REALLY missing tomatoes.
I wasn't going to repeat the same mistake this year. I had a 5 year accumulation of yard waste pile in the garden that had been waiting for someone to take it to the dump (and growing each year). The back third of the garden was so rocky and full of sucker trees and overgrown weeds that it just kinda ran wild. There was a pile of old pallets in the back corner, old fence pieces and some trash. The soil has been so bad in my garden, and usually I do better feeding my garden to the massive amounts of ANTS that live there, than feeding it to my kids. Morning glory and grass lined the fence line, and I wasn't going to battle all of it to get garden in it. I just planted inside of that area.
Then, two things happened.
First... after life went crazy last fall, I had an older guy in the ward take me under his wing. Boyd Stewart is his name. He shoveled my walks, brought me grapes, and walnuts... and MORE walnuts, and more walnuts. He is the MASTER GARDENER in the ward, and when he found out I had a big garden space that needed some love, he was excited to help. He came and brought his truck into my yard and hauled away the pile that had been waiting to go. It took him 3 loads to get it all to the dump. He has since helped with manure, brought me 84 raspberry plants, 13 blackberry plants, grown radishes to eat, a flower hanging basket and so much more. He has been so nice to have around. It's like having a "dad" in town, since I don't have one.
The second thing to happen, was, on February 21, 2015, I met a guy who sleeps, eats, breathes and CONSUMES gardening. And building. And creating... and so many more things. Jason Day is his name. The first two days he was at my house, we had the back corner cleaned out and big plans in the works. I didn't much believe his dreams of grandeur... A FENCE? A garden GATE? A DUCK HOUSE (let alone ducks!) Now, here it is more than 3 months later, and my garden is cleaned out... from east to west and north to south. There isn't a space that is given up to weeds and trees. Jason (the 2nd thing) and Boyd (the 1st thing) hauled in 88 wheelbarrow loads of manure and spread it. Jason has taken down much of a barn in the neighborhood and moved it to the backyard for use on the fence and the DUCK HOUSE (yes... an actual duck house). He has planed boards, dug post holes, built a gate (from the original gate I took from the barn), sunk screws, watered plants, hauled tons and tons of rocks, built a fence, dug out grass, put in more time and effort than I could have ever asked for (or hoped for). It's been such an awesome adventure to work on the yard with someone who loves to do the same.
I have had more than one person in my life say "Why don't you do something relaxing today"... and when I spend the day in the garden, they chastise me. THIS IS RELAXING, I explain. My version of relaxing and stress reduction is their version of work. I love it!
Jason has definitely been my inspiration for all the ideas I'm able to get implemented thus far this year. I've made many different types of plant markers that have been on my list of things to do, got most spring veggies in EVEN BEFORE MAY (that has never happened before), and we've had half a dozen fires that we have sat next to in the evenings already.
I'll update more on the yard in another post. I want to show the garage and it's progress... the basement progress since the LIFE OVERHAUL from the fall, and a few other things... but for now, this is my garden update. I'm pretty excited about how it has started this year. Pretty excited about my partner in crime in the yard and garden. Next year I hope to have things just improve on this year...
here's to a summer FULL of fresh VEGGIES!
