Welcome to our garden.
The photo above is looking south in my garden plot this morning. One of my friends delivered a dump truck load of compost to me a couple of days ago. I have now spread about three to four inches of the stuff over the area you see. I am using a four-wheel wagon and an aluminum grain scoop to do the work. We had freezing weather within the last week, so I don’t have anything planted outdoors yet. The greenery in the foreground is a plot of chives, which are perennial and are off to a fine start. They didn’t seem at all bothered by the cold. You can see the remainder of the pile of compost at the far end.
Next week, I will till this in with my rear-tine 6 hp Cub Cadet. The fenced area on the other side of the compost pile contains asparagus and some blueberry bushes.
The cinderblock borders on the left hold some strawberries in raised beds.
Right now, my plan is for sweet potatoes, redskin potatoes, snow peas, cabbage, broccoli and green peppers. Probably a few types of squash, beans, lettuce, and carrots.
Behind me there are raspberries, apple trees, and rhubarb.
My work is mostly a desk job, and although I was doing regular strength training all winter, without fail every weekday, this manual labor is making me feel like my exercising should have been more diligent.
Missionary Sojourn 
Nice! ‘Em some good eats too! My husband planted me a beautiful native flower garden about 10 years ago. I also have a desk job but have not done any kind of exercise over the winter. That garden stares me in the face everyday 😳🤣 It’s coming whether I’m ready for it or not!
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Gardening has a way of making sure you catch on your exercising. Hope you enjoy getting into it! Do the native flowers kind of take care of themselves? Do you remove last year’s growth to make room for the new?
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Great questions! I do enjoy the garden, so much pleasure- from tending it to looking at it. My husband really knows how to please me ❤️ You’re right, it has a way of helping me exercise for sure. I’m no expert but have discovered that if I leave last year’s growth over the winter, it helps insulate the plants underneath, and as we live in Colorado I say every little bit helps! It just becomes kind of a bear to clear it out each Spring. Between high winds, weekly snows and melts, and other things, finding a window of opportunity can be a challenge – but we’re getting there 🤗 And yes, because the flowers are mostly native to the area and zone, they really don’t mind the Spring snows and do take care of themselves to some extent (it’s only the Spring Clearing they can’t do 🤪).
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I think one of the hidden blessings of God is to show us our weaknesses – places where we (by which I mean “I”) fall short, and still need His grace and strength.
Garden plot looks great, and spring is a joyous time of year.
I’m going through a difficult time at work. I’m being shown many places where I need to be more Christ-like and turn the other cheek. Never thought I’d look to chives as an example – they just don’t care what’s happening around them, and are focusing on the job God laid out for them.
Thanks. I needed this.
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I sure think you are right about the benefits of being shown where we need to grow, and the Lord seems to be able to use unlikely messengers to help us. Happy my little patch of chives could help demonstrating how they do their work as unto the Lord.
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Impressive, Jon! I tried vegetable gardening for a couple of summers, but I quit in frustration. I think my neighbor said it best when he told me he saw a rabbit heading for my garden with a bottle of salad dressing. 😖! You seem to know what you’re doing, though, so more power to ya. 👍
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That’s a funny picture Annie, about the rabbit and the salad dressing! We have rabbits but what we really have trouble with is thirteen-line ground squirrels. I usually find potatoes that have big gnaw marks on them when they are dug at the end of the season. I just try to raise enough so the squirrels get their fill and leave some for us.
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Rabbits, squirrels… Why is it they like to take a bite out of a bunch of different potatoes (or carrots, or whatever)? If they would just take ONE and eat the whole thing … 🙄
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They are like teenage boys in a room full of girls. They think variety is the spice of life.
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Mercy sakes , that conversation (between Jon and SDP) was fun reading – lol
We’re trying to do some gardening too, here at our house. We’re in the beginning stages so we still have to see what becomes of it all.
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Your land looks beautiful! Where are you growing?
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Close to Pella Iowa
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So I haven’t been to Iowa, but I just googled it. What a beautiful place! I had no idea it was so influenced by the Dutch!
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