On the Grounds of Coffee

Remember last year when it was gonna be AMAZEBALLS??

So many plans, so many seeds, so much watering!! gaaahhhhh!!

and then.

remember last year when it was a total fail?

THIS year i'm workin it (yeah yeah it's a little late in the year), makin it, doin it (the gardening you creep heh heh), and it's makin me harder, better, fa- wait wait i'm getting this wrong.


K, i dunno about doin it faster though... there's only so much my back and shoulders can handle.
But for sure it's making me stronger :)

I have a different focus this year. Instead of creating new life, I'm working on cultivating the lives I've already got. Like the tree pictured above. last year it was just an awkward looking treeling with two skinny long arms. this year, after an entire spring of branching and filling out and getting dressed, a whole galaxy of aphids came and stunted so much of the new growth. I didn't know what was ailing it and at that particular time i didn't really care to notice due to my whole not caring to notice much of anything. The other thing killing this tree was complete dehydration- not because i was withholding water mind you! but the tree was planted on a complete slope and none of the water would stay anywhere near the tree... hence: STONE WALL! hour after hour i kept stacking the damn rocks trying to make them stay... and then finally i've got a teeny little dam to keep my tree drunk with water to grow and be merry. the flowers underneath are gardners' strategy that i'm slowly picking up on to attract predators of the aphids that will mosey on over to the foliage and then stumble on a feast of the little aphid bastards to eat away at! HA!

what else this year? a little ways away from my tree i ripped up even MORE grass and built what will be my herb garden next year. I'll be finishing my patio table today- i'll be posting about that soon. I want to build some kind of shade pergola over the patio but that's something i still have to work out...planning on cutting down the plum tree this fall so the nectarine tree can flourish- they're starting to choke each other out now {sad}. I'll have to fix my raised beds once the season ends because we've already got tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers growing in them now. and lastly- maybe most ambitiously- i want to build my green closet. somewhere to grow plumeria and a lemon tree...this project is particularly tricky because adequate lighting is essential and location may be a difficult thing in my yard... no matter. I will make it work. Did i say i've started composting? I've started composting. and learning about feeding my plants. i'm going to have amazing compost in about 3-4 weeks, i'm also going to make some Worm Cafe's for them to come compost around the yard for me, and COFFEE!! who knew coffee could be so amazing for the yard? i've been asprinklin' and asprinklin' some more. everywhere. because my office produces CRAZY amounts of coffee grounds and that means i have an unending supply of food for my garden. stay tuned.....