Bending, stretching, digging, planting...gardening is great exercise. Especially when you have to dig up sod before you can get started!
Before - front corner of the yard. Clover is starting to fill in but this is the patchiest part of the lawn. Looking forward to having a garden here instead. |
Thank goodness the bulk of the site prep is behind me and I can get to planting. |
Woke up the next morning, eager to get planting - and realized that I wasn't sore!!! My back, hands, legs and feet all got worked yesterday but I'm feeling strong. This is a nice change from past spring planting sessions when I'd wake up the next day feeling stiff and tired.
My daughter loves getting her hands in the dirt! |
Had a quick breakfast, then headed outside with a cup of coffee and my shovels. Spent a fair bit of time fussing with plant placement and enlarging the patch I dug up yesterday. My husband did the final shaping - he's got a much better eye for design than I do.
All of the plants that I put in are teeny and I'm hopeful that they thrive. Can't wait for them to mature a bit, fill in and start blooming.
For your interest, we planted:
- Little Bluestem Grass and 3 x Dwarf Shooting Star - good host plants for larvae
- A Butterfly Bush, 2 x Spirea, 5 x Black-Eyed Susan, 3 x Butterfly Weed and 3 x Bee Balm - good nectar sources for adult butterflies
- A few flat rocks - for butterflies to land on and warm themselves
- Lavender and 2 x campanula - relocated from another garden, to fill in bare patches!
- Another garden two feet away contains yarrow - flat big flower heads make more good landing zones for adults
We also need to add a water source - I'm told that either a shallow bird bath or a dish of moist sand will do the trick.
Not the world's most impressive 'after' picture. Can't wait for these plants to grow! |
Here's this week's recap -
Saturday - Dig, plant, repeat. Followed by rearranging the furniture in both children's rooms and the tiniest start to a deep clean of my son's room. Not sure that I really want to get into this - his room is filled with loose Lego pieces, "treasures" and dust. Sigh.
Waiting for our turn on the bumper boats Once again grateful that I no longer have to worry at amusement parks about being able to fit into a lifejacket...or swamp the boats! |
Son and I at the track - pic by my daughter |
Monday - Victoria Day holiday! The four of us went to the park for a few hours - rode our bikes around the track, played catch. I logged about 6K on the bike, and gave my pitching arm a good workout!
Mom - over here! I'm open! Realized that I'm no longer cranky when my kids' throw is way off and I have to run for the ball. Being fitter makes games SO much more enjoyable... |
Wednesday - Short lunchtime walk, Zumba
Thursday - Short lunchtime walk, Zumba + 30 pushups.
What I'm reading this week - Cool Water by Dianne Warren - very reminiscent of Annie Proulx's Wyoming Stories - and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.