My assorted creatures and I just went through a solid week of absolute hell, schlepping all my responsibilities, and all our belongings, to a new house, 300 miles away from the only home all of us but I had ever known.
This is a garden journal post, an entry to @riverflows' monthly garden journal challenge , so I'm not going to get into the harrowing moments and the long stretches of stressful hours that we all just went through. I won't be talking about the exhaustion, the sleepless nights, or the emergency visit to a small town vet because my dog appeared to be dying. I won't bore you with the critical paperwork still to be done, or the tricky arrangements to be made, or my ongoing search for stores, markets and restaurants that sell edible food.
On to the house.
Ta Da!
Not long ago I was a suburban soccer mom (don't get me started on how much I hated being a suburban soccer mom) living in a huge house, on nearly an acre, in the suburbs just north of New York City.
All of a sudden, I'm a widowed retiree, living in a medium-sized house, in a tiny town, in the boondocks of New York State.
One thing I have never lacked is chutzpah. We'll see how that works out this time.
Let's get to that garden
There's a 120 foot walk down an asphalt driveway to get to this enticing walkway into my new back yard. Looks promising, no? Like you really want to see what's just around the corner?
I'll show you.
The Reveal
Just around the corner, within spittin' distance, are the neighbors!!!
I wanted a smaller yard. I truly did. My previous acre was killing me. I did not want to have to work that hard anymore. I am delighted by the size of this yard. I see lots of potential!
Let's walk on.
If you walk to the bottom of the walkway in the photo above and turn to your right, due North, this is what you will see:
I took these photos mid-afternoon on October 2. This spot should get plenty of summer sun to grow veggies - it gets phenomenal late afternoon western sun now - and will be the location of my tiny vegetable patch for 2021. Last year's patch was 12 ft by 8 ft. Next year's will be more like 15 by 15 - more than twice the square footage, but still tiny. Those two bushes in the front will, regrettably, probably have to go. I have asked their permission to uproot them. They, and I, are still thinking about it.
The perennials, mostly varieties of heuchera, will be replanted elsewhere.
My Secret Garden Spot
Incredibly, my tiny yard has yet another enticing walkway, drawing us in. This leads to my favorite part of my new yard. Come on! You have to see this!
The Back Forty
For those of you who don't know American idioms, the back forty refers to a back field, of 40 or so acres, on an American farm. In my case, my back field is rather smaller, more like 300 sq feet, and it's behind my garage.
My back forty harbors a lovely stone fireplace!! Like any proper back forty, it's super private! If only I had the stone garden bench the lunkhead movers couldn't get on the truck. I've stacked some discarded flat stones up as something to sit on back there for now. When the mosquitos back off, I'll be hanging out there a lot.
The Way Back Home
When I turn around to go home, I see my pooch (much improved!) on his way into my secret garden; Jimmy is never far from me. As annoying as that trait of his has been, it's coming in handy in this tiny yard.
That's it folks! Besides all you've seen, I have a front yard full of Yew, which is pretty useless either medicinally or as a food source (as far as I know), and a narrow strip of a flag stone walk to a never-used back door.
Before winter sets in here, I hope to have fenced in my 15 by 15 veggie patch, turned and amended the soil as needed, planned a bit of the veggie patch's layout, and plopped in some garlic.
Sorry! No selfie this month! I AM TOO TIRED.
page break by @thekittygirl
images by me