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I just realized that a year ago Saturday, I made the offer on this old house.

The back yard is no longer a hardpan dumping ground for trash, rotting furniture, junk vehicles or broken television sets overgrown with grass and weeds; its’ a small urban farm. (OK, the grass is a little long right now, but it hasn’t been dry enough to mow.

Although it hasn’t fully “sprung” (pun intended) to life for the season, it is a great improvement.

Out of the nine fruit trees I planted: three apple, three cherry, plum, peach, and a pear to replace the 100 year old one that came crashing down in November’s wind storm, the new Oregon Curl Free peach is the first to bloom.

The Italian Prune Plum is not far behind.

The asparagus bed is planted (yes, the plants are upside down in the picture, but they aren’t planted that way)

From Drop Box

and the strawberry beds are weeded and cleaned up (I still have a dozen or so strawberry plants I need people to come get; they are trying to take over)

the “cold weather” crops, lettuce, peas, brocolli are doing fine in the greenhouse and are almost ready to move outside (if icy death would quit falling out of the sky)

the peppers and tomatoes are doing well with the heat mat on only at night; hopefully I’ll be able to turn that off soon. (if the weather ever cooperates, yeah right…)

My lilacs that arrived from Rain Tree Nursery bare root a few weeks ago are budding out and one is already starting to bloom.

The front yard was weeds and some really ugly “two man” rocks someone had painted white thinking it was “decorative”.

It’s full of flowers now…

These (several hundred) bulbs were a pain to plant (I dug them good and deep so they’d come back every year) but it’s paying off now (and I’ll never have to do it again)

The special parrot tulips that I planted in honor of mine and Bonnie’s friend Karen who tragically lost her battle with cancer this year are getting ready to bloom as well.

The crocus and muscari I planted in the parking strip are adding some cherry color around the flowering cherry trees as well. (the Kwanzan trees will bloom next month, along with my pink flowering dogwood)

I still have a lot of work to do, but it’s such a great improvement over this time last year.

~L

Mood: Happy

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