Season 3 Episode 1

Shelly and Ann discuss gardening, favorite garden tools, garden fashion and our (lack of) organization of tools!

Be sure to give a listen to the clips of new original musical composition by Belle Elegant aka Ann - Garden of the Green Women

Transcript

GOML - S3E1 - 20260216

Speaker: [00:00:00] Their hands in the soil skirt, him catching laughter like abrook running straight through you kettle on. Steam curls in the breeze. Three women round the roses, talking to the leaves 

Ann: so it's February it is 56 degrees outside and we have had minimal rain, snow, any moisture whatsoever, so it's been kind of a tough. Tough season. I mean, I love the warm, don't get me wrong, but [00:01:00] it's the wrong time of year. , I actually did see a baby grasshopper yesterday. I know. It's like you guys that's crazy are out already 

Shelly: crazy.

Shelly: Yeah. 

Ann: So what I'm afraid is, you know, the insects are emerging, but we're gonna get really cold in a day 

Shelly: in the next couple of days. Yeah, yeah. For sure. For sure. , I went out today and sprinkled some, just meadow, wildflower seeds, where I'm mm-hmm. I'm trying to rebuild the, yeah.

Shelly: Rebuild some stuff from the construction . With the idea that we're gonna get a bunch of snow that's going help, absorb that into the ground. 

Ann: They keep revising it down though, so I'm a little bit nervous about that. 

Oh 

Shelly: shoot. 

Ann: I suppose we should start.

Speaker: Here in the garden of 

Speaker: the green women

Speaker: in the.[00:02:00] 

Speaker: Everything grows. Everything grows. Again.

Ann: Hey everyone, welcome to get off my lawn. I am Anne Reber. 

Shelly: And I'm Shelly Partis. 

Ann: And we are in February now. It's really warm out there, which, , don't get me wrong, I love the warm, but I'm actually pretty nervous that we are not gonna get anything as far as a winter this year.

Ann: And a lot of plants and insects need that. , 

Shelly: oh, yeah. , It's been crazy, this weekend we were, running around in. Just long sleeve shirts , and mm-hmm. And, all of that. And just kind of worried about the, um, watering, which, you know, what, like, should I be watering things or not?. Plus we have this new puppy 

Ann: Oh, yeah. 

Shelly: And , it's super muddy out, you know? Mm-hmm. , Yeah, , I think , it's a worry. , Is that going to turn into a big [00:03:00] fire season, , drought? How, how will the gardens do, um 

Ann: mm-hmm. 

Shelly: With the ever ending, never ending drought situation.

Ann: Right? 

Shelly: Yeah. 

Ann: Yeah. I've just pretty much, come to the conclusion that we are in desert at this point here. 

Shelly: Right. 

Ann: So, but yeah. It's been. I guess Nice. , So spring is around the corner, even though it feels like it's spring now. It's still 

Ann: coming 'cause we're gonna have a little bit of a cold spell.

Shelly: Right. 

Ann: We still have a lot of prep to do before. Spring really gets here. So right now, we've top dressed our lawn, , seated, you know, put compost down. Uh, this week I'm gonna go pick up boars so I can start building some more raised beds. , Actually the ground is still frozen in a lot of spots, which is good, especially around our trees because we don't want them waking up yet.

Ann: I hear that. Missoula, they're having that problem is the trees' buds are [00:04:00] swelling and once they break that kind of hard shell, they're very susceptible to the cold. So that's kind, that's what happened that one year. Remember all those cherry trees got nuked up in Kalispell? Yeah, I 

Shelly: do remember 

Ann: that. But there is something you do need to be watering and that's your little pine trees, baby.

Ann: Pine trees need water. 

Shelly: So we have, yeah. And I planted, I did plant some ponderosa pines up along the road area last year and so I did actually give them, a shot of water this weekend you know, a bucket of water. Mm-hmm. Not a shot. 

Ann: Yeah. 

Shelly: Bucket. Bucket of water. Yeah. And you know, it is kind of nice.

Shelly: I will say the warmer weather is kind of nice for all of the, prep work, you know? Mm-hmm. , Cleaning garden tools, getting them organized and figuring out what's going on. , I'm gonna be putting together, hopefully this week, one of a couple new raised beds as well to put into the garden.

Shelly: And, I can actually dig into some of the ground a little bit. 

Ann: Mm-hmm. 

Shelly: At least at [00:05:00] the moment. So I might actually even start working on some of my landscaping with the Wall Rock. So I've got all of that stuff going on outside. Um, where normally I'd be focused more on the inside right now. Right. With the Oh yeah.

Shelly: The things going on inside. How about you? 

Ann: Uh, yeah., Our neighbor. Just dropped off, a bunch of big rocks out by our road for us to do something with, but we have to figure out how to move 'em 'cause they're way too big for that. Oh, I'm also baking the last of my deta squashes. Oh. Last fall we had two plants and each plant gave us, like, I swear to God, 15.

