Green Life - getting ready for spring!?

I have taken the blog outside today...literally. I have my gloves on, a blanket on my lap and I'm sitting in a lawn chair in my sun filled backyard. It is probably around 5C out right now. Isn't it awesome how laptops and WiFi have changed our lives? So, why am I out here (aside from the Vitamin D benefits) because I am itching to get into the garden. I love the winter. What I love about the winter was sorely lacking this year. I love it when the snow comes along and covers my dismal dirt filled garden.

It beautifully hides blankets my garden until spring can come poking through. Not this year. Instead, I have been staring at a garden with no blooming flowers and no snow for about 4 months now. Something's gotta give.

Don't get me wrong I know that it is no where near time to start planting, but that doesn't mean a girl can't dream. Today is all about dreaming. Last year I shared some tips for planning a garden and this year I am going to share some more ideas that I have for my own.

We need a new fence...desperately. When we moved into our house 4ish years ago we knew the cedar rail fence was not going to stay - and yet it has. This year it has to go. Every year we seem to need to replace another rail, as someone has walked by and leaned on one and broken it. It is nearly impossible to locate cedar rails in the city of Toronto. So, I have to go out of town to get them, which is no small feat. Thus, a new fence is a must this year. What this mean however, is that the outdoor budget is going to have to be s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d if I want to get anything else done.

Speaking of stretching the budget. Last fall, when I was walking home from the library I noticed that our neighbour was throwing out 2 small pond forms. I had been thinking of putting a small pond in our backyard for awhile now. I picked them up and brought them home. I think I will only use one this year. I have don't intend to have fish and filters and all of that stuff. I hope that the girls and I can do some research and figure out some plants, algae, etc that will grow happily in our little pond. This is going to be so much fun...and it was free! (well, not the plants, but the pond)

Vegetable garden

The girls have already placed their orders for the veggies they would like to grow this summer. We'll have our usual herb garden plus; cucumber, spinach, snow peas and brussel sprouts. I'll throw in a few other surprises. In fact, next week we are planning a trip to the nursery to suss out some seeds and get starting some seeds, just like we did last year. Growing your plants from seeds is a less expensive way to grow a garden.

Flower garden

It has been a couple of season since I added a good amount of compost and fresh soil to the garden. Where we live our soil is about 75% sand. There are lots of plants that thrive in the sand and we have had a lot of success. However, the time has come to give the garden a nutritional boost. Another large part of the budget will be going to this project.

That's it for now (just in time, the sun has shifted and it is getting cooler out here). Nothing too lofty. Our outdoor chalkboard survived the winter, I'm happy to say. If we can get our little pond up and running and our veggies growing I think we will enjoy another beautiful year in our little (I mean little) slice of outdoor heaven.

What projects are you dreaming of for your garden this year?