My February 2024 To-Do List

       Hey y’all! It’s officially February… Who else feels like January went by in a blink? I’ve started some New Year’s resolutions and I’ve spent the last 4 weeks really focusing on myself. It’s feeling like it’ll be a great year with lots of growth in my personal life and on Red Dirt Ranchette. I’ve been so motivated to get things done with energy from this new healthier lifestyle to match! With that being said I’ve created February’s To-Do list to really get a head start on my goals and dreams for this coming year so lets get into what’s on my list and why.

1. PLAN THE GARDEN LAYOUT- Now the list is in no particular order but I will say that I will try to knock things out by urgency, this item being #1 in urgency because, well I can’t really start seeds if I don’t know what I’m planting, how many seeds I need to start and if I’ll have enough room for what I’m thinking of doing. I also have a few garden beds I want to add in this year, I know more or less where I want them but before I just set them anywhere I need to make sure the location will work and that there won’t be to much shade or heat and that the garden bed won’t block existing structures from getting sunlight. 

2) START SEEDS- This item is #2 in urgency, I usually try to start seeds in mid January and though I bought some seed starting mix weeks ago  I have yet to touch a packet of seeds… Like I said earlier I feel like January just flew by and before I knew it February slapped me in the face with the reality of what tasks I’m actually behind on doing. But I’ve already started my garden layout plans so as soon as I’m finished planning I’ll jump right into sowing seeds!

3) CLEAN OUT AND PREP BEDS- This task is not so urgent, I have quite a bit of time before I put seedlings out in the garden beds but I’ll take advantage of the cooler weather and do some of the more labor intensive tasks now before it gets uncomfortably warm (that happens pretty quick here in West Texas.) Doing this early will also give me a head start and allow some of the added compost time to break down and enrich the soil for the incoming plants. Cleaning and prepping the beds mean exactly that, I’ll clear out any old dead plants/ trash, loosen up the soil and amend with either compost or fertilizers to add nutrients back into the soil. 

4) BUILD NEW GARDEN BEDS- I’d like to get this job done sooner then later because I will plan the locations of the new beds but I won’t plan what plants will be planted in them until the Beds are built just incase something happens or I change my mind causing me to have to put the bed in a different location and I wouldn’t have wasted time figuring out which specific crops would’ve gone into a location that ended up not working out. I am excited about the garden expanding! I’m really going to focus on abundance this year and put the effort into this growing garden. 

5) CLEAN AND ORGANIZE SHED- I feel like I clean out our shed at least twice a year but it doesn’t stay clean for long. Especially when we store some Christmas and Halloween totes in it so when the holidays come it can get un-organized pretty fast! Getting this task done early in the year will help me throughout the rest of the year where it usually gets busier in spring, summer and fall. I’ll get rid of the trash and junk that we no longer need to clear some room but most importantly I’ll know where all my tools, fertilizers and chicken care products are instead of waisting time running around looking for a shovel or a bucket…I’ll never admit to how many times that has actually happened to me. 

6) BUILD THE COMPOST BIN- The last thing on the list of February To-Do’s but I’ve been saying I was going to do this since this time last year and I have yet to do it! I literally have everything I need sitting against my fence but I can’t seem to figure out where I want it, and when I do decide where I want it I’ll do nothing about it until enough time passes where I change my mind and decide I don’t want it at that location anymore. Ugh, this has to be ADHD at its finest right? When I plan the Garden Layout I’ll make sure to plan in the compost bin. The amount of fresh compost I’d have right now if I just built it when I originally intended… Oh well, better now then never right?

       That’s all of my February To-Do list, short and sweet but reasonable. Follow me on social media for more day to day content and to see what I cross off the list, I’ll try to share more photos and videos when I’m working on all the things. So if you’re interested on seeing me struggle to put together that dang compost bin or wanna see how the garden progress is coming along then click the links at the bottom of the article, they’ll take you right to my Instagram or TikTok. Another change this year is instead of trying to get posts out on Thursdays, which NEVER happens, I’m aiming to get posts out on Saturdays now because I’m not so crunched for time like I am on week days, hopefully this works cause I’d really like to get a consistent one blog post a week for y’all! As always, Thanks for following and joining in the fun journey for me, find something you love and pour your heart into it. See Ya!

                                                                                    -Catherine Ray

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