May Garden

• May. 11, 2008 - Our May Gardening

We more recently have been able to get on with some gardening. Between the fatigue I was experiencing with the early pregnancy weeks and the weather not perking up we didn't put any effort into that area.

After de-cluttering efforts we gave ourselves permission to literally dig in. It has proven to be VERY good for my health to get outdoors and into the fresh air more!
I have a lot more energy and of course I feel better about getting somethings accomplished. We have had a great time FINISHING up some of our larger projects from the past.

We decided last month that we were going to simplify the gardening in the front of the house. I had been waiting to have the money to buy some perennials and ground covering plants like ivy, vinca, and patch o sandra but we need to just cover with plastic and haul some of the clay chips from the other side of the house over to surround the earth around the bushes and trees we planted. I transplanted the lily bulbs and daisy clusters so we can get that done this coming week.

Praise the Lord we got the LAST bush transplant finished yesterday! We have transplanted 30 bushes and trees since the first summer we were here ( 3 yrs ago 4th of July weekend) .

I think the places that are open directly in front of our enclosed front porch on either side of the steps are going to be better off if we lay brick or landscaping tiles kinda like a small patio rather than planting there.
It would be more tidy to place a few potted arrangements in those spots.
(Update we ended up adding the lilies for now ... in a few years when they need to be thinned out anyway we will think about the patio idea again)
We answered an add from the local freecycle for free brick from a chimney having been dismantled they even stated they would deliver! There is sorting to do ( some bricks are broken ) and mortar to be chipped away. But all is pretty much usable in some area of the yard. I think the broken pieces will be fine to add the clay chips we already have. The FUN for the boys to break the pieces up a bit more is worth the effort. They already did a lot of sorting the afternoon it was delivered.

After sorting a bit dad and Luke broke a lot of the clay into chips!

I am hoping to get a flowering tree of some kind like a dogwood to put center of our corner windbreak bush landscape. It should fill in nicely within two years and provide some shade, sound barrier, safety for the kids, and privacy. We most look forward to the beautiful birds and butterflies that it will attract.
(Update I ended up transplanting the lilac saplings to the mound after seeing a beautiful Dogwood tree for *only* 250.00 at out local nursery I no longer had to HAVE what I wanted)

Which brings me to my butterfly garden again I had wanted to plant some choice perennials but ended up filing it nicely with the Asian lilies so it may in fact attract more of the honey bees but that is okay as I do have two butterfly bushes planted nearby. We read about the decline in honey bees last year and know it is important to provide them a habitat. They also love our clover.

The daisies now line the drive with tiger lilies filling in the gaps in the bushes we placed there.
I am hoping that in the next few years the bushes and other plantings will provide a living fence so the children will see their bounds more! We like to spend time in this area because there is a lovely Maple providing shade and the paved part of the drive where the kids can play on their bikes is on this part of the property.

To have a fence added into the mix in the future is not out of the question but we can't count on having the finances to follow through so we are very happy these completed projects will become more helpful in the future. And though it has been hard work doing all that transplanting we are thankful that the property had these fairly mature bushes starting to over grow the spaces around the foundation of the house.

We offered our decent shed to a local couple and they came to dismantle it Monday April the 28th... took part away and then they had a family emergency when their toddler fell at home that afternoon and had to go to ER to get 4 staples in his head. That Sunday evening they finished the job and all was cleared. Mike was able to help with the heavier pieces.

We had a broken fridge and a very old thirty year old working one that some one was going to pick up and junk for scrap. But when I offered the working one to an elderly couple that had nothing it put a loop in the other one getting taken. So a little over a week of it sitting out our neighbors called the police to complain. And I called the junk man and pleaded with him to come for that fridge! So that was gone on wed 7th.
I also made a mistake in taking a used couch from a neighbor and trying to clean it for our use- it didn't work out and sat for the all pick up day on the 21st of May. I was able to return it to her porch which is out of view of our next door neighbors. All we have remaining is a modest pile of stuff from the shed and garage covered with a tarp. This was acceptable to at least the officer.

Nothing like being chastised as you are making progress! Oh well I should get use to it with 5 little ones under the age of 8 at home 24/7, homeschooling, going weekly for library outings, grocery shopping, keeping order to our home, doing all the bill paying and paperwork, and making all meals from scratch to save money. Oh, we must not forget the potty training and diaper changing/ laundry! I am not the least guilty of having a few outlets to keep my morale like emailing with a few friends and keeping two blogs updated relatively often. I certainly have no support locally. No one I can trust not to criticize our lifestyle.

We also started clearing the backyard garden spaces. We decided to do things a bit differently this season. We had a lot of trouble with crickets enjoying making their homes our hay mulch when doing the lasagna type gardening last year. We can't shoulder the expense of another layer of soil this year. Also we discovered that the problems we have with water in our backyard are too detrimental to the health of the gardens- until this is remedied we will mainly use our earth boxes. I am still so thankful that I invested in these back at our townhouse apartment for the patio gardening. They are pricey but work very well. So those boxes will be placed in the center of each of the existing garden plots and marigold, zinna, and daisy seeds will be planted around them to keep the weeds down.

We have another grape vine added, some ruhbarb starts, catnip starts, peppers, tomatoes, and I have various seeds left from last year I will plant to see what happens.