March 3, 2011

The To Do List

Spring is here in coastal Texas and that means tons to do. Does anyone else have this problem? Don't get me wrong, I loooove all this work and I feel very lucky I get to do it full time but this morning I made a list of all the things that need doing and found it very hard to know where to start.

 
Some big things have already been scratched off the list: the new chicken house got wheels and is now out in pasture (I'll do a post later about building the chicken house), the property got seeded with crimson clover and rye, seeds were started, fallow garden beds got amendments and fresh mulch and a lot of cleaning happened.

However...

To Do List, Spring 2011:

  • Fence lines need to be cleared
  • New fence to be installed
  • Old fences need some repair
  • Gates need repair

  • Build new beds in garden, planted with tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, hot peppers, ground cherry and cardboard mulched (every year the vegetable garden gets expanded)
  • Winter crops out of old beds, spring crops or cover crops in
  • Other vegetable beds need expanding and amending so I can plant corn, okra, winter squash, summer squash, and sweet peppers.
  • Still other old bed needs to be cardboarded and mulched again so I can plant gourds.
  • New trellis needs to be built and installed for cucumbers or beans
  • Herb transplants go in everywhere
  • More seeds need to be started


  • Very large ornamental beds in front need a little weeding, then amendments, then fresh mulch
  • Huge new ornamental beds need cardboard and mulch
  • Property needs to be picked up... particularly the detritus from the baby chickens' long term stay near the house.

  • Nest boxes to be built for both chicken houses
  • Perch for baby hens (not so little any more!), front door to their house fixed and latch on backdoor
  • Significant repairs on chicken retirement home (like entire walls need to be replaced)
  • Wings need clipping

Plus...

  • Garage needs to be finished, work bench and shelves get unloaded, swap location and get reloaded
  • Porch roof needs replacing
  • Bathroom is going to have a total overhaul
  • Kitchen cabinets need to be repainted, doors built then painted and hung
  • Front door needs replacing
  • Bedroom and hall painting
  • I need to mow my parent's yard
  • I still need to go to the post office (Emily, you must think I am a total idiot!)
  • Car tire needs repair
  • In two weeks we'll pick a mass of strawberries and make jam

And then there are the daily rounds of laundry, cooking, bread making, dog walking, yoga, etc.

There are a lot of immediately important things to do plus longer term projects to plan but since it's spring the garden takes priority. If I don't get the garden beds built or repaired or prepped then things don't get planted at the right time which means we don't have as much to eat. This is the year I plan to grow all our tomatoes, peppers (both to be canned), beans (dried), and garlic for the year.

So, if my blogging seems sparse over the next few weeks you can blame it on spring.


Anyone else feeling overwhelmed?


(I shared this post on Simple Lives Thursday at A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa)

11 comments:

  1. Wow, I wouldn't know where to start yet, either! That is quite the list. I am really excited to hear about your chicken coop - I assume you move it around on your property?

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  2. Yep, it gets moved every morning as does the light weight pasture fence which (supposedly) keeps them contained. Of course since they're young, it's spring, and their wings aren't clipped about half of them fly over every day to wander around. Hopefully when we clip their wings only 25% will fly over :-) And they do settle down as they age. In spring they love to perch outside at night so 4 or 5 of them find a bush or a tree in the evening. A few nights ago my husband shimmied up the pear tree to retrieve a chicken who had found a roost at 12 feet. She's lucky b/c I would have just let her take her chances at night with the raccoons.

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  3. Your to-do list looks a lot like ours. We are in the Houston area so we know we need to get moving on things. This is mine and my husband's first year to plant a garden. We live on 2 acres and have PLENTY of room, but since we don't know what we are doing are garden looks like it belongs in the backyard of one of those cut cutter neighborhoods.
    I too am excited to hear about your chicken coop!

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  4. We're in the Houston area too!

    I'm glad everyone is excited about the chicken house :-) Hopefully I'll get that post up soon.

    Do you have chickens on your acreage?

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  5. Overwhelmed? YES! You have your list on paper now (blog paper). Mine still seems to be rattling around in my head and I keep thinking, "oh ya, I need to do that too" "and that" etc. I need to get a master list going no matter how long it is so I don't forget something. The only thing I have managed to get done on time is start seedlings (and that is a huge improvement!) I am excited to hear about anything "chicken"! I can't have chickens here (HOA Rules, not mine) so I love hearing about chicken things. I also like seeing your list of things to do - so many different things and so many similar things. Sincerely, Emily

    P.S. - I haven't even thought about it, so "idiot" hasn't crossed my mind. We are both busy with spring things, just wait until you have time to breath. Spring things come first!!

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  6. We don't have chickens YET! Hubby brought home some information from tractor supply on Tuesday about ordering some chickens from them? I'm pretty excited about it!
    We have to build a house for them first! That's on our "to-do" list this weekend!

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  7. Just popped in to see what you are up to I really noticed the cages you have around your tomatoes in the photo. I have been on a quest to find that type of wire...not easy I guess. Last year I bought a roll of a type of wire (6"x6" squares) that people use to lay in sidewalks for support before pouring cement. It works great, but it is rusty! I have used it all up making cages and want to find a galvanized wire. I bought some at a fence supply place yesterday but it looks a lot more complicated than the stuff you have in you photo. Can you shed any light on what that is called? or how I ask for it? What I bought isn't what I really want. Emily

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  8. That is fence I bought at McCoys although I've seen it elsewhere. It's what we used to fence in our property as well. I'm not sure what it's called but it has a thick top wire and the spacing is a little smaller at the bottom than the top. The horizontal wires are continuous but the vertical ones are short pieces wrapped around each horizontal.

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  9. YIPPEE there is a McCoys about 25 miles from me. I am going to check that out. I have no problem returning the other fencing I bought yesterday, it just doesn't seem right to me. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!! I only need to make about 13 more cages for the tomatoes, but I know I will find other things to do with this fence...maybe some thing for vines to climb on to shade the back of the house! hmmmm

    thank you!!!!!!

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  10. The McCoys closest to me didn't have the fencing I wanted on hand, so I decided to unroll a bit of the fencing I bought to have a closer look. It was fine and I have started making more cages for the tomatoes! Thanks for your information. I appreciate it a lot! I hope all your spring projects are going well. Emily

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  11. Hope things are going well for you. Emily

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