The exclamation point is put to work

Here's an update on the past month at the Hendohomestead.

I like that, Hendohomestead.

I have successfully marked off a few items on the oh-10 to do list. I freecycled the chitalpa trees and planted three dwarf fruit trees on the side yard. I found multi-grafted dwarf fruit trees at the Lowes next to my house for $40 each. I thought, okay, it'll be an investment to buy 3 trees for $120. After I dug up the chitalpa and passed them on to a better life via freecycle Henderson (yea for sharing the excess with your neighbors!), I went to the Lowes near my mom's house and there were my fruit trees marked down to $4 each. Yes...no typo there folks, $4 each. Amazing! So I purchased a 4-way apple tree, a 4-way pear tree, and a snow queen nectarine...all for $12! I hate sounding like an advertisement for a good deal, but I was overjoyed! I spent the extra money I set aside on some much needed tools and supplies for the yard. Hoo-ray for corporate inconsistencies! Along with the fruit trees, I acquired another strawberry plant, an artichoke, a set of beautiful desert-friendly aloe with red flowers (the name escapes me) to attract hummingbirds , and two blueberry bushes. Hooray for homegrown blueberries! I plan on putting them in pots so I can move them around and better address their needy soil requirements.

In the front yard, I replanted the century agave pup, grasses, and other cactuses (according to the Springs Preserve teacher trainer this word is grammatically correct; it still feels weird) in the rock along the sidewalk. Louie made a flower bed around one of the mulberry trees using the pavers from the back patio. I can't wait to finish the other one and get some dirt. The mulberry trees provide some sweet shade during the painfully hot summer that will provide refuge for the veggies and flowers. In the established flower bed, I have purple kale, strawberries, collard greens, two grape vines, and a huge stash of onion sets I acquired from Delores, the lady I bought my hens from. This bed has never looked better. Some sweet little daffodils are peeking out right now. They love the 70 degree weather as much as I do. My front yard is definitely the nicest on the block. I'm not boasting, well, maybe a little. It's not hard to be the nicest when your neighbors park multiple cars on the lawn and collect trash in neat little piles. Ahh, Henderson's other side, the tweekers.

At last, with help from my motivatin' momma, the shed has been cleaned out. I swear I will never find a feeling that compares to the satisfication I get from an organized shed.

Here's to the year of getting shit done!