Hope

Spring is the promise of hope realized.  From twigs that appear dead, new life shoots forth.  Shrouded in a blanket of snow, flowers burst into bloom.  While rain beats down upon the earth and wind batters the landscape, tender life begins to unfurl in anxious anticipation of spring.

Such has been the case at Little Shouse on the Prairie.  New life and Hope has come.  For years I have struggled to grow a garden.  I have planted and tended crop after crop, only to have them flourish briefly, languish in an exceedingly sad state and finally wither into oblivion.  Finally, finally, my efforts have been rewarded - spring has come!  I have roses, lilacs and red twig dogwood budding.  Raspberries and strawberries are awakening.  Lavender, chives and basil are bushy with  new growth and even my apple trees and blueberries bushes lived through the winter!  Hope has been realized at our Little Shouse.

An apple tree planted last year

Budding leaves!

Red Twig Dogwood - the beginning of a hedgerow

Raspberries

Roses and Lilacs

As our garden has lay dormant, awaiting God's perfect timing, so has our hope of a new direction for our family.  Those of you who have followed along on our great adventure know that we have longed to make changes - for Sir Knight in his job, and a new location for our family.  Those hopes and dreams, which have long lay dormant, have recently experience a resurgence of hope.  Spring seems to have come to our family as well as our garden.

As our adventure unfolds, we'll keep you posted - until then, Hope springs eternal.

A wild rose that I transplanted years ago - thriving!

Our Life in Pictures.....

Just a slice of our sweet American life.....

Princess Dragon Snack and her best friend asleep with their guardian

These girls are SAFE!

For her 11th birthday, Princess Dragon Snack had a sleepover

Miss Serenity saved her money, got her drivers license and bought her first truck.....

So she could transport her motorcycle!

I think she's pretty pleased!

The Comfrey is loving the weather!

And the lilacs are beginning to bloom

New clover coming up around the fruit trees

And the apple trees are blossoming

The sun room is open!  Our favorite part of spring!

Perfect for relaxing with a glass of lemonade or iced tea after our Chainsaw Gardening adventures!

Sir Knight salvaged the door for me out of a homesteaders barn - it still
has it's original porcelain door knob

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful and productive spring!

Spring Cleaning....

With no snow on the ground and balmy, spring like weather, we have taken to cleaning up the garden beds, spreading compost and doing myriad other outside chores.  We have been burning slash piles, cutting, splitting and stacking firewood (for next years burning) and generally cleaning up the yard in anticipation of spring.  Oh how I love this time of year!

The log deck

Splitting

Stacked in the wood hut for next winter

As most of you know, I have struggled to grow any kind of a garden since moving to this windswept prairie.  Our soil is heavy and full of clay and it seems that no matter how much organic material I till into the soil, it produces nothing more than a handful of weeds. 

After reading numerous books on the subject, I have become convinced that permaculture is the only viable way of coaxing our land into bountiful production, however, I have to admit that I am overwhelmed with the thought of beginning such a garden and consequently, have done little to establish a vibrant permaculture garden.

Raspberry bed getting a dose of compost

A larger bed with a layer of ash and a double layer of compost

As overwhelmed as I am at the thought of a whole new method of gardening, I am bound and determined to put my all into building a small "guild" and hopefully turning our barren patch of dirt into a lush, productive, garden full of microclimates, swales and self-sustaining goodness. 

In addition to working on a new garden, I am trying to feed the ones I already have, hoping to coax a lovely harvest from them as well.  After putting a thin layer of wood ash (from the burn pile) onto the gardens, I put a rather thick layer of compost on each garden bed.  I am hoping that by amending the soil early, the nutrients will have a chance to soak into the soil as the spring rains fall, creating a rich bed for seedlings and young plants.  What a study it will be - the garden beds and the permaculture garden - I am awash with anticipation!

Cleaning out the front garden bed

Princess Dragon Snack and Master Calvin cleaned the iris beds

The sunroom (in the background) will need some work before it's open for spring!

And so, spring cleaning will continue.  The children and I will pick up the mess that seems to accumulate over the winter, spruce up the sunroom and clean the chicken coop.  We will busy ourselves with spring cleaning as we anticipate a full and productive summer - getting ready for another winter.  Oh, to dance to the music of the seasons!