He restoreth my soul

Merry Christmas Eve! Our snow has been plowed from the blizzard yesterday here in Minnesota, our sidewalk is shovelled, and I have had my first cup of coffee. I’m finding myself wondering if we should have kept our travel plans to go to the little house up north today, but one never knows. We’ll keep it as is, to stay back and savor some rest. I don’t have any control over weather, but I know someone who does. Even the wind and the waves obey Him. I will take this time to trust and rest.

Today we continue prayers for so many people. What a year! A lot to be thankful for – and to fervently hope for.

I am reminded after a very busy, and at times super stressful, year, it is time to rest. The internal work at the little house up north is at least 3/4 done. Along the way we have been blessed with relationship gifts. God has a plan, and I have a feeling we don’t even really “get it” yet. But I do know I have grown. I have gone from searching for a place we could eventually retire in an environment that restores us, into what I hope is a much fuller person. When we walked in that house I was thrown back 50 years. I was faced with a real wringer washer stored in the basement, rusting metal kitchen cabinets, and one of those metal mail holders that every kitchen I knew while growing up had. There was shag/sculptured carpet, 80s wallpaper, and the light fixtures of the 50s. I WANTED that house, not because I liked all that, but because it warmed my heart. It brought back wonderful memories.

Along the way, we discovered that a family of 5 lived in that home. Mom & Dad raised their three children there. Dad worked at a nearby steel mining plant, the steel that built America, and even the world. And they lived in that tiny little house. Such a big contribution those workers made to the growth of this country, even the world, with provisions that many would balk at today. It confirms in me that somehow we need to find a way to remember what is truly important – people over stuff. And I am sad that somehow this year we find ourselves in a world that restricts in person time in the hope of reducing disease. It is a very tough time where values of family time is being reduced to digital images, and results don’t seem to make sense. I have this persistent feeling we are somehow missing a large piece of the puzzle. Still, we hope and pray, and do our part.

Along the way on this little house up north journey we have met some incredible people – people who survive on way less material things and who lead much simpler lives than what we are used to seeing – and are resilient, and confident, and peaceful. It reinforces in me that more stuff doesn’t mean more happiness. It means more to maintain, and less time to find soul rest.

In a conversation with a new friend we’ve made as a result of our little house up north journey, he shared that he sometimes has to remind himself that Psalm 23:2 says “He MAKETH me to lie down in green pastures”, not he suggesteth or recommendeth, but he MAKETH. Interesting point.

So today, we make time for soul rest, and we pray, and trust.

Check!

The To Do list is getting check offs this weekend, with continued attention to decluttering.

Yesterday I wrapped up the final garden cut back – remaining hostas, and the sedum that were a casualty of the lawn maintenance leaf blowing. Every year I keep the sedum that is still standing. The bunnies and birds enjoy them throughout the winter.

Today my To Do list is focused on the nice fall weather sprint wrapping up, and snow in the forecast for this coming Tuesday.

The winter lanterns went out today,

and all the spring and summer decorations I brought in last weekend went into the storage bin. To keep everything all in one place, I also put all the seeds I harvested into that storage as well. Come January when the seeds need to go into the refrigerator (for stratifying), they will all be easily accessible and organized.

Since I only allow myself one bin for garden decorations, keeping clutter out is important. Today I tossed all garden plant information for things that are no longer in our garden, as well as information on spring bulbs that didn’t bloom in 2020. Tulips and crocus both seldom bloom here for more than a year or two. This fall, with so much going on, I didn’t plant any new tulips. Hopefully some will return next spring from my 2019 plantings.

Inside, I did my weekly “gardening” for the plants we overwinter – cleaning up the hibiscus, shamrocks and lavender plants from the die back that inevitably happens as they lose sunlight hours.

For the afternoon, I’m planning on getting all the batteries in the window candles. That is always quite a job. Once that is done, l’ll start putting them in the windows. With the days getting shorter, the window candles bring a cozy feeling.

I hope you have a good week ahead as we move more indoors and start dreaming and planning for next year’s garden!

