Springing Forward

The last couple of weeks it's been so beautiful here, aside from the wind, it's getting so warm and the skies couldn't get clearer. I've been finding any excuse to get outside and soak up some vitamin D, I've even been able to lay out on the deck in my bathing suit, one of the greatest joys in life. Recently I decided I really needed a garden below the house, it would keep me busy throughout the summer, and we could potentially save a lot of money on produce. It didn't take too much convincing before my husband, and father-in-law were on the tractor piling dirt for a garden. We spread the dirt behind the pump house that sits right below our house and put a wire fence around the perimeter. It's only a little garden, but it's just enough for us, and I love it!
It's plenty warm enough to plant, but the wind has been so strong, gusting up to 65 mph some days, we worried our vegetables would blow right away. For now I've been tending to my starters on my porch.

 Many folks around here will set up wind breakers around their houses and gardens using trees, bushes, and cedar posts. After inquiring about the cedar posts I learned that they cost $7 a post, and just for our little garden we would need at least 100. Needless to say we scratched that idea pretty quickly. Luckily, however, the fence lines on the east side of the ranch were held up by old cedar posts that the settlers axed down by hand. These posts were cut in the early 1900's, and not long ago had to be replaced with metal T posts, leaving the retired cedar posts laying in the pasture. We gathered the old posts and hauled them to our garden and began tying them to the fence. Although they are different in size and shape, they do the job, and look really nice. I love knowing that they were cut by hand and spent a century or more holding up fence on our ranch. Although free of cost, they are rich with history, and I believe whoever spent the time cutting and driving them into the rocky terrain would be pleased to know they are still of use.

Since it seemed to be no problem talking my darling husband into a garden why not ask for some chickens? They seem easy enough to take care of, inexpensive, and rewarding! Also we could use the chickens' manure to fertilize our garden!! And they are just so darn cute, please, please, pleeeeeeease?!!

You might have guessed this took much more persuasion than the garden proposal, and you might have also guessed (based on the fact that I have the greatest husband in this world, and he loves me so much) that soon after the garden was finished I had a chicken coop only a few feet away! Ahh, I love him!!

A couple weeks later my chickens arrived, and have since been laying eggs regularly.

From Left to Right: Me, eggs, Pico(our chick), & handsome

I love spring. After being held captive inside by the snow, constricted in layers of clothing, & fighting  that extra heated blanket at night, it's nice to feel the freedom of springtime. To beat it all lookie what I found...

STRAWBERRIES!

As if these weren't enough to make my entire month I gave my local nursery a visit to find this beautiful rose vine and had to grab it to put by the new garden fence!

And on the way out I spotted these beautiful flowers and took them with me too...

They call these Bubblegum Supertunias (It's a petunia hybrid)

I have a feeling that won't be my last trip to the nursery. I've got lots in mind for my little haven below the house. Did I mention how much I love spring?

I don't know what I love more, being outside, the reward of seeing something you've planted bloom, or the process of it all, spending time with my best friend in the world. Most definitely the latter. 

I just love spring time.