The First Monday Yard and Garden Update

This is somewhat timely, I suppose, given that it is just getting warm enough to spend time outdoors working in the yard. We have done a few odds and ends, like planting some new pear trees, but that's about it. I probably won't put in vegetables for another couple of weeks because I'll be out of town for 3 days next week. Rather than trust fledgling plants to the offspring left behind, I think I'll just wait until we get back to start planting.

But things are happening. The apple blossoms have disappeared, but that's okay. Look what we have instead:

Those are nascent apples! And there are lots and lots of them on both apple trees. I have high hopes for an apple harvest this fall.

The peach tree is also showing promise:

The apple and peach trees are making me so happy that I can (almost) ignore the vegetable garden plots. Like this one:

This picture was taken after I pulled up and removed three wheelbarrows-full of weeds. This is the plot where we have planted corn and squash the last couple of years. This year, Sports Nut and I decided to forego the corn. Corn takes up a lot of space and water and we just haven't gotten that much return on the investment. Beyond yellow squash and zucchini, we haven't decided what else to plant here this year. Maybe cucumbers, since this plot gets the most sun.

We had tried planting cucumbers in the small plot next to the house last year, but they didn't do very well. The tomatoes we planted here did nicely, however.

And they left their cages behind. I think we'll use them again. I also found some interesting new plants when I was checking out the area yesterday.

There's a good chance that this and its little friends are romaine lettuce. We let a couple of romaine plants go to seed in this area last year. I'm inclined to leave them and see what develops.

The plot that had our strawberry and blueberry plants last year is a total loss.

None of the plants survived. Possibly because the dogs dismantled the fence and took to sitting in the dirt over here, but who knows? Two years ago, we had a very successful pumpkin vine over here. Maybe we'll do that again.

And somewhere, I want to plant some sunflowers this year. The birds have planted a few over the years, but this year I really want to plant some intentionally.

The rest of the yard needs a lot of work. Fortunately, the slave labor will be home by the end of next week. Of all the perennials we planted last year, only these seem to be thriving this year:

And I can't remember what they are called. I'm going to put in perennials in this area along the back fence again, but I think I'll stock up on these, whatever they are, just in case everything else dies again.

What we do have in the yard right now is an abundance of weeds.

These particular weeds are on my get-rid-of list, along with the puncture vine that I complain about every year, because in the fall these produce a nice crop of nettles. The nettles are very good are working their way through the fabric of your clothing and socks, and into the coats of dogs. And they have very sharp pointy ends.

We bought this house because it had a lot of land. Less land than we had in our last place, but an enormous amount of land for houses here in Dodge. Turns out that the extra land is a problem. We don't get much water here, but that doesn't mean that nothing grows. Instead, unless you are rigorous about maintaining whatever ground cover you have chosen, opportunistic and very hard-to-kill plants take advantage of you.

For example, this area is meant for parking an RV (a big plus when trying to sell houses here in Dodge). The ground cover left behind by the previous owners was a layer of sand. We have consistently cleared out this area every year, and still, every spring this is what we have:

Weeds. Chamisa (the kind of fluffy stuff over toward the wall). And various debris.

On the side of the house, in the area that leads up to the RV access gate seen above, there are rocks.

And weeds. And the Drama Queen's car. And debris, though that was carted off this morning by the trash guys, so ignore it.

In the little parking space in front of the house, there are also rocks. And weeds.

I think that during the coming year, before we put the house on the market, we are going to have to have both of those areas re-rocked. Add it to the list.

And all that brings us to the front yard, which -- thanks to the relatively copious amounts of precipitation we have enjoyed this winter and spring -- is actually kind of green.

And overgrown. I'm waiting for the slave labor to return and start whacking the grass back to a manageable height.

Of the four rosemary plants I put in last year, only one seems to be thriving.

Hmmm.... that light purple really doesn't show up well, does it? It's actually a very nice-looking plant right now. I think I may replant rosemary in this area. In addition to looking nice, they also smell nice. And, if you are so inclined, you can probably trim them for herbal uses.

I realized that the picture of the front yard above doesn't include a view of the Evil Walkway, so I took a picture from another angle:

There it is. The path that did its best to kill me last summer. I came away from my encounter with it broken, but determined to prevail. That walkway is not going to win! Last year, I had intended to put some annuals in that barren area, but after my bout with the walkway, I kind of backed off. This year, I will plant something there -- maybe some bulb flowers. Or maybe....

Vinca! These plants are the only thing in the front yard that actually looks gorgeous right now. It stays green all year and has these pretty purple flowers in the spring. I never water the stuff, so it lives off whatever falls from the skies. I am definitely going to look into putting more out in front of the house.

So I guess that's the plan. In the back yard -- yellow and zucchini squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, maybe some romaine. A pumpkin vine. Sunflowers. More perennials along the back wall. And whatever else looks good when we go buy plant starts.

In the front yard, some rosemary. And vinca. Along with our fruit trees, I think I have the beginning of a pretty good garden this year.