Spring Has Almost Sprung
The calendar says it is now spring, but here in NW Washington State, that only means it is finally staying light longer. It can still frost for another 3 weeks. But the signs are starting to show. The first dandelions are showing their color, the vegetable starts are getting a few inches tall now, but the real sign that spring is almost here is the first mowing of the year. The weather cooperated with our schedule and we were able to spend a full day doing some yard clean up as well as some brainstorming for projects this year. That all means outdoor chores and more projects!
We had a good 5 days of no rain and even though we had frost each morning, it was dry enough to allow for me to break out the tractor and get the grass that was super long a little bit under control. It was so long that the dogs had blazed trails through it to minimize how much water was getting on their bellies when out walking. If I was more than a few feet from them, they would disappear.
We addressed a couple of junk piles by having Vets Junk Removal come out and remove the pile directly in our line of site that was the leftovers from dismantling the two stables last year (yep, it was overdue). There was also a pile in the pole barn that was housing parts of our demolition of the two bathrooms. It is amazing how good that feels to get it off the property. I know from a permaculture perspective I want to minimize stuff leaving the property, but old water logged OSB, rusted out sinks, and treated lumber encased in concrete seems like a good thing to discard. But now allows me to move the lumber piles from various place around the property and prepare for having the middle section of the pole barn be a garage.
The “garage” after junk removal. The tractor and this pile need to swap places.
An unexpected project was the joy of digging holes in our side yard to get access to the septic tank (nothing like having the waste line backup into the house). Since there were already holes and I didn’t have to pay to unclog the septic, we got risers installed from Greenworks of Washington. Besides the fact that a third hole was necessary, risers will make future access so much easier and it will allow us to level out the side yard a bit. There had been divots to indicate the locations previously and my wife and I always managed to step into them. The wife cleaned out the bed along the fence and compost was added. That area now looks great.
I got to dig a hole to get to this!
Spring also means the start of summer projects. The wife and I have been discussing for a couple months now, but on the list this construction season: compost bin, moving blueberry plants, bathroom reno, privacy fencing near the house, tear down of small shed, windfall firewood cutting/stacking, wood shed reconfiguration, pump house roof, shop water collection, planting a couple of cedar trees we got, smoothing out some deeply tracked areas in the back pasture, and clearing space for a couple of outdoor entertainment areas. Per usual, it is a big list, so we will see how many of them we can actually accomplish.
The seedlings are well on their way!