Plan and Execution

Staying focused has always been hard for me. I am so easily distracted by all the possibilities and have so much fun dreaming that sometimes I lose the execution piece. I can make a list all day, but what I really need to do is take action, ahh but first I need to have a clear plan in place for my vision.

I am planning to grow simple annual flowers on a no-till plot and donate blooms to those who could use their beauty. I will also prepare some type of portable system for pop up sales of buckets filled with whatever is in season. Something I can easily set up myself at the end of the driveway when I have extra blooms. I will sell for a price that will help support my garden habit and bring more flowers to those who need the smiles.

I have my seeds ordered and I’ll order a few more once I can. So now I am going to think about my plot location. Its soil, the sunlight available during the growing months and the water source. I found a no-till online course that I am going to sign up for and see what I can learn. I have no desire to own a tiller and I think no till is a fascinating option for a small plot like mine.

It seems like no-till results in less weeds and may be better for the soil system. I’ve done a bit of both till and no-till and have been surprised with the no-till side of things. Time to amp that process up and become an expert on the process. As I learn I will share my process and let this blog hold me accountable for implementing my plan!

I would love to hear from you! Message me at The Seasonal Bucket with your thoughts or questions.

Plan for 2021 Flowers

Funny how at the end of the garden season I am ready to be done for a while and then suddenly, I start to get excited to think about my next year growing plan.

I peruse catalogs and watch many YouTube videos to get inspiration and direction. Some of my favorite channels are: You Can’t Eat The Grass, Flower Hill Farm and Northlawn Flower Farm

I’ve decided to keep it simple with snapdragons, zinnias, sunflowers, gladiolas and gourds. I have my direct sow seeds and bulbs ordered and a local grower is going to start some transplants for me, she is much better than I am at that!

I need to work on my no-till flower plot area and add more compost on top. I have some organic matter that I’ve been collecting and turning but would love to find a local farmer who has some beautiful aged compost that I could apply.

2021

Hello friends, we made it to a fresh year!

2020 was a lesson in shifting expectations and stepping away from plans for the greater good. I’m sorry I haven’t written and posted pictures during the odd months of this past year.

As an update I am loving my new home and making our nest as cozy and efficient as possible. Our homes and the people and animals in them were everything in 2020. I work from home every day communicating with colleagues from all over the world via the magic of the internet. I guess that has become as necessary to me as electricity!

This year gardening provided me a reprieve from the computer and chair. I could go outside and dig around and grow something beautiful to share with others. I picked many buckets of beauties to bring into nursing homes to use however they wished. I never entered past the vestibules for safety reasons in this time of COVID but received messages of thanks and many ooh’s and aah’s when residents were able to sit outside and observe me dropping the buckets.

I also worked with a local grower who started some transplants for me, that has never been my forte. Years past, I would enthusiastically plant and then the little seedlings would eventually wither. Smarter to have a pro work her magic and provide me with strong healthy starter plants.

For the 2020 flower season I had tall snapdragons (Fishhook and Madame Butterfly), zinnia’s (Bennaries Giant and Limelight), Sunflowers (so many varieties), gladiola‘s, cosmo’s, dahlia’s and amaranth. I tried celosia and lisianthus but these did not really produce for me. The snaps produced all season long, the zinnias started late summer, sunflowers were big show stopping beauties in lemon, gold, green and even a dark burgundy. The dahlia’s really didn’t do much for me, they bloomed really late, even though they were jump started in April and kept in the basement – I won’t do that again but hey, now I know.

There! Now I have gotten my writing wheels greased and plan to post an update more often.

Bur Oak and Winter

As I look out the window, I see the textures and lack of color, so different from our Summer and Fall seasons here. The seemingly large tracts of trees and scrub cover, are reduced to stark mono cultures. I often wonder how anything not only survives this brutal landscape but ends up thriving here in the northern plains.

Our home lies where the great hardwood forest region meets the plains.

I marvel at the bur oaks in our front yard, majestic and strong, They stand guard near our driveway entrance. A naturally, perfectly engineered species common in our area. Their symmetrical wide span, branches out to make the bur oak resilient from the constant wind here on the ridge. They have thick core bark, resistant to catastrophes such as fire and prolonged drought. The strong interior wood has character and longevity in all it’s uses. The tree’s tap root is an amazing anchor and draws sustenance from the earth, in my opinion we humans should try to mimic the mighty bur oak.

Winter, I don’t care for it. I enjoy the unrestrained movement that is always available to me in the warmer seasons. The constant growth and glow contained in those long days of light. I dig and saw wood to work through the days frustrations and find those activities relaxing. Winter steals these from me. I know those days will return. My impatience with Winter expands in direct correlation with my waistline this time of year.

Soon, I will trade this white desert for another, and head to Arizona for a respite, to work in the sun, all the while planning and scheming about Spring in God’s Country.

-K

Coming Together

Today I am thinking about being grateful and content with what is. I am divorced from my children’s father. Going through a divorce is hard on families. Traditions are changed and it takes a while to figure out a new “normal”. Sometimes everyone just needs a little space away. We all walk on egg shells for a few years and then finally after much prayer things come together and it feels okay again.

I just moved to God’s Country in October, and most days it feels like home now. Two of my three mostly grown sons (26, 23 and 19) were able to join us for Thanksgiving. It was an introduction to this home for the 19 year old and it was important to me that he feels comfortable here, that he has a space of his own in this house. The 26 year old went to his girlfriends family celebration.

K (my partner in all things) also has two children that are young adults. It feels right to start to blend our families a bit more now. We have been slow to do this, and that’s okay.

We will tend to the new garden that is our life together in this home, and I am thankful for the memories being made.

Enjoy the process, -P

Start Digging!

I think the most important thing is just to start, to stop over analyzing and waiting for the “right” moment! This has always been my problem. So worried about judgement and “getting it right”. I’ve finally figured out you just have to start! Get messy, make mistakes, be okay with judgement but don’t wait - do something! Take action, stop talking about it and put it out there! Learn while you do and it will all shake out. Mistakes are part of the learning process and can only help you grow.

The action for me this season is beginning a new garden. I started digging the edge and it made me so happy to see the outline of what is going to be an amazing floral display next Spring. We don’t have a tiller and I decided I wanted to experiment with a no-till space so I am layering carbon and green material on top of this space. I have heard people refer to this method as lasagna gardening - makes sense!

I hope the earth worms find it and turn it into a luscious plot of soil for me by next May. the space for this new garden dig will include 10 6x4 beds.

The steps I’ve been taking are:

Edge my space
Gathering cardboard, remove any tape, break it down, soak it and lay it out on top of the sod
Add leaves and overturned sod from my edges
Add straw that’s been out in the elements and wet down again
Sprinkle on old manure compost

The heavy snow and Spring rains will keep it wet and the pile I am creating should break down nicely by planting time. I will continue to add to the layers over the winter. I hope this process will also help eliminate weeds and keep the integrity of the soil strong. It’s exciting to experiment with different methods and see what works best. This area of Minnesota has different soil than what I am used to planting in. They call it the “Driftless Area” since the glaciers didn’t cut through here. My partner in all things calls it “Gods Country”. I is beautiful here with the rolling hills and limestone cliffs.

I hope you start something today!

Enjoy the process! -P