I love Spring! The excitement of things growing again and it being almost time to garden again is so fun! I love the wildly variable weather, the sunshine and the rain and even the occasional snow. I am so glad God gave us seasons.
I have been having fun lately doing springy activities. Last week I finally planted my seeds -the ones that need to be planted ahead of time inside.
I planted tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, stevia, some flowers, broccoli, kohlrabi, cabbage and probably some things that I can't remember now. I also repotted my aloe vera. I had four little plants in a little pot. My sister Anna and I have been learning how good they are for you and so I want to encourage mine to get bigger so that I can really use them. I also repotted my banana tree that was desperately needing some new dirt and a new pot. I am hoping they all grow and flourish!
I decided to set them up on top of my fridge to sprout (I did have to do some stacking to make them all fit but as soon as they get very big I will move them to a southern window). I discovered that a few of them have already sprouted. I love it when they are quick like that!
Another of those Spring jobs that needed done was turning my compost pile. Here is the "beautiful" collection from the winter. I have two bins (that I made from pallets) side by side so I just flipped it over into the other one, while adding some rabbit droppings (Clover is gracious to supply those) and other natural matter from our garden cleanup.
Aaron helped me work on the compost bin. His motivation was the fact that we get to babysit a baby goat next weekend and we thought we might be able to turn the empty bin into a temporary shelter.
I love the concept of composting because God turns our yucky scraps and the weeds we pull up into good rich dirt. We like to use that dirt on our garden and to put around our fruit trees.
Speaking of fruit trees, The plum trees which my Dad ordered for me along with his order came on Thursday. We planted them in our yard. Now we have 3 apple trees, 2 cherry trees, 2 plum trees, a grape vine,a couple of wimpy blueberry bushes, a few raspberry bushes and strawberry plants which feed the chipmunks. We aren't getting any fruit yet -except a few raspberries last year and there were two apples on one tree last year but some animal ate them before we could- but there is a lot of potential and I am excited about the possibilities!
Another "homesteading" (?) project was our venture in making candy from our maple syrup. A neighbor came over and we had fun messing with a couple different recipes. It all tastes yummy but not everything sat up properly. Oh well, live and learn. This recipe did work well.
And as far as this picture.... We are so enjoying the pussy willows we picked some to have inside. I love the way they look and the natural rustic feel they add to our home.
I am linking up to:New Life on a Homestead
The Prairie Homestead