Ann: Squashes. Mm-hmm. So I've been making some each week and we are almost out of them. I figure that that's a great return on our investment. Yeah. Because they lasted all winter. Right. Um, and we got about, I wanna say about 20, 30 pounds of potatoes left too out of our three raised [00:06:00] beds. Uh, so that's, that's I think really good for, you know, just.

Ann: Having food that you grow and lasting. How about you? Were you able to, 

Shelly: right? Yeah. So I have, what do I have left? I mean, the biggest thing that we, we had was as far as a return, was the garlic, right? Mm-hmm. And so I have two CLOs of garlic left. That's where I'm at with garlic. Oh, I can 

hook 

Ann: you up with some, 

Shelly: you can hook me up with some garlic.

Shelly: And I actually gave some away, so I actually probably had 

mm-hmm. 

Shelly: Had more than that. So, we have garlic. I have one butternut squash left that I had harvested that actually seems to be keeping really well. Um, yeah. Over the squash 

Ann: Does. 

Shelly: And I still have a couple pumpkins. I mean, if you want a pumpkin, I can hook you up.

Ann: Oh, I have so much pumpkin in my freezer. 

Shelly: That's right. I remember the pumpkin puree. So from as far as what's kept well for me, and again, we didn't have quite as successful, uh, garden yet, I think this year's gonna be better. Um, but, uh, really the garlic kept really [00:07:00] well.

Shelly: It's been, um. No, no worries. That cured must have cured it properly and it's kept really well. And then that squat, the squash and pumpkins , have done really well. So I'm looking forward to growing more of that. Um, 

Ann: yeah, 

Shelly: along with, all the other things I've planned. So, 

Ann: oh, speaking of plans, have you gotten your seeds yet?

Shelly: I do, I have a plethora of seeds. I've actually started some already. How about you? Have you 

Ann: Uh, we really 

Shelly: a little early, but you know, that's me. 

Ann: Yeah. Yeah. We haven't really started anything yet, , except we got some baby trees that we're gonna try, some baby hackberry or we got hackberry seeds.

Ann: We're gonna try and see if we can get them to germinate. And there's some other. I think so we've got that, but we haven't started like tomatoes yet or anything like that. We probably will start them soon, but it's only February. 

Shelly: Well, I know it's, I know it's only February. Mm-hmm. [00:08:00] But , like I said, I think the last couple podcasts, my goal this year is to kind of get some staples going, right.

Shelly: Like onions, potatoes, that type of thing. And then I, yeah., I was gonna hold off on doing any hot peppers, but then I started making my salsa again and I decided, oh, I wanna try, I'm gonna try it one more time., And there's a couple of the types of peppers have a pretty long, um, grow,

Ann: yeah.

Shelly: Grow 

Ann: period. Or 

Shelly: uh, have a long yeah, long . Growth period. So, , I started Onion seeds. Which they say end of February, so I'm maybe a week early or so. But, end of February and then I started my habaneros and my Anaheim peppers because they have the longest, period.

Shelly: And see if I can extend that, , grow time. Mm-hmm. A little bit longer. Yeah. . So, that was ,, what I've started so far. And the one thing I read about the pepper seeds, I don't know if you knew about this, is that, um, especially the [00:09:00] hotter peppers, it's better to start 'em in bigger pots because they don't transplant very well or they don't like to transplant very well.

Shelly: So if anybody's struggling out there with hot peppers, , especially after transplanting them, , I just started them in a bigger. Bigger pot. Uh, there you go. Just to see if that makes it easier so that rather than potting up over the next two to three months, I'll hopefully not have to do that more than maybe once and then get 'em in the ground, so.

Ann: Mm-hmm. 

Shelly: That was kind of the plan. 

Ann: Yeah. We've got some massive pots that we're gonna start our pumpkins in. 

Shelly: Okay. 

Ann: So, , we'll have to wait for the weather to. Be done with, be done. Well hopefully freezing before we're gonna go down that route. But like you said, you know, the bigger the pot, the less you need to transplant.

Ann: So. 

Shelly: Yeah. Um, so how do you start Seeds? I sent you, did you get that link I sent you? 

Ann: I did and I started [00:10:00] watching it and then I got interrupted. So you wanna give me the overview? 

Shelly: Yeah. So we were just, scrolling through YouTube, watching gardening, videos, and I came across , this method for starting seeds.

Shelly: Called, it's called the snail method. Okay. And the reason it's called the snail method is that you take some type of material and you basically put a layer of soil or potting mix, uh, or seed starting mix on it, and then you roll it up like a snail and you plant the seeds. Mm-hmm. In this, in this spiral and 

Ann: Okay.