It begins – take 2

Two years ago we bought some land in far northern Minnesota. It was on the bucket list and we were ready. We thought we’d do a slow build and then move up there for retirement.

Well … our grown children have increasingly become uncomfortable with that idea – too far away from them, too far out of the nearest town … Indeed – it is a location for the more hardy. Our trail cams consistently show bears, wolves, coyotes, bobcats, besides deer and rabbits. I recently put up a bird feeder and left seed in it upon our departure. Bad idea. The bears discovered it, took it, bent the shepherd’s hook way over, took the solar light on the other hook, and then kept visiting for a few days to see if more fun might reappear. No sir-ee! That’s a quick lesson in “Don’t do that!”

Here’s them seeing if maybe something closer in to the camper might have appeared. (The bird feeder was farther out.) Yah. No.

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The garden I tried to grow up there quickly got overrun by those famous northern ferns. Thousands and thousands of ferns on the property – literally, and they are tall and grow fast! Nix the garden. Some of it survived – asclepias, some iris, asparagus … but it is now naturalized, and will stay that way. Maybe in late fall we will try to remove the metal frames from the raised bed hugelkulture experiment we did. Maybe. Right now – no way. Too overgrown.

We are working on a plan B for retirement – still up north, but in a city. It is consistent with our continual downsizing plan – an older home with a very small footprint. Outside it has an old lawn (my favorite – low maintenance) and absolutely no landscaping or garden.

So the fun begins.

Planting tulips in the snow

The townhouse garden is all cut back and tucked in for the winter. It was a late finish this year. Between adding extra activities to our lives (time up north, going on our townhome association board) and fully enjoying all of the garden’s fall color, I finally finished up the cutback Sunday and the bulb planting yesterday. I was planting tulips and crocus in the snow!

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The two 5′ hostas are now in other people’s gardens, and in each place are 9 yellow tulips and a dozen purple and white crocus bulbs. In the spring I will layer with daylily seedlings and see how they progress.

The fall color wrapped up about 3 weeks ago up north, and has now wrapped up at the townhouse. Our beautiful fall colors are no longer our natural decorations, but they were gorgeous and we enjoyed them tremendously! Soon we will have layers of the white fluffy stuff that stay for a few (5 at least!) months.

Starting our journey with the land up north this year really changed me. We have spent time up north for 20 years, and camping for many years before that, but something about managing and spend time on our own land changed me. It was partially the simplicity of hauling in our water, living in the small footprint of a 280 square foot camper, and having an outhouse, but it was more than that. We’ve done that, even primitive camped. It was deciding how to manage the slice of woods for which we are now responsible – how much wood to harvest, how much to clear, how much of the land to leave alone, how quickly things grew, how our little garden got overtaken, how the trailcams showed us deer and bear and wolves and coyotes that move through the land, how the area I thought I would develop into a wooded garden became a fern forest with an abundance of toads, and how wildflowers were everywhere. It made me stand in awe. Unlike in our townhouse garden, the horseflies bit hard and the wood ticks showed up in groups on the screen tent fly. But the vast beauty of uncultured, natural “gardens” got ahold of my “simpler” self. I gave up time in the townhouse garden in favor of time walking the land. Each now has its place, but they are very, very different.

Back at the townhouse I did not end up harvesting the hosta seeds this fall. Realistically, I know we have plenty of hostas. I am giving them away. Up north, the deer would just eat the seedlings. My seedling focus will be on daylilies next spring.

I did dig out the irises that never bloomed at the townhouse, and planted them up north to see how they do. Beyond that, up north we’ll see if the asclepias, the asparagus, the coneflowers, and the malva zebrina hollyhocks we planted make it through the winter. The hugelkulture gardens in raised bed forms turned into weed patches because we are not up north all the time, so we’ll see what survives. I will say I wish I had the money back from the raised bed frames and bags and bags of dirt. I would not do that again. That little garden area seems really out of place in its surroundings. Lesson learned.

Our old hibiscus ended up with dozens and dozens of buds in August, and is still blooming profusely indoors. It was over 5′ wide when we brought it inside, and it barely made it through the door. As the blooms on a stem fade, I am trimming it. It is lovely and just keeps on going.

