Spring, I think and teenage driving

Welcome to the first week of Spring, I think ??? Why the uncertainty? Cause the good people at the National Weather Service are telling us to expect snow on Friday and Sat !! Woot ! At least they aren't predicting below freezing temps, like they are going to get, just a little west of us. But we did get some rain last night !! yeah ! I went out today to pull some weeds and dig up some grass and Wow, the difference a little rain makes is amazing ! The clover I planted around the elderberries and the yard has popped up, plus I see tiny other bits of green in all my garden beds, this makes me very happy.
I worked in the yard, I planted my dwarf pear tree, and moved some gravel that was around the pool (that is no longer there) and put it around the door to my shed. I once again over did. How do I know, cause my muscles feel like putty and now that I have taken a shower, I don't even have the energy to get up and fix something to eat, but I must ! Fibromyalgia can be such a pain, literally and emotionally ! There is no, take it easy today, cause then I can work tomorrow, you learn that when you have the strength and feel like working, you take advantage of it, because you may have a bad week following. And no, it does not make a difference, believe me, I have tried ! But the research also supports it. So that is just the way it is

I promised to tell you about doing the OK Food Coop delivery, well that will wait a day or two, because I forgot to take my camera, so I bought a disposable, took it in to be developed and forgot to have it put on disc, but some pics are coming. Plus, my experience with pulling the trailer, OOPS !

I took my 15 year old out on Sunday for her first official "unofficial" driving lesson. She can't get her permit till she is 15 1/2, so I took her to a large, mostly empty parking lot and began her instructions. She listened to me, was very calm and the lesson went well. She told her daddy that he could not teach her to drive, because he would not have the patience. And I do ?? Has she met me?? LOL No, it did really go well.

My friend and webmistress and I are revamping the website, so you will be seeing a new look soon. But if you order anything now, mention this blog and receive a 10% discount on your order
http://www.healingherbals.org/
As far as future events, I plan on being at the Sand Springs Herbal Affair on April 18th, come to see me and my friends at the Peppermint Dragon, who are graciously sharing their booth with me, they have great starter plants !

Confused Weather and gardening

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.

It is time for me to get back with my herbal class, I am writing schedules for my new apprentices, so I will leave you with this shot of the sunset last night. Enjoy the beauty around you.

(NOTE: I am having trouble with putting the pics where I want them, sorry!)