Pine Bluffs Post - Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908

As I sit here in front of the computer and look back at 2018, I'm feeling tired. And getting more so. That was a truly busy year, both physically and mentally. Mostly the year was spent preparing for the next chapter of my life, retirement. I don't know if I'm getting so tired thinking about how much I had to do last year or if it was trying to juggle a business while "attempting" to retire. At last, I'm closer now than I was and, I think, the hardest work is done. Last year taught me a lot, though, and I'm going to try to do better this year.

As we prepare to ring in the new year, we all make resolutions of some sort for the upcoming year. Many revolve around lifestyle changes like exercising more, losing weight (I gave up on that one) or kicking some habit. I'm usually not much into resolutions since I never seem to be able to keep them, but I am making a resolution this year and I'm making it public so everybody can help keep me on track. My greatest fault last year was, drum roll please, PROCRASTINATION! Yes, I put off doing things that should have been done early in the year and I didn't do things that should have been routine. Nearly all of my trials last year came from procrastination in some area or another.

I did a real good job of getting in all my rows for the lavender in good time and even before the shipments started arriving. I even planted quickly. What I didn't take into account was the weeding that was critical. That turned into the biggest boondoggle of my entire year. Yes, it's a large field and it all had to be done by hand, but six foot tall weeds? Come on. Who in their right mind allows weeds to grow that tall without taking care of them? Well, I obviously wasn't I my right mind because I did let them get that tall. In fact, some of them were so big that I had to cut them down with a hatchet. I spent nearly a month, sunup to sundown, to clear out those weeds. And by the time I was at the other end of the field, feeling really proud of myself, I looked back and they were already growing back. I had to start all over again. This year, major resolution here, I'm going to grab those weeds by their little throats and I'm going to yank them out of the ground. Then I'm just going to throw them off to the side without a second thought so they can wither and die. Call me Rambo.

For the last three years I've been telling myself that I need to weed the strawberries. Since I'm listing it here, I obviously haven't done it yet. To give myself a little credit, I did get started. Just didn't make it very far. I'm going to do better this year and I'm also going to put some mulch down to help reduce my weed issue in the patch. I use carpet scraps for my mulch between rows so it'll help with being able to find the berries, too.

I did a pretty good job keeping the weeds out of the tomatoes and corn last year, so I can pat myself on the back about that. So the resolution there is much easier. This is one that I almost enjoyed, too. I'd get out right about sunup, when it's still cool, to weed. Watching the sun come up and feeling of the cool air is, well, it's just refreshing and pleasant. I can usually get a half dozen rows done before it gets too hot to keep going.

Looking at this list, I can also say that I'd better make a resolution to keep the weeds out, too. That's the greatest bane of all for a gardener, at least in my book, weeds. We usually talk about how difficult it is to grow anything here in Laramie County, but I don't thinks that's quite true. My weeds grow just fine without a lot or work. I don't have to water them and I don't give them any special fertilizer. In fact they don't take a lot of care either. Even the grass in my raised beds does just great. Yep. I hereby resolve to take the group of plants that grow really well here and I'm going to tear them out so I can plant something that requires a lot of care and maintenance. Hmm. So who ever said that everything has to make sense.

I guess I really have two resolutions: procrastinate less and weed more. Yes, I do still have a lot of little projects that I want to finish this year, but they won't require a resolution, at least not yet. So what are your resolutions? Maybe, garden more and stress less? Okay. You talked me right into it. I'm going to go garden more and stress less. How about you? I hope you have a wonderful and productive new year. Remember, if you have any questions, ask a Master Gardener. It's what we do.