Gardening Archives - Tena Stetler

May 16th Awww a Spring Weekend – What Did You Do?

How did you spend your weekend? We spent the weekend in the dirt. The sky was blue, the temps were perfect 75-80 degrees with a mild breeze. I put sun screen on all my exposed skin, but forgot the tops of my feet. Guess what— Yep, they got burned in patches through my sandals that look so weird. LOL

Last week, we cleaned out the garden and got it ready to plant. Added several bags of new garden soil with fertilizer and put in seeds for carrots, kale, romaine lettuce, and sugar snap peas. This weekend we picked up five tomato plants and a six pack of Marigolds. We use the Marigolds for pest control. They do a good job and look pretty too.

My hubby, our chow chow, Mystic, and I spent most of Saturday visiting the local garden centers. Boy were they packed! I guess everyone was like us and decided the warm spring weather was here to stay. Could be a mistake. Since I’m a life-long resident of Colorado, I know better than to plant outdoors before Memorial Day. Nine times out of ten we get a freeze and end up covering up or carrying in all the tender plants. Heck it’s been known to snow in July. But… after cleaning up the yard last weekend and trimming up the bushes, I couldn’t help myself. I needed some color out there. Darn it.

We picked out several plants in varying sizes and colors to fill our empty pots in the front yard. (They’ve been empty since 2016.) I’ve been accused by friends and neighbors of tempting Mother Nature, again. Though it’s been two years since the softball size hail of July 28, 2016 at 10:30 p.m. Yep, I’m still shell shocked after that experience. Lived here all my life and never seen anything like that. However, this year it didn’t stop me from sprucing up our front and back yard. The lilac’s lining the perimeter of my back yard are in full bloom. So beautiful.

I went so far as to start a fairy garden. I even planted a pumpkin patch in a spot in our yard I scouted out last year. It gets the most sun all summer long.

Wish me luck! Share in the comments what you did this weekend or plans for next weekend. Are you planting? Or do you live where your plants are already flowering and your garden is producing?

Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged Colorado, Fairy, Gardening, pumpkins, Spring, tomato plants by Tena Stetler with 4 comments.

Apr 4th Finally, Mother Nature Found Her Calendar – Spring Has Sprung!

Here in Colorado, the Month of March came in and went out like a lion. Several inches of snow several times, blizzard conditions, and cold. My poor crocus looked like they’d died in the last blizzard of the month.

But low and behold, they revived and look great. Yeah!

Over the weekend, after Mother Nature finally found her calendar, we were able to prep the garden soil, plant kale, carrots, spinach, and sweet basil. I also tried an experiment and planted a few tomato seeds outside in the garden. What’s different this year? I have hoops and covers for my garden, the covers are of three different weights. Heavy weight for now, since it’s still freezing at night. Medium weight and light weight for protection from the Colorado hail that devastated my garden last year. I’ll see which one stands the test of hail, pounding and wind driven rain. LOL

Inside the sunroom, I started tomato plants and pumpkins. If I can keep them from getting spindly, they’ll go into the garden in May after Memorial Day. Never safe to plant flowers or veggies outside before Memorial Day, frost or snow will get them every time. Not to mention we have had snow in July. Gardening in the Rocky Mountains is always a challenge! But one I gladly take on for the reward of fresh veggies and tomatoes that don’t taste like cardboard. Know what I mean?

Working in the sun and fresh air was wonderful, and because there was very little wind, made it even better. Parrot, dog and turtle joined us in a supervisory capacity. Talk about too many bosses and not enough workers. LOL

Got a little color on my face and arms, even with sunscreen, curse of being blonde and fair skinned. Wore shorts for the first time this year and I didn’t even get cold. Yep, spring has sprung and summer is headed our way.

Now back to the keyboard. I have a new book to finish, the second in the Demon’s Witch Series. Waiting on a release date for A Witch’s Journey, hopefully early summer, and turned in A Witch’s Holiday Wedding, sequel to A Witch’s Journey to my editor at the Wild Rose Press a week ago, we’ll see how it goes.

Well, that’s how my world spins and how I spent my weekend. How did you spend yours? Leave me a message you know you want to. I love hearing from readers and authors alike!

Posted in For Fun and tagged books, Colorado, flowers, Gardening, Rocky Mountains, snow by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.