The First Best Day

This is my fifth spring on the farm, and I still haven’t gotten used to how quickly things go from waiting, waiting, waiting for the weather to warm up (I mean, two weeks ago we had 4″ of snow on the ground) and then *bam* the next thing you know, it’s 78 and sunny and every-damn-thing is growing, and most of those damn things are weeds (and if you don’t get ahead of it righthisminute you are officially effed until fall.)

Remember this?

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Yeah. That was The Year of the Machete, and I’m determined not to let that happen again.

So I had big plans last weekend for the kitchen, and then things happened to derail those plans, like 1.) It was 78 and sunny and every-damn-thing started growing, and 2.) Oh, hey, look what unexpectedly showed up at my house…

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Yes. A bunch of boxes. Which would not usually be very exciting but these are a bunch of boxes that contain all the pieces of a greenhouse.

About a month ago I ordered a greenhouse for my garden (from this place), but I never got a confirmation email from them, they never charged my card, and I never got any notification of delivery, so I assumed they lost my order and I was up to my eyeballs in cabinets anyway, so I figured the greenhouse project was going to get pushed to next year…

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And then I got home after work Friday, and surprise! Boxes. (They have since charged me, so this was a legit purchase and delivery.)

So this weekend turned into a lot of outdoor/garden/greenhouse prep. It meant the now-annual tradition of building some new garden beds with some of my good friends…

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Getting the patio furniture out…

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Cleaning up and filling in some areas of the property that are typically all weeds and difficult to mow.

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GUESS WHO HELPED?!

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Yeah. They also helped pick up any grass seeds that may have landed outside of the fenced off area I’m trying to grow new grass in.

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Because chickens.

There was also time spent working the hive and prepping the area for new ones…

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And, the very best part of the weekend… surprising my mom with her very own chainsaw! (And safety glasses.)

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My mom has been asking to borrow my big gas-powered chainsaw for a very long time… maybe since last fall. And we finally tried to start it on Saturday (to no avail.) My mom stayed over Saturday night, so on Sunday morning when I made a Lowe’s run, I picked up this electric, lightweight, easy-to-start chainsaw for her.

When she saw it her whole face lit up, and then she turned to me and said, “I could cut down EVERYTHING!”

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And then she did.

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Clearly I need a larger burn-pit. If my yard looks anything close to respectable this year, it will be entirely due to my mom and her chainsaw.

All in all we made a pretty respectable dent in our list…

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And I didn’t neglect the kitchen completely…

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In the evenings I’ve been building out new drawer faces for some of the cabs to better match the existing cabinetry.

And now, since it’s getting nicer out–and closer to planting time–I’ll be trying to juggle my get-the-kitchen-done-so-you-can-eat-a-proper-meal-again list (pssht, as if I’m going to stop eating cottage cheese straight out of the carton for dinner) along with all the things that need to get done outside… mulching, planting, and putting up the new greenhouse.

I have no idea how I’m going to manage all of that, so I’ve been doing what I do best at times like this…

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Working my ass off and taking it one day at a time.

19 Responses

  1. Have you ever taken any beekeeping classes? I just finished bee school (for realsies, through our county beekeeping association at the ag building) and it was SUPER helpful.

    1. Nope. This saw has an automatic tensioner, and the manufacturer instructions indicated there should be a 1/4″ gap between the chain and the bar in the middle of the bar… so that one was set just right for this particular saw!

  2. I am so, so envious of you and your home and the life you’ve built for yourself. I hope to be able to do something similar in the future.

  3. That is exactly how it has been down here: wait, wait, wait for warmer weather then *BAM!* I am suddenly so far behind!

    I am so jealous of your greenhouse and of your major accomplishments on your checklist.

  4. Love reading about the work you are accomplishing. I spent 6 hours mowing fields on the weekend. Still got parts of the fields under water. But, it is a glorious Spring so far!

  5. Kit, how did the gravel patios fare over the winter? The new house doesn’t have a deck like the old did for my patio furniture and the current undersized burn ring just sits on the grass (crooked at that). I like the idea of just doing gravel areas for the patio set and for the bonfire area.

    Looking good girl!

    1. I saw your question so I took a good look at them over the weekend. They look as good as ever in my opinion! 🙂

  6. I have been agonizing over a greenhouse purchase for three years – so I am interested to see how you like yours. I have prepped the spot for it, but for now, I am so grateful for the end of gardening season each year, I am glad I have a built in excuse to stop!

  7. It was a great day in my life when I discovered the existence of sawzalls. Some fence guys were here and I went, What!! What is that??

  8. I love my little electric chainsaw. 🙂

    It sure is hard to work inside when the weather is so beautiful…. the inside of my home suffers through the spring and summer…. but that’s okay. Relaxing on the deck with a glass of wine ~ looking at all the flowers/plants ~ things growing makes me so happy. 🙂

  9. Kit…you bought a greenhouse kit, being the DIY’er that you are and being as resourceful as you have been, I’d have thought you would have built one out of reclaimed materials (mismatched windows/pallets/etc…).

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