While I (im)patiently wait for spring, I’ve put together my list of 2019 garden and outside projects. I’d like to call this my honey-do list but I don’t think I can just drop this in the hubby’s lap and walk away. There’s too much to do and I have specific ideas about some of the projects—no surprise there!—so I definitely need to be involved. 

I’m hoping we can get started as soon as the weather allows. I’m also hoping we get through all of them. 🤞

1. Fix the koi pond.
   Unfortunately, part of the koi pond wall fell in last year. It has been stable since then but we really need to fix it this spring. And, since it must be fixed, we’ve been discussing redoing the pond and surrounding area entirely. We’d like a smaller pond that is easier to maintain and includes built-in shelves for plants. Given that all of our big koi died between 2017 and 2018, we can certainly make this change without affecting the handful of babies that made it.
   
   
   

   Fix me! Any ideas?

   This is the largest project on the list because it involves digging out the current retaining wall and figuring out what to do instead. The hubs and I spend a lot of time outside, so we’re also discussing extending the deck and creating a dedicated fire pit as part of this project.
   
   At this point, I’m not sure if we’ll be doing this project or finding someone to help. Ideally, we’ll find someone to help but I’m pretty sure it will be costly so we’ll probably tackle this on our own. Check back in April to see what we’ve decided. Or leave a comment if you know someone who can help!
2. Start an orchard!
   We already have two peach trees and two apples trees. They’ve been in the “nursery” area since we bought them and are definitely ready to be replanted. We also need to decide what else we’d like to grow and then we’re planning to buy the trees locally at the Growing Value Nursery. 
   
   To help the fruit trees flourish, I’m planning on building a fruit tree guild. This permaculture method builds a mini ecosystem around each tree that reduces maintenance, attracts beneficial insects, and helps maximize yields. It takes planning and upfront work but I’m excited to start implementing more permaculture methods in our garden.
3. Show the raised beds some love.
   My raised beds are doing great but they’re also getting old and could use some maintenance, including doubling the height, laying down hardware cloth (over existing soil) before topping up beds with compost, worm castings, and lots of other lovely amendments.
   
   

   We need love!

   This is also the year all three beds get outfitted for hoops. I may not use all of them as hoop houses but I really want the option this fall. There are only three 4’x8′ beds so this is a relatively easy project.
4. Create a better compost system.
   Right now, we have a compost head. And it works pretty well but I’d like to make it more orderly and easier to manage.
   
   I’d also like a dedicated area for leaf composting so I can make leaf mold.
5. Create a butterfly garden and expand the wildflowers at the rental house.
   Pollinators needs our help and these are both relatively easy projects. I’m planning on purchasing a pre-planned garden from Prairie Nursery for the butterfly garden, which is about 70 square feet. The area for this garden is already defined and I’m going to sheet mulch it to get it ready for planting. 
   
   
   

   Help me!

   I also purchased the wildflower seeds last month so we just need to put down a few tarps to kill more grass and then sow the seeds.

Voila! There’s my list. Of course, it doesn’t include “smaller” projects like splitting/moving perennials, planting an edible berry hedge, installing landscape lighting, or figuring out what to do in the front of our house but at least it’s a start!

Phenology

My 2019 word of the year is presence. There are a number of reasons why I chose presence but I’m excited to see how it plays out in my life over the next year—including my garden life. I dabbled with using phenology to guide seed starting last year but, honestly, relied on my spreadsheets more than signals from the trees and shrubs in our yard. Presence, phenology, and permaculture…my 2019 motto? Joking, sort of.

Perma-what?

As my garden continues to expand, and I continue to look for ways to make it easy to maintain and kind to Mother Earth, I’ve been learning more about permaculture. I could try to define it but this article does a better job than I would!

Speaking of permaculture, I’m super jazzed, like kid on Christmas morning jazzed, about attending the Cincinnati Biennial Regional Permaculture Convergence on January 12. I’m not always comfortable going to events on my own but I know these are my people. Amy Stross, permaculture gardener, writer, educator, and author of The Suburban Micro-Farm, is giving the keynote about designing for the future by meeting the suburbs where they are, so there will be at least one familiar face in the crowd!

