of years. The rest are new.

Above the strawberries are the violas. They give a nice pop of color at the end of the walkway.

So that's the first phase of the spring garden work. I have some tomatoes started on a window sill in the kitchen. I hope to plant them outside in a few weeks.

The garden stores are selling tomato plants, but the last frost date is in May and I am afraid to plant them outside this early. By May, these should be a good size to go out. I might put them out sooner with protection. I haven't decided yet.

 

Spring is Here

Although the calendar says spring will be here in a couple of weeks, the plants outside and temperatures say otherwise. I planted some new plants on Saturday and will be planting some more today. Trees are budding and green leaves are found all over. This is such a contrast to all the severe weather in the northern and northeastern parts of the US. We've had highs in the low to mid seventies for the past few weeks.
 
The trees at the golf course are in bloom

 The hyacinth I planted last spring is in bloom

Further south, in Litchfield Park, everything is green and blooming. (That is the Pro in the picture)

Well, if spring is here, so is spring cleaning. This year, I am tackling many of the things I neglected the past couple of years. My first major project is the garage. We had a house water filter installed last week which required moving some free-standing shelves and cleaning out one large one. This is good incentive to get them organized as I put items away again.

I am also working in the yard, which needs the spring cleaning the most. There are leaves, limbs, and pruning to take care of. The pruning is a little late since things are greening up, but better late than never for some of it. Others will now have to wait.

The one thing that worries me is that we'll get a late winter storm which will hurt the strawberries and fruit trees. I hope if we get one that it is all rain. Prescott has been known to have snow as late as the first weeks of May.
 

Spring ups and downs

I love watching the buds on trees, the greening of the grass, the early bulbs. Spring is simply glorious. Then comes the hay fever. I've lived in many parts of the US, and have had different degrees of reaction. This year, now in Prescott, has been up and down. As the wind has picked up though, my allergies have responded by exploding. And I hate allergy meds. Oh well, it is a small price to pay for so much beauty.

Normally, by this time, I would be working in my garden, with much in and much ready to go in. This year, my gardening is indoors. We are in temporary housing as we go through our relocation to Prescott. The good news is, the house we've selected has some wonderful space for gardening. The bad news is, we won't be in until sometime in June. I may be able to do some summer and fall crops. So for now, I have my rosemary, aloe, and a very old cherry tomato plant as well as my normal houseplants to care for.

Gardening is such a wonderful process. It takes time-to plant, nurture, and see the seeds sprout. Then more time until you can enjoy the harvest. For shrubs and trees, I generally plant very young plants which means it takes a few years until you get the bounty and enjoyment. There is a beautiful lilac starting to bloom in our chosen house. It is about 8 feet tall. The lilac in the house we've left is about 2 feet tall and will not bloom for a few more years. For me, gardening is a long range project. The yard is a project in process that takes many years to complete. It is an act of faith. It is an investment in the future.

If you cannot plant, at least get out and enjoy the gardens around you. A walk in a park, or through a neighborhood, can be very refreshing. Nature is a great stress reliever.