Shelly: What it, it does a couple things. One, it's a space saver. So if you don't have a lot of space to, you know, have your seed starts and have all of the little cells and different things like that, you can plant several plants in, , like a little. Three to four inch diameter. Uh, 

Ann: yeah. 

Shelly: Snail rollup.

Shelly: [00:11:00] It's almost like, almost looks like a sushi rollup. It's kind of funny. Okay. Yeah. , And then it also, the other advantage is you can make it fairly deep. So, the mm-hmm. Plant will, the roots will grow. Fairly deep. And so that, so that's kind of neat. And so, you put the layer down, you put the soil on there, you roll it up, and then you can put like some tape, or depending on what material you use, rubber bands or something to hold it together.

Shelly: And then you plant the seeds along the spiral and then Wow. , As they grow mm-hmm. , You can unroll 'em, add more soil if you need, or you can. Put 'em in a bigger pot or just put 'em straight in the ground from there. But, , it was , really interesting. It looked like it was something we, might try it with , a couple different plants and see how it goes, but yeah.

Ann: Huh, 

Shelly: uh, uses less soil for one uhhuh 

Ann: use 

Shelly: less soil, um, retains moisture better depending on which method you use. Um 

Ann: mm-hmm. 

Shelly: Less space. 

Ann: Yeah, [00:12:00] that's always good. Space 

Shelly: is a big issue for me, so, 

Ann: yeah. Well, I'll have to watch that video and then maybe give it a shot. 

Shelly: Yeah, yeah. 

Ann: Yeah. Not that I'm hurting for space, but I think , it'll be fun to try different things.

Shelly: Well, and I like the idea of mm-hmm, not needing as much soil for it. Right, right. Um, it's almost. Especially if you use, there's one where you can use like bubble wrap mm-hmm. With parchment paper. So you use it, you know, the parchment to make the layers so you don't have the plastic against the soil and all of that.

Shelly: Okay. So, um, , it really, retains the moisture, um 

Ann: mm-hmm. 

Shelly: Content there. It gives it some insulation, just kind of built insulation. Because of that. I suppose if he is corrugated cardboard, it would be similar. But, um, the , whole thing was really kind of interesting to me, so, yeah. 

Ann: that sounds cool.

Ann: I'll have to look into that. 

Shelly: Yeah. So trees, what, what trees are you planting this year, Anne, what's your plan? 

Ann: Well, we've got , some more pines coming 'cause it's not All [00:13:00] of the ones that we planted last year survived. We had some that just absolutely quit for no reason and I have no idea why. 'cause I checked the.

Ann: Water levels. It was getting as much water as the other trees around it, and it was getting all the same nutrients, so mm-hmm. I got nothing. So we got a couple to replace there. Um, we gotta replace , some of the crabs out by the road crab apples, , they just aren't doing well and we're gonna plant so some more in, in the orchard itself.

Ann: So we got some exciting new apples that I cannot remember the names right off the top of my head because they're just, kinda weird, obscure apples that you never hear about in the store. Mm-hmm. So we'll give those a shot and we're also gonna plant some more pears because interestingly enough, the pear trees do very well here.

Ann: So, yeah, I know, right? It's like, huh? I don't, you usually don't think about pears in an orchard, but, 

Shelly: right. 

Ann: Yeah. our pear trees seem to like it, and they're growing [00:14:00] well, so we're gonna add more. 

Shelly: I have a couple of pear trees in my garden area that mm-hmm. Um, I, oh no. Wait, are they pair? No, they're plums.

Shelly: Sorry. Disregard that 

Ann: plums are good too. We have lums coming too. 

Shelly: Yeah. 

Ann: So, , I tried to dig out one of our dead trees and the ground's frozen, so I'm gonna have to wait for the ground to thaw before I can get out there and keep digging. Um, , we're also gonna plant a couple more Bur Oaks.

Ann: 'cause I love Bur Oaks. They're so pretty ., It's so fun to plant trees because 

Shelly: mm-hmm. 

Ann: Well, except for when they get eaten by gophers. But 

Shelly: yeah, 

Ann: that's a different problem. They're just fun to have, especially if you don't have trees, you know? 'cause out here it's just bare, just grass. You have to protect him from deer.

Ann: I do not understand how anybody managed to raise a tree. Without a fence, you know, it's like, holy cow. How did that tree survive, dear? It's crazy. 

Shelly: Yeah. 

Ann: So, how about you? 

Shelly: [00:15:00] Yeah,, I'd actually like to try to figure out, , a kind of tree to plant, , along the road mm-hmm. To create a little bit of a wind break.

Shelly: But , I also wanna make sure I don't block too much sun, so I'm trying to figure out what could be a good. Uh, a bush good option there. Bush, maybe more of a bush or a dwarf tree or something that doesn't get too tall so there can be enough sun. , but again, yeah, it's trying to keep it alive and that's super steep right there.

