Spring Cleaning at OTH...

Bear here...

Two weeks ago we had a snow storm, last week it was in the 70's. Spring weather is getting weirder  every year. With Spring comes Spring cleaning, time to get the Yarden cleaned and ready for the growing season. Theresa had a week off work to get some plants in and with a little help from me get things cleaned.  Here are some stories and photos of what we got done.

First thing was to move the compost bin to a better location in the shade, to free up more space for sun loving plants. Sounds easy right? (In the LEFT picture notice all the ground Theresa had to rake and clean before we could move the bin.) The  bin is about 8 feet long by 4 feet deep, not built to move, and was 3/4 full of compost. We had to rock it loose then pull it over on its front just to get it where we could get a grip on it. (Notice that nice compost in the RIGHT picture?)

As you can see in the BOTTOM LEFT picture, the middle wall is only attached in the back. We needed to call a friend to help move the compost bin without tearing it apart. When it was positioned we realized we needed to put bricks under the corners to get it level. See how nice it looks in the BOTTOM RIGHT picture. Project 1 was done. This area of the yard was our last area to get to arrange the way we wanted it. Nature gets Her way with the wild raspberrie vines and we get to put a path in so we can get to the raspberries. Theresa did most of the work on getting those stone pavers level. (REALLY SPELL CHECK? PAVE IS GOOD AND PAVERS  IS WRONG? ... but, I digress...) 

... Oh, the stone path. She had to dig up ground, put sand down to level them, then position the stones. (You can see her working in the LOWER LEFT picture. That picture also shows the two black currant bushes she planted the day before). In the LOWER RIGHT picture you can see the work paid off. She also planted around 11 grass plants (she says it's Pennsylvania sedge) that will be ground cover that we won't have to mow or weed whack. She also planted a lot of ramps by the fence of catio 2.

Just to let you see the big difference in one area of our yard. LOWER LEFT is what we started with. Lots to clean up and the cats in the background saying "to heck with that, let us over to catio 2". LOWER RIGHT is the compost that was sitting in our compost bin. She got to use it while planting this week. 

Another thing we did was a lot of raking. LOWER LEFT you see we raked old straw and walnuts out of catio 1 before putting new straw in. LOWER RIGHT you can see Frost telling us "Good job" or "About time",  I'm not sure which. Surprisingly I'm not good at cat speak yet.

As you will see from the pictures BELOW raking is a little different at Our Tiny Homestead. First, we only rake in the Spring. The leaves don't hurt a Yarden, they help it grow. We rake them off the paths and "fluff" then a little around the areas where we see plants coming up, so the plants can get through. The leaves make great mulch and feed the plants, so why remove all of them? LOWER LEFT Shows some large piles of leaves are "artistic ambiance" as well as shelter for the smaller critters. 

Last but not least I got a new toy, a Chainsaw on a Stick! LOWER LEFT you can tell I like it. LOWER RIGHT- proof that I used It.

Just in case you are using a smart phone and can't see the lumberjack glitter Look BELOW:

No way Theresa was going to take pictures while I was using THAT to trim our trees so I can only show you the after photos. LOWER LEFT is a branch we are using as a path border and LOWER RIGHT are some limbs that may be used as future yard art.

Lots more to do...

 Type at Ya later...