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I also saved the gladiola bulbs that I had in a large pot this year. They required chicken wire protection, but were beautiful!

For next year, I’m thinking I will continue to simplify, enjoying the established townhouse garden, seeing if I can get new daylily seedlings to grow, and continuing to enjoy the up north natural beauty.

Now energy turns to indoors at the townhouse – getting garden decorations stored, cleaning up the shamrock plants for the winter indoors, and then on to dispersing all kinds of items that we are no longer using in the house, getting them on to new homes. Our townhome is also small. We constantly need to work at keeping things cleared and as simple as possible.

Maybe this weekend we will be at a state where I can pull out the candles and put them in the windows. They are our only “outdoor” “holiday” lights, and I’m looking forward to having them up again.

And over the winter there will be time walking in the snowy woods up north, where the outdoor lights are solar, and probably covered til spring.

More no work fall decorating

The gardens are in full fall color now.

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No work fall decorating

Today as I was returning to the house on our daily dog walk I was once again in awe of the absolutely stunning array of colors on the ground from the fall leaves. I had this thought – “free fall decorating”.

Now maybe it’s because I am appalled by the amount of waste coming out of disposable decorations. Maybe it’s because we have worked very hard to simplify. Maybe it’s because we’ve had an eye opening 9 months of going up north to our undeveloped land and seeing that vast, very different in scale and style, beauty. But this year I cannot bring myself to put out our little scarecrow picks. I don’t want to buy pumpkins that we watch rot. I am enjoying seeing a wave of color pile up in our landscaping and on the lawn – before it gets swept away or cleaned up. It’s “free fall decorating”.

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Naturalized beauty

On the way home from our recent trip up north, my husband and I were talking about how different “gardens” are for us up north. He said something interesting – In the “city” we plant gardens to bring nature and beauty into our outdoor spaces. We long for it. Up north nature is already there, abundantly.

Every time we go up north new massive waves of flowers are blooming. We’ve seen some of those waves for years. The applicability of those experiences to what we are doing is now slowly dawning on me. Yes, the different waves were technically “planted” over time, but they are naturally all over – in fields, in the ditches, in the woods. I don’t need to create “garden” beauty up there. It’s already there for me to enjoy.

This last time the tiger lilies were blooming. I realized when we were on the way home I didn’t even take pictures. Wow! I was “in the moment”. I just enjoyed their beauty, for long walks, and for miles and miles of driving.

Perspective is coming forward. My tiny attempts to bring “garden” beauty to our land up north have quickly been overtaken by the massive natural beauty that is already there – a gigantic garden, planted over thousands of years, doing its thing naturally and with more beauty than I could ever put together. My part as a gardener in that environment is to realize it and just enjoy it.

Now, if we ever move up there, we may want to grow some food, and that will take more work. And at the homesite area we are slowly clearing we eventually want to have a clover “lawn”. But that is a topic for another day.

Back at our townhome, I confirmed what I suspected – I missed the first ‘South Seas’ daylily blooms of the season. But before we headed up north I caught our first ‘Purple D’ Oro’ daylily blooms, and when we came back we caught the first ‘Just Plum Happy’ daylily blooms

along with a couple ‘South Seas’ blooms.

Today I caught the first ‘Hush Little Baby’ bloom

and the first red daylily bloom (in the way back)

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along with over a dozen ‘Purple D’ Oro blooms.

And after work, after our dog got his daily walk, I spent an hour putzing in the gardens – trimmming here, weeding there. It’s all good.

We’re running now – here and up north

As I enjoyed my “putz and pamper” time this past weekend, I had time to reflect on the gardens so far this year.

After a very long winter, and months of feeling like a horse at the gate, we are running quite fast now – both here and up north.

The cherry trees wrapped up their bloom here quite a while ago, but a pleasant surprise was that we got a glorious “re-do” during one of our trips up north. Such a treat to get multiple blooming schedules.

