Intuitive Value: Garden 2012

Introduction

Introduction: Mapping Out a Plan for the Rest of My Life and Enjoying the Journey

My Golden Years are an extension of the life I have lived up to retirement which began on December 1, 2011. I have organized this blog to include the top ten relevant topics shown below in the right side column in General Topics. Just click on one and you will see all that I have written on that topic. Click on the Most Current tab for chronological order of all entries.

I have addressed each topic in no particular order other than what is currently on my mind on the day I am posting. I started each topic by describing where I was when I began this blog and then exploring the possibilities of progression and any goals that I would like to meet. After that, I write about the path to reach that goal as it happens. Sometimes I just write about what is happening now.

I welcome any comments and questions either on this blog or email as I travel these paths and hope to share my growth with interested persons who may find some common elements in their own path to the rest of their life. I hope to use my skills as an appraiser for nearly 30 years to continue to observe different perspectives on a subject and reconcile into a conclusion that is of value to me. Please join me whenever you like. Email notice of new posts is no longer available so just bookmark the address.

The Blog Archive tool is helpful to find posts by year. Of most importance to me is the confidence developed in my intuitive skills over the years and it is that part of my character I am trusting to define value in my life. I believe change can be good and I can be enriched by believing in my true self using my intuition. The analytical part of my life no longer has a financial grip and I can let go of what absolutely made sense at the time in favor of what feels right now. I have done a lot of work since this blog began in 2011 and I hope you will join me as I explore this approach in My Golden Years.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Garden 2012 - Spring

This has started out to be an unusual spring just coming off the warmest winter in history. Of course, we began our garden early starting with cleaning up from last year which was done early in March.

We have not needed to till the soil for years as the added mulch each year has made that process unnecessary. All we had to do was pull any weeds and remove. That process alone works up the soil to where small hand tools and a hoe were all that are needed to smooth out the surface. At this point, the gardens are now ready for rabbit manure. We found a pick-up load advertised on Craig's list for $30; an incredible deal! We also met some very nice people in Lebanon and hopefully a potential future source for more manure.

While we waited for the right time to plant the early cold crops, the landscape was coming alive with color as well as neighboring wildlife.

Hyacinths

Redbud trees

Curious George the Groundhog was at our Lower Level door wanting us to get started on our garden!

Sorry, George. You will just have to wait until the time is right and NOT eat more than your share of the veggies! He is a friendly little fellow and not shy.

There are other things going on before the first planting of the garden such as fly-fishing and hunting for moral mushrooms.

First Rainbow Trout 2012 at Bennett Springs, MO

My first day fishing early March

It was a good first day Mr. Moral Man!

Yummy moral mushrooms, toad-in-the-hole, and clementines

By Easter morning April 8th, we had some early radishes and lettuce ready to eat and a second planting done. Some other veggies that were planted and are coming up were spinach, green onions, beets, kale and leeks. Some herbs that came up from last year include cilantro, thyme, oregano, lemon balm, mint, and sage.

Now is the time to wait to plant the vegetable sets between the rains. Our last frost date was April 15th. By this time, we have almost all of the top garden planted in early cold-tolerant crops, the 2nd garden is empty and will likely have the pepper plants and tomatoes. The 3rd garden has onions so far and the rest is yet to be determined; maybe corn and squash. The lower 4th garden is all in marigolds from last year. I have already thinned them out and transplanted the excess all over as the marigold is a natural bug-repellent.

First major harvest was on April 15th after much rain. Here we have Mesclun Lettuce, Spinach and French Breakfast Radishes. Lots of salad for the week!

Here are some other early blooms in the yard:

Alyssum and Lavender by the driveway and Red Honeysuckle vines just blooming on the trellis around my swing.

Japanese Maple, Hostas, English Ivy, and newly planted last year's creeping Thyme on the front walkway.

So now I'm jumping ahead to June and taking photos of the gardens a couple months later.

So now in June, the vegetable gardens are full except the top one which has been full and enjoyed! Now it has kale, basil, leeks, and rosemary. We will plant some more for fall in August.