It's that thyme of year. That plant-obsessive time of year. I detour to garden centers; I haul ferns out of our forest; I curse slugs; I tenderly water baby radishes. I speak garden; I even dream in garden.
And the good news for me: now that I have a tiny house, there's less home for me to neglect while I'm outside planting seeds, transplanting natives, ripping out invasives and mounding around potatoes. More outside, less inside. That's the way I thrive.
What's new? We started filling the fenced-in boxes (old and new) with veggies. So far: tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, pumpkin, squash, radishes, lettuce, arugula, beets, and garlic are underway. In one night, an attack of slugs stripped the broccoli and did quite a job on the lettuce. The cucumbers didn't make it (for their own personal, private reasons.) WE NEED TO GROW MORE VEGETABLES. (Bill hears this too often; time for me to make it happen.)
Outside the fencing, new native pollinators are in place. The three Concord grape vines we put in last fall are (knock on wood) thriving. The deck herb garden is pretty much in place. We continue to whack away at invasives (Japanese stilt grass, garlic mustard, multiflora rose, wineberries, mile-a-minute) that that smother native plants all around here.
In addition to filling out the vegetable beds, we'd love to plant a few native berry shrubs and a few apple trees this year. (Our mountain site was once the site of an orchard, after all). I have to say it again: having less house makes this possible. Or at the very least, it makes it more enjoyable and more affordable. I feel "at home" in so much more than the 250-square feet of my house.
And the good news for me: now that I have a tiny house, there's less home for me to neglect while I'm outside planting seeds, transplanting natives, ripping out invasives and mounding around potatoes. More outside, less inside. That's the way I thrive.
What's new? We started filling the fenced-in boxes (old and new) with veggies. So far: tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, pumpkin, squash, radishes, lettuce, arugula, beets, and garlic are underway. In one night, an attack of slugs stripped the broccoli and did quite a job on the lettuce. The cucumbers didn't make it (for their own personal, private reasons.) WE NEED TO GROW MORE VEGETABLES. (Bill hears this too often; time for me to make it happen.)
Outside the fencing, new native pollinators are in place. The three Concord grape vines we put in last fall are (knock on wood) thriving. The deck herb garden is pretty much in place. We continue to whack away at invasives (Japanese stilt grass, garlic mustard, multiflora rose, wineberries, mile-a-minute) that that smother native plants all around here.
In addition to filling out the vegetable beds, we'd love to plant a few native berry shrubs and a few apple trees this year. (Our mountain site was once the site of an orchard, after all). I have to say it again: having less house makes this possible. Or at the very least, it makes it more enjoyable and more affordable. I feel "at home" in so much more than the 250-square feet of my house.