Starting from Scratch

Last summer, the artichoke went wild, and I grew a few cucumbers for the first time--never knew they could be so juicy and delicious.

However the weeds and the junipers and the sad roses in the shade just looked worse and worse. Sitting in my plastic chairs in the weeds with a cider was a bit of hillbilly heaven, but not really relaxing since our neighborhood "watchman" Vic kept inquiring about my "plans" for the yard every time he saw me in the yard.

Plus, I developed yard envy when my friend Martha had some great folks overhaul her yard organically and put in a rain garden and all sorts of other wonders. Not in my budget, but I called to chat and we came up with our own little plan to get the farm in order. Every day I went to work, and every evening it was like little elves had toiled in the sun gnawing on weeds and sneezing out lovely compost. Joe thought it was great as well, as the entire yard was covered in composted barnyard poop. Yum! Lastly they dug a trench and put in irrigation with some sort of complicated timer gizmo on the West side of the house. Have yet to get that all set up, may be putting my girly hat on next month and calling for help.

After the elves decamped, plant sales yielded lots of goodies, and I put them in and hoped for the best. The biggest upside this past winter has been finding a reason to be happy when it rains--the plants are happy!