Shelly: Right? So, I did plant, some, , blue bunch wheat grass. Okay. Along the side there, trying to get rid of some, somebody hit way back, had planted this other type of grass that's, uh, I don't know. It's invasive. It's not native, it's just kind of ugly. Mm-hmm. , It's a type, of wheat grass of some kind, but somebody thought it was a good idea and , it's just really not very nice.

Shelly: So I'm trying to overtake that with some other things. , But I think I need something that has more root structure to it. So besides just flowers , and grass, right? Yeah. So that's, what I'm trying to figure [00:16:00] out. I have my aspens, we'll see if they survived the winter. I don't know.

Shelly: They were, they weren't looking great at the end of the, summer last year. So we'll see, how they're doing. But I did have, like I said, I did go walk around and check out my Ponderosa pines. They're little, those little baby seedlings 

Ann: Yeah. 

Shelly: That I got. Um-huh. . There's at least a few that are still alive, and survived.

Shelly: So, that would be kind of nice. I mean, just add to the trees that we already have there, but, uh 

Ann: Oh yeah. I can never have too many trees. 

Shelly: Yeah, 

Ann: yeah, 

Shelly: for sure.

Ann: So how about your tools? You got your tools ready to go, you said? 

Shelly: Yeah, I started pulling those out. I need to clean 'em up a little bit.

Shelly: My favorite tool, I was gonna ask you about that actually. My favorite tool is this. Um, it's a handheld and it's got a rake on one end and it's got a what do you call it? A 

Ann: hoe on the other. 

Shelly: Hoe on the other side? 

Ann: Yeah. 

Shelly: And 

Ann: I know exactly what you're talking about.

Shelly: Yeah. 

Ann: I don't remember what it's called though. Shoot. 

Shelly: It's got [00:17:00] Japanese writing on it and I 

Ann: Yeah, 

Shelly: sure. It's got some kind of name that matches that, but,. I love that tool, but last year , the handle split. So I need to get a new handle for it. , But just trying to clean everything up and get it tidy , taking advantage of.

Shelly: The warmer weather to do some of that. Yeah. I have a lot of plans to do more wall rock and landscaping, helping to deal with,

Ann: erosion. 

Shelly: Erosion. Thank you. Just helping to deal with erosion , and working on some of my paths.

Shelly: That's gonna be, a big part of what I'm gonna be building over the next year. I've got a few different areas that I'm gonna work on trying to, just build that soil up so it's not just a big muddy mess, every spring. Mm-hmm. Having some ways where you can work around and walk around.

Shelly: Yeah. In there. So that tool though, is great for that because it helps me carve out the spots mm-hmm. To put the wall rock. 

Ann: Yeah. Yeah. I guess I would have to say my favorite tool is [00:18:00] either a spade, 'cause I'm always digging stuff up it feels like. Mm-hmm.

Ann: Or a, A big Garden Fork too. And not a pitchfork. Oh yeah. But the Garden fork. Yeah. They've got the flat tin. Mm-hmm. I use that so much. ' cause it's really nice to bust up roots of grass and stuff for the Garden fork. And then, or even the spade too. Keep your spade nice and sharp. 

Shelly: Yeah. 

Ann: And then, like for the vegetable gardens, I have one of those, tools which I do not remember the name.

Ann: I'll have, we'll have to look it up. We'll have to 

look 

Shelly: it up. Yeah. 

Ann: Yes. But yeah, that comes in so handy too. Just to be able to rip through weeds and stuff like that. That's, 

Shelly: yeah, 

Ann: that makes it really easy. I was also thinking, in addition to tools, like do you have boots and gloves and stuff like that, but do you wear when you're gardening?

Shelly: Well, I have some really great muck boots. They're, mm-hmm. Short though. They're not like the traditional muck, boots are, go up to your knees, , but 

Ann: yeah, 

Shelly: I got [00:19:00] some that are just, they're not shoes, they're just a little bit higher, so they're like mm-hmm.

Shelly: The height of like a, yeah, like a hiking boot or something like that. 

Ann: Mm-hmm. 

Shelly: So those are my favorites. I still have those from last year, so I'll, just keep wearing those. But , I can't find my box of gloves. 

Ann: Oh no. 

Shelly: Hard and gloves, so I'm sure it's in the garage somewhere. I've been starting to pull stuff out and it's in a box somewhere.

Shelly: Mm-hmm. , I mean, I did find a pair, but it's not the ones that I like, so. 

Ann: Oh yeah. 

Shelly: I have certain ones that I like for in the spring, late winter, early spring, because they're more waterproof and your hands mm-hmm. Don't get all wet and all of that. And then others that, um.

Ann: So you rough, you prefer like the more rubbery rather than the cloth or leather or, 

Shelly: yes. Yeah. Okay. For, for that time of year, right? Mm-hmm. Because it feels like it gets really cold and if your hands get cold,, then it's, 

Ann: yeah, 

Shelly: you're kind of screwed, right? You can't really do anything., But then as it warms up, I actually [00:20:00] like the ones that have the leather.

