March 26 Friday Farming Update

Man, I neglected this blog this week! It's been one of those weeks, where work is all I can seem to do, think about and dream about. Yuck.

I'm planning on doing some farming prep this weekend. We're in that almost spring phase of weather in Montana. Rain fell as I drove home last night at 9:15 pm from a meeting, but this morning a skiff od crunchy snow sits on the ground.

As proof that being a farmer in Montana takes resolve:

Crocus

Tulip

Daffodil?

Hyacinth

We have no firm plans for the weekend, so I plan to work around the house. There is the usual "clean the bathrooms" and "file paperwork" list, but I've also added "farming prep" to the list! This weekend I want to:

Friday:

Swing by a local nursery on the way home and check:

• the price of asparagus and onion sets
• the price of bare root plants (trees, shrubs, raspberry bush)
• the price of soil pep, which is a kind of bark I plan to use in the flower beds (see all of the little green sprouts in the photos? WEEDS)
• what they reccomend adding to the gardening patch to amend the soil. Peat moss? a 10-10-10 fertilizer

Saturday:

• start some vegetables indoors (corn, zucchini, summer squash, winter squash, sweet peas, snap peas)
• (depending on snow/ weather the night before) amend garden soil as needed, rake out, and seed spinach, carrots and shallots
• fertilize bulbs
• firm up plans for bushes, trees, and remaining landscaping

I also sent in the paperwork this morning to participate in the City of Bozeman's tree cost share program for trees. For $50, the Forestry Department subsidizes tree planting in the boulevards (City property), as long as the homeowner agrees to care for and maintain the tree. The best part? They even plant it for you!

Since we don't have enough distance separation between our sewer lines and the other utilities, we can only fit one boulevard tree in (boo). I chose a Brandon Elm tree because of it's yellow leaves in the fall, and it's mature height of 85 feet. I'd like the trees in the front (southern) yard to eventually shade the house, and the Brandon Elm will grow high enough to do this well.

Brandon Elm in the summer.

Brandon Elm in the fall.

Happy Friday!