today we plant... a little bit

Well, at least this week we got one little section planted and weeded. There still is a lot of work to do here. But work has kept me very busy so I haven't done quite as much as I wanted to. We worked for a few longer sessions, maybe a total of 1 hour and was able to get quite a bit done. I did most of the clean up and prep, and the kids did the planting and choosing of plants.

Here's a couple of pics of the section we worked on. We also cleared the extra shoes off the porch, but I still need to get a shoe shelf....

Update

I took a day off today, we're preparing for a birthday party and I have a deadline coming up for work. But the daily 15-20 minutes I did over the past 3 days is beginning to show some progress.

As of right now, it isn't worth taking a picture. I've cleared a spot for the kids to plant their flowers, but everything around it is still a bit of a mess. The porch has been cleared of excess footwear, and swept clean. It isn't beautiful, but it's fairly neat.

I'm working on a plan and hope to have it done soon.

Zone 2: Front yard and porch

I decided to just move our zone schedule down a week and start from zone 1 again come March. The whole yard needs tending to, but since these are the most visible zones, we'd better work these first.

So Zone 2: the front yard and porch, will be cleaned up this week.

Before pictures:

We will also be helping my mother clean up her yard (and home) during the week. She's been meaning to do so forever.

Zone 1 cleanup

Zone 1 cleanup is looking good. This is the last day we'll be working this area. It's not perfect. The grass still needs trimming, the plants need fertilizing, and there's a lot of TLC needed here.

But time's up. Today my 1 helper stayed with me for 30 minutes while the neighborhood kids visited us to chat while we worked... That's another 1 hour of work done today.
It looks acceptable enough to move on to the next zone.

15 minutes x3

I recruited help from the children, so our 15 minutes session was actually about 45 minutes of work! WOW! It made a big difference... We got most of the weeds out, and started in on trimming the pikaki plants. But time was up so we quit.

No Pictures till the end of the week. Tomorrow, we will trim more pikaki plants and pull a few more weeds. THEN it'll be picture time again!

While cleaning up, I was thinking about what we need to purchase to help make our work go a little easier. And I think we will get one of those water hose winder upper thingies. And maybe a new hose. I'll see how it works out first. As of right now, the water hose just sit out on the grass or is piled up on the sidewalk. JUNK! ICK! And so unsightly.

Today is the day!

Today we start! Well, it's raining outside, so all I can really do is plan. When the rain stops, I'll get some before pics.
Let's start with Zones and the calendar. Hmm.. if I spend just 15 minutes a day in the zone, how much progress will I make? I will need to take monthly pictures...

2/12/09: We have to switch week 1 and week 2 this month. We got the WARNING NOTICE!

First week of the month:
Zone 1: Sidewalk planter
BEFORE PICS:


Tasks:
Clean out the weeds
Water and fertilize grass.
Trim pikaki plants


Second Week of the month:
Zone 2: front entry and front yards

TASKS:
Sweep porch
Put away all the extra shoes
Weed and clean
Cut Grass
Make THE PLAN for the front yard

Third Week:
Zone 3: Side yards
Weed and clean
Trim Red Gingers
Repot what I want to use later

Fourth Week:
Zone 4: Backyard
Weed and Clean