Shelly: I do like the ones that have the leather and the cloth because then they breathe better. Uh, so 

Ann: yeah. 

Shelly: Yeah. 

Ann: I don't know about you, but my hands get, so the skin on my hands get so dry. Mm-hmm. When I'm digging out in the soil, even with gloves on, it feels like Right. So yeah, that'll sap the moisture right outta your skin.

Ann: You know, that's what lotion's for. 

Shelly: That's right. Although I need to be better about wearing gloves because it does dry out your skin a lot. So, 

Ann: yeah. , Also, hats have to wear garden hats otherwise. That's right. Otherwise my face gets fried. If I don't wear a hat.

Ann: Yeah. So, but yeah, the big strawberry rimmed hats, those are, those are nice to be wearing in the garden. The only issue I have is 'cause it's so windy out here, the wind either it blows, pushes it down or up. So I'm blind or strangled because the string around your neck is being, it's like having a wind sail around your neck.

Shelly: I haven't found a wide brimmed hat that [00:21:00] I love yet, so I tend to just throw on a baseball cap. , One of the things that we're talking about doing is get building a small, like four by four foot greenhouse that can go mm-hmm.

Shelly: Along the side of the house., Where that patio is, where the big retaining wall is, and then there's that patio. And we're looking at potentially putting something in there. And right now red I have some shelves where I throw all my stuff that I, I'm using, uh mm-hmm.

Shelly: That I wanna easy access to. So I'm gonna try to move all of that stuff up into the garden area and organize that. And I wanna get, some type of rack or some kind of way to. Organize those tools a little bit better in, in 

Ann: that 

Shelly: area. Yeah. Yeah. 

Ann: I have a peg board in my garage that , when I put it up, it's like, okay, I'm gonna have all my tools right there so I can see 'em, and I don't put 'em back.

Ann: They, 

Shelly: they end up well. That's what this corner has ended up being. But if we end up putting, a. Greenhouse there. [00:22:00] They won't be able to go there. I guess they could go in the greenhouse, but it's not good. We're not talking a huge giant greenhouse, so it's gonna have to go somewhere else. Yeah. But yeah, they, they end up like in the corner of the garden.

Ann: In a corner, yes. 

Shelly: Leaning against a tree, uhhuh, whatever. But, I always like to start off organized at the beginning of some, 

Ann: I have to pretend I'm organized and it's like, yeah, yeah. That ain't happening. 

Shelly: You know what other tool that I really like, living on a Hill is mm-hmm. This broad. I bought, uh, I got one of those broad forks.

Shelly: Do you have one of those? Oh 

Ann: yeah. Uhhuh. 

Shelly: , Because it's really hard if you really wanna dig up Earth, , the Broad Fork works really well. I mean, as long as the ground's not too hard. If it's really hard, then it's, yeah, it's gonna be pretty difficult.

Shelly: , And then I have these little auger things mm-hmm. That, uh, you can get in there , and use a power drill to dig up the earth a little bit and loosen it up. Oh, okay. And then I use the broad fork, and so I found that that's really nice, especially being on a hill because you [00:23:00] can't get a, .

Shelly: Rototiller. It's just literally not safe to be Yeah. You know, up there with a machine, um,, digging up the ground.

Ann: Mm-hmm. 

Shelly: Those are good tools that I've found to work.

Ann: So when you do your paths, do you put like weed barrier down or are you just putting like, um, pavers and stuff?

Ann: How are, how are you doing your paths? 

Shelly: Well, I've got one that I did and one that I didn't, and 

Ann: mm-hmm. 

Shelly: I don't really love the weed barrier underneath it. I think I'm gonna move away from that. Okay. Maybe I'll ask you about that. , The one path I used, I just dug it up and I. Put pavers down and then small rocks around it.

Shelly: And I just filled it in and it's pretty hard, clay, so. Okay. And, last year I wasn't keeping up on it because, we were dealing with the sinkhole and all of that kind of stuff, you know, so. Mm-hmm. So, that's on my list to clean that up, and really get that lined out and create a border, , with some of the wall rock and stuff like [00:24:00] that around there.

Shelly: Uh, but no, there's no barrier. Other than the rocks and the pavers. Okay. The o, the other side, I did put fabric down, and then I put, wood chips and mulch down. 

Ann: Mm-hmm. 

Shelly: But it just slides off. 

Ann: Oh yeah. Okay. 

Shelly: So because we're on a hill, so it's not a nice flat path, I suppose if you had a nice flat path, that would work great, but I just don't know.

