Spring Cleaning....

With no snow on the ground and balmy, spring like weather, we have taken to cleaning up the garden beds, spreading compost and doing myriad other outside chores.  We have been burning slash piles, cutting, splitting and stacking firewood (for next years burning) and generally cleaning up the yard in anticipation of spring.  Oh how I love this time of year!

The log deck

Splitting

Stacked in the wood hut for next winter

As most of you know, I have struggled to grow any kind of a garden since moving to this windswept prairie.  Our soil is heavy and full of clay and it seems that no matter how much organic material I till into the soil, it produces nothing more than a handful of weeds. 

After reading numerous books on the subject, I have become convinced that permaculture is the only viable way of coaxing our land into bountiful production, however, I have to admit that I am overwhelmed with the thought of beginning such a garden and consequently, have done little to establish a vibrant permaculture garden.

Raspberry bed getting a dose of compost

A larger bed with a layer of ash and a double layer of compost

As overwhelmed as I am at the thought of a whole new method of gardening, I am bound and determined to put my all into building a small "guild" and hopefully turning our barren patch of dirt into a lush, productive, garden full of microclimates, swales and self-sustaining goodness. 

In addition to working on a new garden, I am trying to feed the ones I already have, hoping to coax a lovely harvest from them as well.  After putting a thin layer of wood ash (from the burn pile) onto the gardens, I put a rather thick layer of compost on each garden bed.  I am hoping that by amending the soil early, the nutrients will have a chance to soak into the soil as the spring rains fall, creating a rich bed for seedlings and young plants.  What a study it will be - the garden beds and the permaculture garden - I am awash with anticipation!

Cleaning out the front garden bed

Princess Dragon Snack and Master Calvin cleaned the iris beds

The sunroom (in the background) will need some work before it's open for spring!

And so, spring cleaning will continue.  The children and I will pick up the mess that seems to accumulate over the winter, spruce up the sunroom and clean the chicken coop.  We will busy ourselves with spring cleaning as we anticipate a full and productive summer - getting ready for another winter.  Oh, to dance to the music of the seasons!