At the townhouse, sadly, my favorite long-lived bunch of purple tulips has faded. They were an icon each spring. I will try to find something just as iconic, but maybe a different species. Not sure what yet, but it might be harvested daylily seeds. Just thinking at this point.

The new tulips I planted here last fall were glorious this spring.

Now the blooming season of early clematis has also passed and the weigelia has hit it’s peak bloom. Soon the asian lilies will start blooming.

What I did not expect was a hosta bloom so early – yet here it is, beginning to form. And on the ground in that garden the forget-me-nots are beginning to pop up.

To watch here this year – two plants from 2017 harvested daylily seeds – both from ‘South Seas’ – one of my favorites. We’ll hopefully see a bloom or two on them this year, and discover what we got with the help of our pollinator friends. What I know for sure is that daylilies are deer munchies, so I have decided they will not be making the trip up north, as divisions or as seedlings.

In pots, the hibiscus and the gladiolas here are squirrel favorites. I have put chicken wire around a number of the potted plants and bulbs – not a flattering look – but needed.

The Aureomarginata hostas here are gigantic again this year, the daylilies I added last year are looking good, and the Blue Mouse Ears are more full than ever.

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Which leads me to options. Up north, the trail cams are showing us oodles of deer, a coyote, lots of bunnies, and a bear. Makes sense – there’s lots to eat, including wild strawberries all over the property that just wrapped up their season. I wanted to divide the Aureomarginata hostas and bring them up there but it’s probably not the smartest. I will be fighting a munching battle that will only make me sad.

There’s also a sedum that has been crowded here for a couple years. I wanted to bring it up north and put it in the sunny garden to let it shine. But despite web lists that say sedum is on the list of “deer-resistant” plants, I am hearing reports that they too are tasty morsels up north.

What did work in the year one test garden up north is two types of seeds directly sown into the raised beds – malva zebrina hollyhock, and cinnamon mint. Some free carrot seeds are also sprouting, and two asclepias plants have survived, so far. Coneflower seeds did not sprout, asclepias seeds did not sprout, and all of the kale and asparagus died back. I think it needs more water than we can provide. We are just depending on watering when we are up there, and rain.

And, after much deliberation, and my husband mentioning he doesn’t think he’d like the look, I have given up the idea of using a dog kennel as a critter-proof option. Alas, I don’t like the look of chicken wire here. I probably wouldn’t really like a dog kennel asthetic up north.

So the lesson so far is – some things will stay townhouse garden plants, and we will embrace what’s already on the land up north, plus seed sown additions that can survive with just rain, and that are not attractive to critters.

I heard lupines may be an option. They do naturalize beautifully …

Putz and pamper

It’s one of those rare weekends – nothing to go to, not many errands needed – it’s what I call a “putz and pamper” weekend. The best kind ever! A whole weekend of endless possibilities. So thoughts turn to the garden. Scope creep begins – new water in the hummingbird feeder of course, trim the shrubs – already started at 5pm, check the tulip stems to see if they are letting loose yet – done … And then the walk-around starts – put chicken wire around the bottom of the hibiscus so the squirrels can’t get at the fresh dirt every morning and make a colossal mess – ok – done.

Chicken wire the lettuce seeds that are languishing – I suppose – done. Move some plant pots a bit – done. Now it really starts – move the ‘Praying Hands’ hosta that is being overshadowed by a daylily, put daylily seeds in small empty spots in the garden, redesign the front entry area – STOP! It’s a putz and pamper weekend, remember. Oh, yah …

Snort!

Funny story …

A month ago we were up north on the land, eating lunch out on the trail. We were just chatting occasionally. All of a sudden we heard a loud snort! I couldn’t place it. A weird bird?

My husband asked if I heard that. Yup. Did I know what that was? Nope. Well, it was a deer very close to us, just up at the turn of the trail, who heard us/caught wind of us and was not pleased. It was warning its buddies “Danger, Danger” and probably trying to fend us off. An hour or so later we wandered up the path. Wide open, very fresh deer tracks could be seen just beyond the turn. The deer was running when it left.

I doubt I will ever get bored there. There is always a new experience!