Sunny and seventy degrees, this has been a great start to spring. Yes, I know that it hailed last week, the temperature dipped into the forty’s and the furnace kicked on but my garden is thriving. I have seen so many birds in flight and nibbling in my yard. Everyone is happy even the neighbor kids screaming at the top of their lungs as they whiz by on their bikes.
Not only has the temperature risen but the festivals are in full swing. This weekend alone there is the Hessler Street Fair and The Asian Festival going on. Next weekend, I have to mention the Greek Festival in Tremont that never disappoints - Gyro and Souvlaki stand outdoors with the pastries and baked food indoors (Mousakka, being my favorite).
Plus, Memorial Day Weekend barbecues will be going strong with ribs, chicken, and hamburgers. It smells fantastic but I am not particularly fond of all that meat. In that respect, I don’t have those American traditional tendencies. Just give me my fresh tomatoes, string beans and peppers and I’m good.
With all the festivals and outdoor activities, what I mostly do in the spring is plant my vegetable garden. To many, it poses as too much work when so many people have lawn services to cut the grass. I love getting my hands dirty by mowing my own lawn to trimming my bushes the old-fashion way without electricity. Therefore, I build up my muscles and work my garden at the same time. Not to toot my own horn, but I have the best looking yard in my neighborhood.
I recently told my neighbor that when I moved in, the yard looked barren and overgrown. I had four bushes in the front yard that covered my floor to ceiling windows along with a tree that reached my second floor. I grabbed my sister and we trimmed these giant bushes (some electric tools were needed) that took the entire day. In fact, my tree lawn was covered with endless piles of branches.
Next, I used my chain saw skills and took down that ugly tree that was never maintained. As an environmentalist, I hated to destroy that tree but it was overtaking my front yard. Back then I didn’t think about the ramifications of destroying our natural resources. Now, I try to maintain my trees in pruning and putting the leaves back into the soil instead of throwing them into the landfill. None of my neighbors think about that.
Every year, I add more perennials to my landscape. Last year, I separated my day lilies and added more bushes to my backyard. This year I just planted a black berry bush and planted tomato and hot peppers - I hope this summer won’t be as dry as the last. I also plan to create a rain garden so I can save money on my sewer bill with more plants. My backyard has clover and weeds so any additional plants will enhance its appearance.
Along with the day lilies, my fragrant lilac bush just began flowering. I told my neighbor that it was a tiny, plant when I bought it. Now years later, it’s huge. I told her the trick is pruning in the fall and early spring so it won’t over take your yard. The concept for maintaining a thriving yard is keeping up with the maintenance. Daily or weekly, I go out to see if there are any weeds or if the plants need watering. It’s keeping tabs on what’s going on – if not, you will have a yard that is overgrown and you don’t know where to begin to redesign it. Everyone looks for the easy route – get that weed-wacker and I’m done. Far from it, you need to dig in your garden with a shovel to rid yourself of the weed roots, add dirt and mulch every season. For whatever reason, I don’t have many weeds. But then again, I enjoy being out in the yard.
Start off slow – buy a few plants and bushes and see which plants thrive and how the sun affects them. I try to explain nicely to my neighbor to dig out the overgrown weeds – I continually hear the weed-wacker as I drive off. No one said gardening was easy. It is all in the prep and love of being in the outdoors.
As I post this post during Memorial Day weekend, we are experiencing frost.
Memorial Day Weekend Greek Festival
http://www.tremontgreekfest.com
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