'Tis springtime in Utah

Spring in Utah starts in February when the Cedar trees release their evil pollen into the air making breathing difficult and everything yellow.

By March we typically have no snow, fruit trees bloom, daffodils, tulips, crocuses and hyacinth (sp?) bloom. Then around conference weekend it snows and covers everything up. It doesn't last, makes a lot of mud, and everyone cranky for a few days.

In April the wind blows. A lot. (not that where I am it is ever not blowing) Mid-April it snows again.

May it's warm and sunny and veggie gardens start to come up. Mid-May it snows.

June it is almost always shorts weather, and hot days aren't uncommon. Flowers and gardens are beautiful, grass is green (except for my yard). Mid-June it may snow.

July it's hot as hell and with water restrictions people sacrifice their lawns for their gardens. Mid-July it may snow.

(I realize now that these posted backwards, again. I'm no good at double posting on the same day. This picture was taken this morning, and by afternoon it had warmed up enough we were making more dirt. Gotta love Utah weather.)

We made more dirt today

Definitely wishing we had a bigger tarp, I still have another batch of dirt that needs to be made but it's exhausting. I'm planting a few things tomorrow too, and putting the guides on the boxes.

Urban homestead?

So, I can't have the animals, I can't ditch the well meaning neighbors, and during the winter there's not a lot I can do either.

BUT, it's spring! We've started a Square Foot Garden (SFG) and while nothing has been planted yet (putting a few seeds in this weekend) I thought it would be fun to document through pictures the process. We're also (still) in the process of cleaning up the yard and changing things (like getting rid of the huge thicket of wild roses that I'm allergic too) I think that following the Urban Homestead philosophy (ok, it's my own Urban Homestead philosophy I'm not sure there is another one that actually exsists) the things we plant and grow should give us something in return.

It's going to be a long process, and maybe by the time we get there I can convince The Pessimist that living out west a little bit isn't such a bad idea.

Here is the beginning of the SFG. The cardboard still needs to be trimmed, the grid still needs to be put on, and I need to pick up some more stuff to make the rest of the dirt.

Life on the farm

The longer I live in town the more I want to move out of town. Give me a few acres and some guidelines on homestead and I'd be all over it. The Pessimist? He doesn't agree. Yesterday we went to visit a friend who has a farm out west (way out west) in a little town that is barely big enough to qualify as a town

The kids fed the baby calf, played with the baby goats, got to pet the horses. I loved the lack of city noise, the smell of fresh and the lack of neighbors.