There is no global warming, there is no global warning, there is no global warming, this mantra kept going through my head yesterday, while I was gardening outside with the temp a balmy 81, breaking a record set, I think they said, in 1962. Kind of hard to stick your head in the sand and ignore what is going on with our Mother (Earth), when Oklahoma is having temps like this and Colorado, is having so much snowfall, there is no where to put the snow they are clearing from roads and sidewalks, etc. Are we going to sit back and just let our environment go to heck or are we going to start begin concerned about the issues that our world is facing? To mention a few, dna altered and contaminated food, coming from outside the U.S., fossil fuels and energy use, the control by the government of what animals we own and food we eat. . . . and the list goes on. Anyway, I will get off this soapbox, but we need to wake up and get involved in making our world a better place to live and the best place to start is in your own community, research "Buy fresh, buy local" and and see some ideas of where to start.
On to my urban homesteading efforts. I am trying to make some huge changes in my yard this spring. Let me start by telling you, what I already have already done, and then I will take you forward.
We live on a standard, city lot, and we have a neighborhood association (better know as the neighborhood ass.) When we moved into the house (7 years ago), we had a dog, so he went into the backyard, along with the above ground pool and patio, that the person who wanted to put it in, has never taken care of it. Anyway, with that said, I planned to start herb gardening in my front yard. But I was still working part time, so I only planted a couple things, usually in pots.
Then a couple of years ago, I decided I was going to really garden, and the only thing the ass. has said, is, "no vegetables out front". Ok, no problem, the corn will go in the back yard, lol.
I started with putting a pond liner in the ground, and fill it with good soil and compost and surrounded it with more dirt to plant in and basically, a rock enclosure. I call this area my mother garden, a lot of plants have started here.
Then I brought in a load of river dirt and planted the front yard with wild plants and herbs. I now have beautiful blue salvia, wild strawberries, flax, plantain, wild onions and so much more growing. Then there is my elderberry hedge, lobelia, echinacea, primrose, lemon balm, lemon verbana, horehound, catnip and the list goes on.
I also planted a native plum, next to my mother garden. Then, this last year, I added a dwarf peach and apple, along the driveway, and two 4x4 raised beds in the backyard (we lost our dog, someone intentionally opened the gate!), whew are you as tired as I am hearing all this ???? I only work in short periods at a time, so I have to do a little at a time, but thank goodness it adds up !
So, now we are up to this winter . . . . I have a family pulling out the deck, in exchange for the lumber, and another family is helping me clear the overgrown bushes and trees in the backyard, so that there will be more space for garden beds.
Brief time out here, I want to share the music I am listening to you with you. I just discovered this artist at a local metaphysical fair over the weekend and I love her music, it is a blend of country/folk and she is a true storyteller, with most all the songs written by her family, who is also her backup band. Her name is Shawna Russell http://www.shawnarussell.com/. My favorites are "The Only One" and "Goddess".
Now, back to yard work and gardening. over the next few months months I am going to share with you some before and after pics of my yards and gardens, so you can travel this awesome with me. On Sat, we started clearing and trimming the back yard, this is one of my 2 compost boxes I picked up from a Craig's list ad, they are like brand new, and sell for $90 each, and I got the both for $5o. Great deal, huh? The 2nd pic is some of the bushes we are clearing, with my 2 big red junipers.
Ya know, if landscapers had to live in the houses they designed, there wouldn't be some of the disasters like these are ! I kept trying to figure out why the bushes are migrating south, instead of up, well, it seems they are actually a vine, anyplace where the limbs make contact with the ground, roots grow and the race is on !! Anyway, I love my wild birds that visit, but they are going to have to make do with a little less jungle, thank you very much !
So, the clearing began on a Sat, with the sounds of the men working on dissassembling the deck in the background.
I took advantage of the warm weather yesterday, and the signs be right for planting and planted a salad garden. This is the northwest corner of my house and the kitchen window. I planted Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, transplanted garlic chives, and the rest is varied greens, spinach and lettuce. I hope the rain (much needed and loved) today doesn't wash them into one pile.(NOTE: I am having trouble with putting the pics where I want them, sorry!)
