I was outside with the camera today, and I thought I would take a few pictures around the yard. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot going on out there yet. We have quite a bit on our to do list for the yard this year; a new back fence, a new fence around the garden, a couple new garden boxes, compost piles, the chicken run and a few other small projects (and thats just the back yard!). To bad for us, we are having the rainiest March that anyone can remember - we are only half way through and have already exceeded our normal amount of rainfall for the month. Which translates to everything being completely soggy, and projects being delayed in hopes of better weather one of these days (please weather God...make that soon).
But despite the wet weather, there are some sure signs that spring and sunshine are on the way. Our fruit trees are budding, and have us all excited about the prospect of bushels of fresh fruit this summer. Our Pluot tree is the real show stopper, it is covered in a zillion little buds and looking quite happy (pretend that I was focused on it, instead of the tree and fence in the background):
The pear tree isn't looking too shabby either, its got lots of huge buds forming:
The apple trees are so-so...not looking so great, but there are a few small buds here and there:
And our plum tree is getting into the swing of things as well:
I took a quick look at the compost pile, and I am really pleased with what I found. Rich black soil, almost ready to be added to our garden beds:
The pile is almost entirely made up of the contents of Lulu's hutch when she had the babies last year. Straw, fur and poop....its amazing what it can turn into after one year of neglect! Its also funny to me because one of the reasons I haven't started composting sooner is reading about how the pile had to be a specific mix of brown and green, and just the right temperature and blah blah blah. Its obvious to me now that if you throw a bunch of stuff in a pile and leave it alone that its going to break down...it may just take a little more time. I would like the process to move a tad bit faster, so hopefully this year we will get a few compost bins constructed and be able to turn and move our piles with more efficiency. I would also like to be a lot better about composting the kitchen scraps (whatever doesn't get fed to the chickens and rabbit) and getting the chicken poop into the mix (rabbit poo goes straight to the garden beds).
Speaking of the garden - check out this picture from way back in November:
We never ended up doing our end of the season weeding, so things got really out of hand in the garden. Especially those beds at the far end of the picture - they were pretty much solid weeds! Matthew, the kids and I spent a couple hours out there last week, and we made a lot of progress:
I think we have about 80% of the weeding done, and it feels really good to be nearing the end. I hate weeding - to me its the worst thing about having a garden. We have been trying to figure out a better way to stay on top of the weeds, and decided we have to do something about the paths. Thats where the weeding is the most difficult, because the soil is so compacted from us walking on it. Getting that done is moving up to the top of my priority list - because I don't even want to think about another summer of weeding those darn paths!
But despite the wet weather, there are some sure signs that spring and sunshine are on the way. Our fruit trees are budding, and have us all excited about the prospect of bushels of fresh fruit this summer. Our Pluot tree is the real show stopper, it is covered in a zillion little buds and looking quite happy (pretend that I was focused on it, instead of the tree and fence in the background):
The pear tree isn't looking too shabby either, its got lots of huge buds forming:
The apple trees are so-so...not looking so great, but there are a few small buds here and there:
And our plum tree is getting into the swing of things as well:
I took a quick look at the compost pile, and I am really pleased with what I found. Rich black soil, almost ready to be added to our garden beds:
The pile is almost entirely made up of the contents of Lulu's hutch when she had the babies last year. Straw, fur and poop....its amazing what it can turn into after one year of neglect! Its also funny to me because one of the reasons I haven't started composting sooner is reading about how the pile had to be a specific mix of brown and green, and just the right temperature and blah blah blah. Its obvious to me now that if you throw a bunch of stuff in a pile and leave it alone that its going to break down...it may just take a little more time. I would like the process to move a tad bit faster, so hopefully this year we will get a few compost bins constructed and be able to turn and move our piles with more efficiency. I would also like to be a lot better about composting the kitchen scraps (whatever doesn't get fed to the chickens and rabbit) and getting the chicken poop into the mix (rabbit poo goes straight to the garden beds).
Speaking of the garden - check out this picture from way back in November:
We never ended up doing our end of the season weeding, so things got really out of hand in the garden. Especially those beds at the far end of the picture - they were pretty much solid weeds! Matthew, the kids and I spent a couple hours out there last week, and we made a lot of progress:
I think we have about 80% of the weeding done, and it feels really good to be nearing the end. I hate weeding - to me its the worst thing about having a garden. We have been trying to figure out a better way to stay on top of the weeds, and decided we have to do something about the paths. Thats where the weeding is the most difficult, because the soil is so compacted from us walking on it. Getting that done is moving up to the top of my priority list - because I don't even want to think about another summer of weeding those darn paths!