Garden Progress

 Lately, these have been my dance partners

I've been spending lots of time behind the shovel, getting these new raised beds filled

And ready for planting. DH brought me 5 skid steer loads of dirt

And 3 tubs of horse manure

We didn't want to collapse the center supports so that's why he didn't dump the dirt directly into the beds. I filled 1 bed and it took A LOT of shoveling and it reminded me that I am no longer a spring chicken.

Once I had the dirt shoveled in, I topped it off with a combination of shavings from the chicken coop, horse manure, top soil, peat moss, and vermiculite. I'll add a layer of mulch after everything's planted. And yes, DH offered to help numerous times, but I really welcome the workout, I just have to pace myself and he's been helping friends brand.

The kids came out on Friday and it was all hands on deck to finish filling the rest of the beds

Three 8 x 4 x 2 beds hold A LOT of dirt and I partially filled them with cardboard and wood scraps and branches. But I think the hard part is done and I can put the shovel away for now.

I love it when the kids come out and spend the day and it was fun to introduce little E to gardening

When she spends the night, she finds a little something under her pillow - I knew these would be put to good use

All that black dirt just brings me so much joy and hopefully that's being passed on to the next generation

We got a few things in the dirt

Being this is our first shot at gardening here, it's going to be a trial and error year, but I'm excited to watch everything take root.

                                    

And this happened on May 1st with an added 0.3" the following day. It was slow and gentle and we are so grateful. 

It's been a dry, warm winter. Our only moisture has been two 6" snows - one in December and one in January, but I'm optimistic and yes, I'm one of those people that walk out to their garden in their jammies with a mug of tea first thing in the morning to see what's grown overnight. 😊

You Might Be a Redneck...

 If your husband, without you ever even asking, scoops up horse manure every few days and fills 3 mineral tubs, and hauls it to your garden beds and you think it's romantic. 💖

After the Cooking is Done

After the crew pulled out on Saturday, I set to putting everything back in order. I sweep every day, but my floor needed a good washing/steaming and I felt better after the stove had been scrubbed. That allowed me to kick back a little on Sunday. DH still saddled up at 7:30 and headed north to look for a sick calf he'd spotted when they were moving some cattle yesterday:

Sometimes I fuss to ya'll about how tired I am after a cooking marathon, and I AM tired, but I enjoy dishing up good food for the crew. I do it for DH because although they come to work cattle, it's nice for him when they are fed well. Yesterday he told me that a couple of the boys from Arizona just bragged on the meals all week when they were working and said that was the best food they'd ever eaten in their entire lives. 😂 That kind of made me cry and is the absolutely sweetest compliment I've ever had. Years ago, one of the boys (He's now a brand inspector and we recently heard he's moving back to this area so it'll be nice to catch up with him again) said he popped the button off of his Wranglers and he told our girl it was her Mama's fault. 😂  It makes those 2:30 wake up calls worth it.

I did cook breakfast but Sunday was leftover-recuperation day. Leftover cherry pie? Yes please!

I did manage to get into my sewing room for a little while and make a binding. I don't watch much television but I treated myself to a little Aurora Teagarden (a guilty pleasure) while I wrote this post, watched church services, watered the yard and garden, oiled the dining room table and tended to laundry. There is something so soothing about sleeping under sheets and a quilt that have been dried on the clothesline by our New Mexico sun:

I love this quilt that graces our king-sized bed these days:

Sun-dried bedding brings me joy. I think it has sleep inducing qualities...I'm ready to sleep like a baby. I closed out the day by watering the garden and celebrating a sign of good things to come:

I think everyone's ready for that!