Springtime in the Rockies

Springtime!

Life in Colorado has unique qualities. After a winter of very little snow overall, spring arrived and we suddenly received 47" of snow. It didn't all pile up because in between storms the temperatures would rebound into the upper 60s and low 70s.

Then we have times like what we are going through yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Yesterday was a hot day in the 80s. Today is a transition day in the 60s. Later is forecast for thunder and rain. By tomorrow we will be shoveling out of 3 to 7 inches of snow. We have four seasons here, but sometimes we have them all in one day.

Last year we were into summer by now and I lost the chance to properly plant those veggies that need cold weather. So this year I made a point of getting out to plant those seeds in March. Then the weather got unusually cold. Some of the seeds have survived, others have not. So I must do a little replanting.

I am planting extra peas this year because the peas rarely make it into the house. I tend to eat them right there in the garden. Many of the strawberries go the same way.

For the last few years my spring planting included many veggies for my mother. She passed away last August, so this year I need to rethink much of what I will grow. I don't care for beets and parsley, so I don't need to grow those this year. I use a lot of onions, so more of my garden space will be given over to them.

I hope that the strawberries and raspberries will be even more plentiful than last year. I discovered the

amazing power of red berries to reduce my blood sugar. I also discovered that they taste so much better than anything I can purchase in the store since they are able to ripen entirely on the vine and become naturally sweet and delicious.

Already I must make plans to thin lettuce, but it will have to wait until after the next snow storm.

After all it is that fickle Springtime in the Rockies.

G -- The Garden Girls

For the first time since I was a toddler, my next door neighbor is a friend of mine. In the intervening

years neighbors mostly seemed to be people who couldn't understand why I didn't want to listen to their music at three in the morning or their loud domestic squabbles in the night.

My current neighbor is a dear and embodies the term neighbor very nicely. We are both writers, which gives us a lot in common, but our bonding has really occurred over gardening. Each spring, after a winter spent indoors and communicating largely by email and Facebook, we renew our friendship as be clean our yards, plant our gardens, and trade seeds.

This is made much easier by the fact that we live in a mobile home park and are therefore very close in proximity with one another unless I am working out in the "north 40," as I call the far northern end of my estate.

While digging and weeding we catch up on family.  We stop and chat with the members of our mobile home community as they walk by. Most of them are also avid, if not rabid, gardeners themselves. Many of our relationships have been built around gardening and urban farming.

As the season progresses we will trade watering when out of town and share food as harvest time comes along. My raspberry patch produces far more than I can eat myself, so I happily share them with my neighbor.

We even chase the deer out of each others' garden. If that's not neighborliness and friendship, I don't know what is.

My Favorite Garden Tools

Okay. There is really one that stands out way above the rest. My garden knife. It is the best thing I ever bought. It is from Fiskars, the company know for making scissors. This thing is AWESOME!

You can see by how dirty it is that I use it a lot. It has a plain blade on one side, a serrated edge on the other. Not terribly sharp or I would have lost a finger by now. The point is perfect for digging weeds and the width makes it more efficient in the task. The shape means I can use it as a trowel. The edges help cutting through turf or other roots. Just the best thing ever.

Other items that I couldn't do without are the flat-pronged pitchfork for turning compost, really good clippers in two sizes for large and small tree shoots and branches, a hand cultivator for breaking up soil, and a broom and a hand brush for sweeping up the patio and sidewalk.

Buckets are always a great thing to have around. I eventually plan to kick one, but not for a few decades. They can be great for storing things -- like the cat.

Yeah, I've used this photo before, but I love it so much that I have to put it out there again. Naomi is also a great garden tool since she is a hunter and will chase birds, mice and insects that might damage my fruit and veggies. Not so much with the squirrels since she has made friends with them, but they are still cautious. She is a predator, after all.

The most heavily used tools in the garden, by far, are my brain, my hands and my back. And, of course, my butt. I would be nowhere without the back of my front.

Gardening by the Seat of My Pants

There is a reason that professional photographer Tom Sundro Lewis took my picture sitting on the ground in my garden. It is because that is how I do all my gardening. As my Buddha appearance suggests, I am on the hefty side. Heftily on the hefty side (thought thankfully, not at my highest weight). The weight puts a lot of pressure on my back, creating pain, so I sit. Weeding, planting, tilling, mulching, even watering -- I do it all sitting down. Sitting though I may be, it is a great source of exercise for me.

Some of my neighbors say that I am my own garden gnome. They know that spring has truly sprung when they find me sitting there.

The cat, Naomi, is the gardening supervisor. She also likes to sit, but not always in the best spots for the garden.

She has favorite spots to try to lounge in the patio pots. Here she is in a bowl of young greens moments before we had a loud argument over her choice of venue.

She does actually stop by once in awhile to check on my progress. She is particularly fond of checking up on my rate of weeding and clean up.

Here she is checking on the bag of weeds. old leaves and twigs. She not terribly happy that there is not enough room for her to go in and check the contents more thoroughly.

One of the problems with gardening by the seat of my pants is that it can be a slow way to do it. But there is something extra Zen about having to do it more slowly. I find it relaxing and thought provoking. It is working in the garden where I am inspired for my writing, work out writer's block, and come up with new ideas.

I'm not alone. I have heard tell of a woman who loved gardening so much, that as her body was losing its functionality, she would tend her garden lying down. When it comes to gardening, it doesn't matter how you do it -- just do it.