My front yard is full of green from bulbs I planted two years ago. Staring at them from the front porch just isn’t making them bloom. Maybe if I close my eyes I can see the irises in full living color.
The backyard is full of soggy leaves that need raking before I’ll go out there and sit. The rain also has to stop so I can bring out the chair cushions. Plus hang the hammock back up.
Am I impatient for the warm weather of springtime? You betcha!
I’m waiting for my income checks to come in (hopefully the cuts to the Social Security administration offices won’t delay them) and as soon as they do I’ll head over to Big Mama’s Garden Supply in Nice to get bags of soil amendments. The guy at Big Mama’s will pop them in my trunk, but will he follow me home and take them from the trunk to the backyard? Doubtful. Maybe I can get my cats to do it.
A friend is starting basil and lettuce plants for me. That’s exciting, so I have to get the soil ready for them.
I have too many tall trees bordering my property that cut down sunlight getting through to make everything prosper. Several years ago I was able to grow green beans, Swiss chard, zucchini and others. The zucchini I grew last year looked like it was doing fine except it never produced any zucchinis. Something about only having male plants and no females. If I grow them this year I’ll plant a bunch in hopes I get one of each gender.
When I lived in Southern California, I grew everything from cantaloupes to corn. Most of the time the corn never made it to the kitchen, I ate it right in the garden. One cantaloupe was as big as my head. And super sweet. I also had orange trees that I grafted a second type of orange on them and grapefruit. There was also a plum tree and my favorite, a nectarine tree.
No way can I duplicate any of that here with the giant non-fruiting mulberry tree hogging the space with a couple of oak trees taking up the rest of the yard. There are benefits from the mulberry, it shades the house and keeps it cool during the blistering summer heat. The other mulberry tree in the front yard helps to keep things cool as well. Plus when Fall comes and their leaves turn yellow, it’s like they’ve been touched by magic.
Yellow is now my favorite color. Unfortunately all the leaves are now brown and muddy. I’ve called the young elders from the Latter Day Saints to come once again to rake my backyard. They are super kind and when four of them show up I know I’ll get the help I need. They’ve been helping me for several years now. Different elders arrive as they move on to their next mission. They won’t take money but I do try to have soda on hand for them.
This last Fall they swept up bags of yellow leaves. Instead of putting the leaves in the green waste bin, they stuffed bags of leaves into the back of their car.
“What are you doing with them?” I asked.
“We’re going to spread them at a friend’s house,” they laughed.
I thought that was quite a good joke, as long as they cleaned them up. “Take pictures!” I called out to them as they left.
Turns out the young men chickened out or decided that it wasn’t as funny as first thought.
What’s a girl to do?…time buying the four bags of soil amendments with the elders coming here to rake the backyard. Hopefully they’ll take the bags to the backyard and maybe they’ll even spread the soil in the garden boxes!
Lucy Llewellyn Byard welcomes comments and shares. To contact her email lucywgtd@gmail.com