Ann: I put weed barrier down on that path in front of my house, but grass finds a way to like take root in the mulch on top of it. Mm-hmm. So that's annoying. It's like, why am I, what am I barrier against if the grass just grows right over the top of it? So I'm trying to figure out a better way to do that. , So I was just interested in how you were gonna handle your paths since you mentioned that you're gonna be working on those this summer.

Shelly: Explain, yeah. , My plan on the one side, where I tried to use the fabric, um mm-hmm. [00:25:00] I did some research and I think what I'm gonna try is cardboard, lake cardboard down. Mm-hmm. Um, and then. We wet that down really good and then put the mulch on top. Yeah. And then what I've read, I mean, it does require some maintenance, so that's gonna mean , next year I'll have to, rake up the mulch, put more cardboard down.

Ann: Mm-hmm. You 

Shelly: know, and 

Ann: yeah, 

Shelly: I mean it's, the thing with the weed barriers is, I think it, it's not great for the soil for one. No, that's underneath. Mm-hmm. And., I think you're right. You know, it's like maybe I just need to figure out a way to just work with whatever grass or whatever's trying to grow around there instead of 

Ann: Yeah.

Shelly: And creating borders maybe. So, yeah. 

Ann: Yeah. Go ahead. I think I'm gonna work with, uh. Pavers this time. 

Shelly: Mm-hmm. 

Ann: But, so right up against the house though, I have to have the weed fabric 'cause mm-hmm. [00:26:00] We don't want weeds growing up right up next to the house mm-hmm. Since, you know, fire risk. So we're just, uh, gonna have fabric around that.

Ann: And then I want, I've been using fabric, around trees too, to prevent weeds from coming up. Right next to the trees and competing with their water sources. So the, I've noticed last year, so I put fabric around some of the trees last year, and they're actually looking really good. So it's helping to retain water, which is interesting.

Shelly: Okay. 

Ann: Um, so I'm gonna do some more experimentation with that and see where we, where the best places to have the fabric down. Mm-hmm. And, . You know, go run with that then, so, yeah, 

Shelly: yeah, , that's one thing I'm gonna do on my trees as well, is create a little bit more of a, I'm gonna try to manicure it a little bit more instead of just going crazy wild of just , mm-hmm.

Shelly: Kind of create circles around [00:27:00] there that are clear. And I haven't decided if I'd put down fabric or just mulch it, , just to keep it a little bit more. Protected now that they're starting, they survived their first year of being thrown to the wolves and now maybe I'll baby 'em a little bit and see if they, see how they do.

Shelly: . So I think one thing I'm gonna try to do is create, instead of trying to create a barrier, where I don't want things to grow is dig things out and create a border. That hopefully keeps everything else out and then just mulch over that. And , that's where I'm trying to, but I might put cardboard down because that kind of helps at least a little bit.

Ann: Yeah, 

Shelly: in the, 

Ann: I did a lot of that too back in the day when I was trying to control weeds in certain areas. Like we'd have a patch of white top here or Cheatgrass over here, so I would just lay a bunch of cardboard down and it did help, but. Everything got burned up in the fire. So we, I stopped doing that.

Ann: Maybe someday I'll go [00:28:00] back to that. , But the fabric is what we're running with at this point. Well, so we're seeing how that goes. 

Shelly: Oh, I'd also like to get a wood chipper. But my wishlist is,, getting pretty long, but my friend Anne has one that I can borrow if I really need to.

Ann: Yes, yes. Anytime you need it. 

Shelly: You know willow trees have growth hormone in them, so they work really well for mulching around plants. Right? So like, if you want certain types of plants, if you wanna mulch around certain types of plants, um.

Shelly: Like asparagus, strawberries. Those are, those are all really good ones to use. That for, um, that's why I wanna wood chip, because we have a big giant willow tree in our neighbor's yard that is just like overtaking. The, east side of our house, so we're, 

Ann: yeah, we 

Shelly: chop, chop a bunch of the branches, which probably will make them not happy.

Shelly: But that's, 

Ann: uh, it's on your property. 

Shelly: Yeah, 

Ann: so we have, we have willows down by our creek. Mm-hmm. And in the spring, you know, before [00:29:00] they leave out, I'll go out and cut the tips or like this much off the ends of a bunch of 'em, and then soak it in water. And if I have trees that have been struggling or like gophers have gotten after 'em or something like that.

Ann: So they need that little extra help. I'll just water the trees with that. Uh, willow. 

Shelly: Oh, 

Ann: interesting 

Shelly: water. 

Ann: Yeah. And that seems to be, that seems to help 'em a lot. 

Shelly: Yeah. 

Ann: So 

Shelly: I thought that was Yeah, that's a great idea. I thought that was interesting that the. Idea behind the, I mean the, the growth enzyme that's in them.

Shelly: Mm-hmm. It makes sense when you think about willow trees because they grow so fast. Yeah, yeah. Right. Like, they just, like, , that's why people, they love them. , I have a love-hate relationship with that tree because it's mm-hmm. It's so beautiful. But there's branches everywhere, like, you know, they just, it's just like a uhhuh 

Ann: and they spread.

