Lists
If you don’t make a list, that means you’re listless. I think our situation calls for action, so let’s make lists, and the first one should enumerate the kinds of lists we should make (and don’t forget where you keep your list of lists).
Here is an example of what a list of lists would comprise (using my situation as an example): 1) housecleaning and maintenance (yikes!); 2) projects on the deck; 3) yard improvements, including revamping flower beds; 4) greenhouse repairs and reclamation; 5) shed declutteration; 6) garden projects, maintenance and repairs. Whew!
Gardeners like me will skip directly to Number Six and sprinkle in bits of the others upon necessity. Here’s a snapshot of my potential garden list (if I were to ever make one and not lose it):
Fence repair — Deer live here too, so upon creating a garden space, I erected a fence seven-feet tall. I achieved that height by harvesting thin young trees in the nearby woods, cutting them to size and strapping them onto T-posts. That was 15 years ago, and the time has come for new ones. Old ones did their job. They crumbling now. Need 20 of them. Might take all winter.
Weed and prepare asparagus bed — The asparagus bed is 8×1.5 paces. Crowns have been in place 13 years. Weeds abound in such fertile soil, and they mess with the autonomy of the crowns which aren’t bothering anybody – just sitting underground being happy crowns. Time for weeding, and you have to want to do it. Once weeded, the bed needs soft layer of mulch. Hope it doesn’t take all winter.
Protect the young lettuces and chards — “Why oh why would you plant lettuces now with cold weather beckoning?” fairweather gardeners might ask. “Yeah yeah yeah, I planted a bit late, but I’m just as stubborn as the cold. I’ll figure out something,” Actually, to clean out the seed basket, I scattered some fairly old seeds with modest expectations and look what I found! Now I’ll create a safe environment for them just like we should want for young lettuces all over the world.
What to do with moringa roots — I grew two dwarf moringa plants this year and recently harvested them. They have ostentatious roots that are edible if you know what to do. I intend to clean them, either shred or chop them tiny, then dehydrate some and freeze the rest because I don’t know better. What if it works? Moringa roots (way nutritious) can be steeped to make a healthy tea or added to recipes for dinner. Moringa bark is also edible, and it tastes like horseradish with the tang. Next year, I intend to plant four or five moringas in the garden and treat them as annuals like tomatoes.
Grape vine maintenance — My hillside has wild grapes. The vines grow to the tops of nearby trees, and some grow along the top of the garden fence. Grape-growing is something for me to learn about, and maintenance is called for. Maintenance will involve detangling vines from the redbud and the dogwood, but I want to prune as smart people prune. I will check with Uncle Google for advice but also listen to the vines. They’ve been here a while.
All the rest — And that is only the beginning, it never ends, and gardeners keep on gardening because it is just another day to garden. Trees on the southwest side need to be thinned because they’re taller than they were ten years ago thereby making too much shade. The redbud could also use a trim. The hugelcultur beds need more organic matter. Nobody built my tool shed yet or made a comfortable sitting area like in magazines. If I ever leave the garden, I should repair the greenhouse door that got mangled in a storm. Or maybe I should consider items 1-5 on the list … or someday (uh-oh!) begin decluttering my desk… that might take all winter, so I better go back to the garden list.