Yard Work Begins

 

It is a little earlier than usual but we never really had winter here this year so the weeds have been growing with reckless abandon.  The new plum tree was budding out the last week of February, highly unusual.  I knew I had to get outside and finish up pruning the fruit trees as my window of opportunity was going to close early this year.

 

Pear tree

This year I worked on the fruit trees a little at a time so the job wasn’t overwhelming me or overly exhausting.  I took a little off here and there, stepped back, took off something else, then cleaned up my mess and called it a day.  Then I came back and did some more another day.  I was able to give the bunny apple and pear branches to munch on too, which makes her very happy.  In the future I think this is how I am going to approach all of the tree trimming and yard work in general.

 

Chrysanthemum

Rhubarb is poking up from the ground

I cleaned up the flower beds trimming back and removing old growth.  There were some leaves to clean up as well.  I can already see the beginnings of new growth on my rhubarb plants as well as tulips popping up all over.

 

The weeds are crazy!

I’ve been pulling weeds about every two days and once the old Kirkland detergent bucket is full I feed that pile to the chickens.  Free chicken food, they love it and the weeds are useful instead of a chore that needs to be dealt with.  It may take me a while to get them all pulled up this way, but in the end it works well for all parties involved.

 

Happy hens!

Indoors I potted up seeds to grow four tomato plants and four pepper plants.  I am using seeds I already had and amended soil from my garden.  In each of the cups I planted the tomatoes in I placed crushed up eggs shells in the bottom as tomatoes require extra calcium.  I am saving more eggs shells for when I plant them outdoors later.

 

With my garden fork I was able to turn all of the amendments I’ve been adding to the garden beds all winter as well as compost from the bin in the backyard.  Then I raked it all smooth so the beds are ready for planting in a couple months.  I typically start planting my garden the first week or two in May.  Last year I let the beds rest and did not plant anything.  This year I have plans to grow quite a few things.

 

Not the prettiest time of year, but spring is right around the corner

Have you started your yard work yet?  Do you have any big plans for landscaping or gardening this year?