Shelly: Yeah. So might as well try to use them. 

Ann: Yeah. Get 

Shelly: some good outta it, so, yep. 

Ann: Yeah. [00:30:00] Awesome. But, that's what I do. If I've got trees that need a little extra help, I'll just take a five gallon bucket of water, throw a whole bunch of those willow tips in, just soak it for a day or two, and then water the tree with that.

Ann: Nice. So that all that 

Shelly: What other maintenance do you have that you might be needing to do on your water watering systems that you have right now?

Ann: , So I'm trying to set up a way to water the orchard that doesn't waste water. So what we have is we have drip tape and I've got a lot of drip tape, and what I'm doing is every three to four feet I'm gonna run. A line of drip tape, so it's all hooked up to a main pipe and then it's gonna water the orchard like directly on the soil.

Ann: So I'm not flinging water everywhere and losing it to, evaporation. 

Shelly: Mm-hmm. 

Ann: So I am still working out the logistics of that, and that I think is what. [00:31:00] I'm happiest with, I have drip tubing around the tree trees themselves individually, but the ground beneath, or the ground between the trees where there's no drip tubing gets really dry.

Ann: So what I need to do is start that drip tape, which just eases water into the soil. And so we'll get plants growing along that tape. Mm-hmm. And then that as that shades the soil. More plants will, you know, keep growing around that. So hopefully we can get a nice, healthy, 

Shelly: mm-hmm. 

Ann: Uh, orchard base, you know, plant some flowers and stuff like that.

Ann: For pollinators, it's always about pollinators. 

Shelly: That's right. 

Ann: But overall, we do have very focused watering systems. We don't like to waste water. Mm-hmm. You're not gonna find like big sprayers on my property, at least anymore I used to, but then. Just too much water goes to waste. How about you? 

Shelly: Yeah, so I use a lot of drip tape.

Shelly: , The only, mm-hmm. Sprinklers that we [00:32:00] really have are on Mike's little patch of grass that I've let him maintain. Mm-hmm. , And honestly, when it gets, , hot in the summertime, he has to water that every single day. It's, it's, 

Ann: yeah. 

Shelly: You know? Mm-hmm. And, , what I've found is the drip tape's great.

Shelly: We've got a lot of ground cover going now with the clover and um mm-hmm. Some other types of ground cover that, , I really didn't have to water a lot. Um, , it just keeps the ground moist and, , it's usually pretty happy. Mm-hmm. Using, using that, I do think I'm gonna need to.

Shelly: Pull, because I wanna clean up some areas, that I let go last year because of , getting the vegetable garden set up and all of that. I'm gonna, take advantage of that, uh, opportunity to pull all , the drip lines up, and find a better layout for them.

Ann: Mm-hmm. 

Shelly: . And I'd like to get a timer. , So like, if we're gonna be gone. Yeah, or just so you don't have to think about it quite as much. , To make sure that it's getting a good, steady drink at least two to three times a week, is [00:33:00] my goal. Yeah. If it's watered well, and you have the right kind of plants, at least that's what's what I've been reading , and you mulch, , properly.

Shelly: Most things don't need to be watered every day except for when they're first starting out, , which could be done by hand, right? Mm-hmm. That's , my plan, for the watering and the hillside's really done pretty well. I'd like to figure out how I could get water on the other side of the driveway, but that's maybe.

Shelly: Phase eight like three or four years from now. It's not a high priority for me, so, 

Ann: oh yeah, just, uh, same here. I've got so many things I would love to get to, but I have to understand that I only have so much time, so much bandwidth, and some things are just gonna have to take a back seat to what other things, you know, that's, that's just the way it is.

Ann: But hey, it's, you know, you can plan 'em out. Yeah, look forward to 'em. So, 

Shelly: I've got on my list, I wanna do a lot more., Research on, , using the right kind of mulch. [00:34:00] For different types of plants in order to mulch and, uh, straw and, and different things like that to help retain the moisture.

Shelly: So not wasting water, but also then retain the water, uh, to help, help reduce that. So I think both because we live in a drought, we live in a place that's in a constant drought. 

Ann: Right, right. It's so frustrating watching the rain go to our south. Yeah. that's one of the challenges, especially like my grandpa was a farmer and every year was a challenge.

Ann: You know, one year they got wiped out by the white harvest, which was basically they had a monster hailstorm. A week before harvest. You know how heartbreaking that must be.

Ann: , We are at the mercy of the weather, but there are things that we can do to mitigate, like water mulch, you know, be very mindful of what we plant.

Ann: Tree, you know, like trees and plants that can survive this climate. , And just do the best we can and just [00:35:00] understand, hey, not everything's gonna live. So, 

Shelly: yeah, I'm sure. Speaking of living well, this is maybe a not very happy subject. So, you know, I have this new puppy, , I'm seeing a bunch of little baby birds.

