I'm back! I can't believe how long it has been since I posted. Since then, I have lived through a tornado that destroyed our property, been on bed rest while pregnant, and had my son. Having a newborn is much more work than I ever dreamed of. I was able to hire someone to come and clear the weeds from my garden while he was very young - the tornado brought in weeds by the droves - and the natural course of not being able to care for the yard while on bed rest just made it worse. Now Cooper is 6 months ( you can see him here: Cooper's Blog).
Last weekend I was able to till up the veggie garden. It was a very difficult job; the soil was very compact because of all the trucks rolling over it to fix the damage of the storm. The soil looks very good, though. Two years prior I had laid tons of newspaper and pinestraw down. I still need to lay the irrigation system back down. I think I want to change out the T-tape, but I am not sure if there is any left since it was stored in the out-building that the tornado took out. Hope to do all of that this coming weekend.
We had people come the same weekend of my tilling - they cleaned up the tree damage on the surviving trees - all but one. The one by the road is very dangerous and they couldn't do it. We have to get it done soon before the whole thing falls on a passing car.
I met a woman the other day who has some shade. We are going to swap shade plants for sun plants since I am lacking shade nowadays. Right when I had learned to love shade plants. In fact, I really know nothing about sun plants. Need to study those. I can't think of anything to plant which is just ridiculous. First priority is consolidating my beds, though. They are too spread out now for caring for them with a child.
Just ordered seeds for the veggie garden. I am a little behind on some, but it will be ok. Pictures soon, I hope.