It is Feb. 28th and spring  will be  here soon in Iowa.   I can't wait, just to see green grass and have leaves on the trees, but mostly to see what the previous owner has planted and what will be  growing. I have been told there is  asparagus, and rhubarb,  I  hope there is both.  I brought my Smooth Solomans Seal plant  from MN and planted it here last fall,  I hope it made it as  I am thinking it will need to be  moved  again to a more suitable spot.
     The above  pictures  are my choices  for a garden, the top on has a  fence line on the east and north sides and the bottom has  fence on the west and north sides.  Both are in the same pasture area one just faces east the other west. Both will have  direct sunlight.  I am thinking  the top area  is  my preference.   Now the next   issue will be  " how big".  Since this will be my first  garden I really think I need to start small and if things  go well expand in the years  to come.  
    I have been making lists of what I would like to plant,   sweet corn, pumpkins, potatoes, tomatoes , carrots , green beans, lettuce- greens ( there are packs  that have a  variety of seeds), onion, garlic,green pepper, and marigolds  around the edges to help  deter the neighborhood  deer !!  That seemed  to  have helped in Hastings. So I may have lofty  ideas,  but they are just that plans, ideas.

Feb. 17, 2015

  This will be the beginning of  a  blog  for  Mars and me.  Nikole   spent over an  hour  helping me set this up,  what  a very patient person she is !!

 We  made our  move to Boone, Iowa on Jan. 17th with the help of family,we could not have done it alone. The weather was  very nice for  MN, Iowa  in January,  but  the following week we  received  11.5 in of snow.  There begins the adventures.    I needed to go " to town",and  took off in the  Mazda, only I was not able to get up the hill.  I could only  back up,  Jeff came out , finally got my car back in the garage and took me in his  4 wheel drive truck.  But  I have not had problems  since , but then we have not had  snow since.

Unpacked, put away, rearranged, and moved things  around,  I think I am settled in.  I have been enjoying the owl that hoots  most  nights,  I wish I could see him out in the trees. We have lots of woodpeckers,cardinals, finches, nuthatches, juncos.  So  most wild life is the same,  although I am still waiting to see a fox.

  I have started thinking about  doing  a  garden in the spring,  I think I know where I want to put it and have even started a list of what I might like to plant.  I just need to remember to keep it  small this first  time and then if it goes well expand  in the years to come.

I will be doing volunteer work  at the  Iowa Arboretum  which is not  far,  and  am looking forward to warmer weather  and the snow to be  gone  so that I can go  and walk and really enjoy it.

Mars is loving it here,  he roams  and sniffs, and so far has not wandered out of yard .So I am hoping that will continue  when spring/summer  comes and we are out a lot more.