Coffee time begins

Today we hit 50° F. Woohoo! Hello spring!!!

The snow is melting pretty fast. Last week we lost well over a foot within a few days. The sewers and drainage ditches were overwhelmed and the farm fields had so much water in them that they looked like lakes. When the wind got howling it looked like they had mini whitecaps!

Today I can see quite a bit more grass. We still have giant piles of snow from plowing, but where the open spaces were mostly white yesterday morning, this afternoon they are at least 50% grass. The more modest snow piles now resemble a snowy version of the Badlands instead of the Himalayas. 10 days ago we looked like this:

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Soon we will see tulips and sedum starting to pop up. Today it is time for this to start going out on the gardens:

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It is coffee time!

I used to buy sprinkle/pour fertilizer granules and put that on my gardens in the fall. They were “time released” so in the spring I would see them in the soil. For the past few years I have put used coffee grounds down instead. I started because it deters slugs, and I found it also deterred bunnies and did a great job of fertilizing. My plants have gone bonkers since I started doing that. They are very happy!

I start out pretty sparingly – just light sprinkles. Then when the hostas start to come up, I also put grounds lightly around each plant. I rarely have slug issues when I get started on that process early.

If the forecast holds for Saturday, I will also have my first “patio time” of the season. Some people call it “lawn chair therapy”. Either way, it is bliss!

Wait! I also just heard the first motorcycle of the season! Oh yah!!! We Minnesotans are so ready for a new season!

A dog kennel?

We will be super busy this spring and summer building out a simple cabin on the land we bought up north. We need something that will be quick and easy for our year one northern test garden.

We have had a few dogs over the years. Some have been huge – 140 pounds. Sandy (our guest in the garden) is 9 pounds.

We know a bunch about dog kennels and crate structures. So when I was trying to figure out how in the world we were going to keep deer and bunnies and moose all OUT of our test gardens up north, dog kennels came to mind. I know it sounds crazy but I’ve run it by a few folks and they think it might just work. The kennel panels are 6′ high and we can easily line the bottom of the perimeter with chicken wire and even boards dug into the ground. If it works, we could easily add on to the structure in year two. If it doesn’t, we can do something else next year.

What are your thoughts?

Next up: How we plan to plant – Hugelkultur (with two dots over the u that I can’t seem to get to work 😉).

Upcycling, staying uncluttered, and seed starting

This week we received the heirloom seeds we ordered for the first test garden up north.

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Next up is upcycling toilet paper and paper towel rolls for the next month, to be used as biodegradable seedling starter plant pots.

Since the size of our townhome is modest, and I am super into a peaceful, uncluttered home, I am struggling a bit with the amount of stuff that is being staged in our townhome, waiting to go up north, at least two months out. If it has to collect, it needs to stay organized 😉 Hence, the pink craft box. Hopefully things can stay relatively contained until I begin to start the seedlings. Then, unfortunately, I suspect things will be pretty busy looking around here until all those seedlings are safely in the ground.

More to come on how the seedlings will stay safe from the deer, rabbits and moose.

Prepping for up north

One of the things my husband has been reminding me of is that our habits for up north will need to be very different from our townhome. One of those habits has to do with those tiny little creatures called field mice … who love easily accessible people food … and who can fit in the tiniest of spaces.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am no stranger to field mice. But we are here every day, and the guest in the garden is here (Sandy the dog ☺) so we don’t have to take much precaution with dry goods food storage. I buy in bulk bags from Costco, and we leave things like brown rice and chia seeds in the heavy duty ziptop bags they come in. But that will be different up north. Given free reign, field mice laugh at plastic bags. So while we wait out the end of winter before we can get in to start prepping the cabin site, I have been making lists.

One of the things on the list was airtight food storage containers. ✔ that as done. I found a 10 pc set of lock tight containers on sale. They looked so snazzy I bought a set for up north and a set for the townhouse. Pretty much loving them 😍

Asclepias

Last week I ordered our first 6 deer resistant plants for up north. Asclepias (milkweed) are the plant where monarch larvae mature to become butterflies. Some sources say the monarch population has decreased by 80% in the past 20 yrs, partially due to pesticide overspray that is killing asclepias. They are not to be a cut flower (poisonous) but are very beneficial for the monarch population. They also attract honey bees and hummingbirds use the seed pod floss to line their nests. We’re going to try them as a naturalized plant up north. More to come – bearded iris and coneflowers will be our next purchases.

Beautiful day; more snow on the way

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Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day following an almost aqua colored night due to the upcoming super snow moon. Last night’s sunset, however, told a “not yet” story as clouds rolled in for the 6-10″ of snow we are supposed to get today. It looks like we are headed into our typical March snow pattern, with big snowfalls followed by slowly increasing temperatures. It may not feel like it today, but spring is on the way.

Up north, it may take longer. We hear the snow is waist deep. But Minnesotans are hearty folk 😉 One gentleman told us he and his wife snowshoed out to grill shrimp on the fire. We are dreaming of that day! Maybe next year winter we can do that.

Lots More Space

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Well, we did it! After years of passively searching and over six months of actively seeking property in northern Minnesota, we closed on 40 beautiful acres of wooded high ground not far from Canada. Yup. It’s cold. It’s REALLY cold sometimes. Yup, there’s a lot of snow. But it’s our cold, snowy dreamland now.

It will be a pretty big process. There is an old logging path so that job is already done, but there is no well or septic, and no dwelling at all. There is a natural clearing we plan to use as the homesite, but it will probably be at least late April, maybe later until we can start that preparation.

And then there is the garden. So far we have seen A LOT of deer and snowshoe rabbit tracks and some tracks that look like moose tracks. Plus lots of field mice. So a tall gated garden lined with chicken wire will be necessary. We also know that composting would not be wise (bear yummies).

Some of my favorites from years ago are probably going to make a comeback. It sounds like bearded iris, daffodils, and grape hyacinth are deer resistant. I know from experience they naturalize beautifully!

We never dreamed we’d do something this big. Well, my husband hoped … We still plan to keep our townhome for at least the foreseeable future, but who knows. God may have plans we could never imagine! Can’t wait to share this wild adventure between our townhome and the woods with you all!

Please share any zone 3 woodland gardening expertise that may be helpful ☺