Use Real Stuff

Um, yeah. This disposable world we’re living in makes me want to move off grid somewhere. John isn’t necessarily onboard with that idea, and I don’t know if that’s the life for me either, but I am really trying to reduce and reuse. 

Gardens Are a Safe Place

“In Milwaukee’s poorest ZIP code, fruits and vegetables become powerful weapons for saving young boys.”

Long read but WOW.

Gardens bring communities together and can provide a safe place for younger people who may not have anywhere to go. Sharing tomatoes and stories with Monica is a start on my end. But I know there’s something bigger for me, gardening, and giving back…just waiting for it to manifest.

Let’s Save ALL the Bees

This. This is why I spend so much time and effort planning and planting a large variety of perennial and annual flowers. Most campaigns focus on saving honeybees. What about my favorite leaf cutting bees? Or the lovely black and yellow bumble bees? Or sweat bees, carpenter bees, mason bees…?

Squash bee emerging from a flower

It’s that time of year. We’ve had a few hard frosts. Most of my raised beds are covered in a thick layer of leaves and barley straw. Some hardier vegetables are sticking up here and there – scallions, Brussels sprouts, a few radishes.

It wasn’t the best growing season. Lots and lots and lots of rain helped some plants, hurt others. Tomatoes took their time ripening this year but, man, they were SO good. I had a bumper crop of cucumbers, which is rare due to cucumber beetles. And the peppers – they grew and grew and grew until the first hard frost hit. My favorite ‘Trombetta di Albenga’ squash grew like a champ as usual.

On the other hand, beans broke my heart this year; harvests were paltry and none of the plants produced like last year.Greens, in general, were not happy with all the rain. Flea beetles got to the bok choy seedlings. I had a great spring beet harvest but some animal – rabbit? – came through and ate the fall beet seedlings.

Each year, I try to convince myself I need a break from the garden in late fall and through the winter. In reality, I would be happy if I lived somewhere that allowed me to garden outside throughout the year. The garden is my place of solace, it’s my therapy, it’s where I learn about – and even challenge – myself, it’s my stress reliever, it’s my happy place, it’s so many things to me. You’ll still find me wandering about in the yard and garden this time of year, even with snow on the ground. But my heart and thoughts are already longing for spring 2019.

I always plant “sacrificial” tomatoes in our backyard for deer. This year, I decided to plant them in the rental house backyard (which is next door to ours). Deer and other critters have nibbled on the plants off and on, but the plants have grown and grown and grown. In fact, they’re taller than the lovely barbed wire fence that separates the yard from the park.

Tomato plants are taller than the fence!

A month or so ago, I was back there harvesting the tomatoes I could reach. A woman walking by with her dog stopped to ask if I wanted her to hand me the ones I couldn’t reach through the fence. I laughed and told her to take them if she likes tomatoes. “Really?,” she asked. “Yes, please please please help yourself!,” I begged.

We realized we were talking through the really tall tomato plants, so we took a few steps to the side so we could see each other and introduced ourselves. Monica used to live on a farm with her husband and kids. After he died a few years back, she sold the farm and moved into the city to be closer to her children and grandchildren. She told me how much she loves her daily walks in the park and, in particular, how much she admires the flowers, plants, and trees in both our yard and the rental yard. Monica also told me how much she misses eating her own homegrown tomatoes. We both agreed that there’s almost nothing better to eat.

It took a bit of persuading, but she eventually filled her pockets with tomatoes. A few days later, I was out back again at the same time as Monica and her dog. She waved and told me how happy the tomatoes made her and how delicious they were.

I don’t see her every day. But, on the days I do see her, her pockets are full of tomatoes. And she makes sure to tell me how happy she is to have access to them.

Gardening, and specifically vegetable gardening, takes a certain amount of work (understatement of the year!) and passion. I put a lot of both—and a HUGE amount of love—into everything I grow. I love sharing with family and friends. But sharing with a stranger, who is now no longer a stranger…that’s the power of gardening!