Dreaming up Beautiful Garden Dreams

A few days ago I created an account on Pinterest. I thought it might be another good venue to promote my shop. Well, that may be true, but I didn't take into account that I would find SO MUCH inspiration there. Beside being awfully addictive, it has a never ending supply of inspiration for everything garden. I have created my own "in the garden" board and look through other people's garden boards, finding more and more ideas. I'm sitting here, dreaming up what my garden will look like this year. And I can't wait to get started.

My garden is very quiet at this time of year. The last (and first) strong rain has left the ground wet which of course is good because this is how it should be in a Northern California winter. A few daffodils are already blooming and I can see where all the poppies - native and oriental - will present their color show later in the year.

The most active life in the garden takes place around the bird feeders where the squirrels and birds fill their bellies. Even a couple of crows comes by every morning. The scrub jay is happy about the shelled peanuts I put up on the trellis. Some of the birds still enjoy the remains of the sunflowers from last summer.

Our biggest project, however, is building a fence around our front garden. We first thought to build a white picket fence, but when we realised that we repeatedly have to paint that fence, we quickly looked for an alternative. Well, we're living in the area of redwoods, so this was a natural choice. The wood has a beautiful red shade that I love, even though it changes with the year and weather. The Geek drew a plan, and now he's busy cutting the wood with his miter saw. He also digs the holes for the posts, and I drill and screw. Sometimes Kaefer helps as well. It's a huge area and it will take us several weeks until the fence will be finished. We will be so proud then!

But what I want to do most is work in the garden - dig in the soil, get my hands dirty, see something grow.

I want to use these tools, prepare the soil for the veggies, pull weeds, collect leaves. I want to clean out used flowers to make way for new growth.

I want to feel the pruners in my hand while I go from plant to plant and do what I have to do.

I can't wait to prepare the raised beds again, mix organic matter in, think about what to plant where and which tomatoes to try this year. Will there be Charentais melons again? Can I start with the seeds? Should I try a different variety of zucchini? Which peppers? Of course I want to try more heirlooms!

But most of all - I want to fill these big pots with new veggies, tomatoes, zucchini and peppers and see all the greens and colors come back into my garden.