Shelly: Are you seeing a lot of birds out at your place? 

Ann: Not yet. But 

Shelly: no, we are getting tons of birds and there's a lot of little small adolescent or baby birds, um 

Ann: mm-hmm. 

Shelly: Which I think is kind of normal. It's the ones that we normally see, but, my little puppy, we took him for a walk the other day and he got into some weeds and grabbed a hold of a bird.

Shelly: Had one of the baby birds. We got it out. My granddaughter was with me. She wanted to save the bird, so we were gonna try to save the bird, but I have a feeling probably did not survive. It might have been injured already. Mm-hmm. But anyway, just. Circle of life, you know? I mean, 

Ann: yeah.

Shelly: But this, 

Ann: oh, I know. 

Shelly: This talk is like, what whatcha going after and it was in the ground, you know, so you don't expect Oh, bird. Yeah. 

Ann: Right. Yeah. 

Shelly: Got it. And 

Ann: [00:36:00] mm-hmm. Yeah. My cats, I mean, we, we try to keep them on a pretty tight leash when mm-hmm. It's nesting season and you have babies on the ground and stuff, especially around here where you have metal arcs and huns and all these babies that are 

Shelly: mm-hmm.

Ann: On the ground. So, yeah. But 

Shelly: it just seems early. It seems a little early for those uhhuh, for those birds. I know that we get uhhuh, like, you know, we'll get like chickies and,, yeah, those,, that they're kind of, it seems pretty early to have baby birds that are nesting 

Ann: mm-hmm. 

Shelly: In the ground.

Shelly: So, I don't know, again, maybe it was injured. And so that's why it was there. But, it was obviously just a little, it was a small,, baby, so. I don't know, the weather. It, I think it's confusing everybody. It is. , Including the insects you said? Mm-hmm. Did you say, I, know you told me earlier, I don't remember if we said it in this podcast, but you saw some grasshoppers or something?

Ann: Uh, yeah. It was just a little tiny grasshopper. I was out in the [00:37:00] orchard and it jumped on this lid that it's like, why are you like. Yeah, dude, you're gonna be in for a bad time because it's gonna be really, really cold and you can't, I don't think they can survive it, which is concerning 'cause birds eat those insects and if they're not alive when the birds are here.

Ann: Wow. What, that's concerning. 

Shelly: Well, I have been successfully, keeping away from, just cleaning out all the beds, and mm-hmm. Getting rid of all of ve vegetation because I think exactly that. Once you start 

Ann: Yeah. 

Shelly: Doing that, they're gonna all start emerging , and,, then they're gonna get dumped on by a big snowstorm.

Shelly: Yeah, maybe actually, maybe we're happy if it's, if there's a big snowstorm, but I don't know. It's really, I, I'm looking forward to, I'm getting excited about springtime. I don't know about you, 

me 

Ann: too 

Shelly: excited about springtime, getting out there, doing our planting and all of that, but man, this weather, [00:38:00] it's really making me nervous.

Ann: Yeah. Yeah. 

Shelly: And I'm not even sure why I'm nervous other than the fact that it's just not the way it's supposed to be, and I just am. Yes. 

Ann: That's, that's it. Exactly. Like this is so unusual. 

Shelly: Mm-hmm. 

Ann: So hopefully it goes back to normal next year. 

Shelly: Mm-hmm. 

Ann: Who knows? We'll find out.

Shelly: So other than that, how are things going? Are you feeling pretty good about your start of the new year and where you're, where you're going 

Ann: now? Well, since I can be outside. I do feel better. 

Shelly: Mm-hmm. 

Ann: I love it. You know, I went and I just went down by the creek the other day, just sat there and breathed, you know, it's just, that's nice.

Ann: Nice. Yeah. 

Shelly: Nice to be outside for sure. 

Ann: Mm-hmm. . Well, spring is on its way, even if we have a little bit of cold weather still between us and that, but, we are looking forward to being outside, planting the gardens and just, uh, feeling better because we can.[00:39:00] 

Ann: Be outside in our gardens. 

Shelly: That's right. Back to our happy place of digging around. Yep. And, , enjoying just the outdoors and less people. 

Ann: Mm-hmm. Being, being 

Shelly: outside 

Ann: in nature. 

Shelly: Being outside with nature. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so, with that, thank you for listening. This is Get Off My Lawn. My name's Shelly Partis.

Ann: And I'm Anne Reber. We'll talk to you soon. 

Shelly: Yep. Take care. 

Speaker: Their hands in the soil skirt, him catching laughter like abrook running straight through you kettle on. [00:40:00] Steam curls in the breeze. Three women round the roses, talking to the leaves here in the garden of the green women

Speaker: in the. Everything grows. Everything grows. Again.