I've heard that once upon a time not so long before we moved to this farm, there were llamas in here, this roughly 3/4 acre pasture. When we arrived, we made it a home for the chickens, and most recently two pigs overwintered here, rooting and turning up the soil as they so beautifully do. In the fall, we cleared the last trees that were blocking sunshine here, and gave the shed a new roof. Now, this spring, I'm ready to settle on into it as our long-term garden space. With the back section fenced off for livestock use as needed, I'm left with a rather large 100' x 70' space to work and plan and dream (and grow, oh my!). This spring, while we're working to get this season's garden in, we're also doing a bit of planning and a lot of work that will hopefully last for years to come. Some perennials are beginning to be tucked into corners here and there, an asparagus patch has been planted and rhubarb too, we're making permanent paths among the ones that will move each year, and have marked out the spot for a little greenhouse - all things that feel like settling in, in such a wonderful way.
I've been moving most of my gardening tools from the main barn to the garden shed here - so handy it is to have it all close by, and organized, and well, mine (though there is no one to blame but myself now when my garden gloves go missing again for use as a magician's gear or a knight's accessory, ahem). And goodness, I do love having a 'space' to play with. Even a simple, humble rustic shed that once housed fourty chickens. I'll take it. And I'll dream for a minute about another year sometime in the future when I can put windows on each side, and paint it, and make cute curtains that open out onto the stonework little table and chairs that I can someday sit and sip my tea at right beside the fiber dye garden that will be there too. Well, I dream all that anyway, as I tuck the dried hydrangeas in a bottle on the shelf, tack a poster to the walls, and feel grateful for a place to store the garden spade, and to keep my favorite gardening books handy and out of the elements.
For now is not quite the time for any of that prettying up, but for the good work of getting this years garden in. Which is just what we're doing, a little bit each day. The peas went in this week, with a new fort-like trellis plan - one for each of the kids, though Annabel loves to run from one to the other. It makes us all giggle so much that I can't imagine anyone would mind if she hung out in theirs for a while.
