Happy Spring!

This is the time of year that I can be left wondering why I ever chose to be a gardener in Zone 3. Everything seems a panic, it is wet, dreary and cold outside. I have been waiting so long for the garden to be uncovered that it is hard to resist the temptation to start working in it. I have learned that you do not want to dig too early in our soil. The excitement of spring is in the air and the bugs are starting to arrive along with all the garden magazine newsletters. They are urging me to start seeds indoors (which I hate doing) and get to my spring garden to do list (which I love doing). I am a list person so making my spring to do list is all kinds of fun. It is getting the list completed that is the struggle. Add 9 dogs with paws just like Moxie's above and it can quickly seem overwhelming. Good thing I am a lazy gardener. I will probably not start seeds indoors. I will think about it and maybe even talk about it but I won't get around to it before I can plant in the ground. I will get the important things done on my to do list - and even some of the not so important things. I will never get everything on the list done. It is the curse of a list maker. The list is a dynamic, ever-growing being. It isn't meant to be completed. I can't wait for the flowers so I have an excuse to stop and smell them. I still love spring!

Aloe

For those of you who remember my little aloe rescued from Judy's breakfast table, you will be happy to hear it did not die! It is having babies!!!

Tying it all Together

Our front yard was becoming a mishmash of gardens as we expanded to add new plants, so 3 years ago we decided to turn the whole thing into a garden, except for a 24' circle. We measured the circle using a metal stake and rope, then marked the whole thing with old hose hammered down with long nails.

front circle before

Kelly lugged in all the stones from back in the woods and lined them up along the hose. Then he dug out all the areas outside the circle to about 2' deep. Next came a big load of garden soil and, of course, plants. We preserve some larger sections at the front for dahlias and glads, which all have to be dug up and replanted yearly.

front circle after

Oh, the weather!

 

There are days when I wonder how I became a gardener in Zone 3. How can I love something so much that is so dependent on the weather when I live where it is winter forever, it seems? I have been busy reading about how to diversify my greens in the kitchen garden, advancements in urban gardening and now, most importantly, how to protect my early flowers from frost. I have been doing all of this reading in preparation for the coming garden season and in anticipation of spring. Little did I know that winter is just arriving! We have had the most wonderful, mild winter in Saskatchewan this year. Last week the snow finally arrived and has not stopped since. The temperature is beautiful though so we have been in a cycle of melt, freeze, melt, freeze, melt, freeze.... which is great for ice photos of the trees but not so great for the spring flowers. I think they are likely getting confused. I hope I don't lose too many of them. The freeze/thaw cycle here can wipe out whole gardens if the temperature drops at just the right time. I am ready though. All of my sheets are steps away from the garden if I need them after the first buds pop out. This is a year when the Boy Scout motto is well advised - be prepared!