In the beginning...

...There was dirt. 

Or more specifically, rock-hard Wyoming clay. We were fortunate enough to qualify for a Habitat for Humanity house and were able to help build it from the ground up. We started from scratch, so everything you see in our yard was grown, built, or put there by us or volunteers - every shrub, tree, plant, blade of grass, and structure.

Here's a pic of my daughter and I on our empty lot

Eight months later, Nancy Freudenthal (first lady of Wyoming at the time and all-around amazing woman) and volunteers help dig the sprinkler lines on a Women's Build Day.

Gunther attending the move-in ceremony. He was adopted the day before from the Habitat ReStore. 

 Since our neighborhood used to be underneath the Snake River hundreds of years ago, the yard frequently bloomed large river rocks, which were saved for the flower beds. Our entire first summer was not spent gardening - it was spent with shovels, rakes and a wheel barrow, transporting piles of rocks and attempting to make the yard level. 

Sod was not in the budget, so we grew our lawn from seed. All around us, neighbors laid sod while I cursed. I fortified the dirt with some high-quality topsoil, just in places where it was particularly needed, as bringing in a yard full of good soil would have been too costly. 

Our first beds went in before the house was even complete, thanks to a Habitat volunteer. I showed up on my lunch hour to say hello and I had veggie beds! The fence went in several summers later. 

The first flower bed - First Tulips and Crocus arrive, then Daisies, Hollyhocks, Sage, Snow in Summer, Lupine, Asters, and Delphinium. All those rocks were lugged from various parts of the yard.

The most amazing Mother's Day gift ever - my husband built these beautiful cedar beds. My nephew lived with us one summer and created the mulch path.

It took 6 summers for the yard to evolve to this point...but of course it will never stop evolving. There will always be another project on the horizon!

It was an overwhelming amount of work at the beginning. My neighbor, who also started most of her yard from scratch, gave me a piece of wisdom I have held onto: "one project at a time." Focus on one part of your yard that you would like to change and go for it. Little by little, it comes together. 

Got a moose, got a moose...

This morning, my daughter was ready to go out and start her car to go to school...but there was a moose blocking her way. Eventually she was able to leave as the moose retreated to the backyard, where she was accompanied by a friend. They had a nice breakfast at my neighbor's golden willow.

The higher branches must be particularly tasty. Check out the stretch!

I've seen some neighbors shoo moose out of their yard for eating shrubs, but my neighbor commented "I won't have to prune my willow in the spring!" A good attitude to have here. I feel lucky when they visit the yard; they're a whole lot of fun to watch. 

On second thought...

I mentioned that writing about grass, sunshine and gardening was sure to make it snow and *bam* the snow came, with some parts of our community getting around 3 feet in 2 days. We may not see Gunther for awhile. The tip of his orange hat is the only sign we have left of him for now and more snow is expected soon.

Despite the snow, I was inspired to start some basil, cilantro, and oregano in a sunny window. I planted the seeds according to directions and have been misting them with water once a day...

Under Roo's close supervision

These herbs will probably stay inside, but I do grow herbs in the garden in the summer. We had an amazing bounty of cilantro last year. I found that the basil fared better in a pot on the porch rather than in the garden. 

Mother Nature is confused

We're used to getting a lot of snow here and even in the lean years, more snow than most places. Not this year. Part of me is excited that maybe we'll have so little snow to melt in the spring that I'll be gardening early (of course if I plant early, we'll get a freeze right away), but the other part knows that this is bad - for the rivers, for summer fire danger, and for our local economy, among other things.

The compost bin (I don't usually put anything in it in the winter, but if this keeps up...)

The southwest side of the house

And, my most shocking discovery today...my rhubarb is trying to come up on the south side of the house. It was 8 degrees outside when I took this picture, yet the rhubarb is guessing it's time to come out and play since there's no snow to stop it.

And the garden gnome, Gunther, is usually in snow up past his eyeballs by now. 

So, even though I don't have a ski pass this year and I am itching to get gardening again, I will hope for snow...I mean it's winter! In Wyoming! I will yearn for summer bounty in its due time, but for now I'll hope our winter bounty starts to look better. 

Teton Gardening is born!

The garden lies under snow at the moment, but Teton Gardening is blooming! Even when it's buried in snow, I think about my garden year-round. This time of year, I start to browse through gardening and seed catalogs and dream of kneeling in my garden with some dogs and a cold beverage by my side. 

Here's what you can expect to see here in the future:

-tours of local gardens and interviews with their masterminds

-what's being planted, harvested, or trimmed back now

-what's working and what has turned into a gigantic failure (no shame here)

-links to gardening websites and other sources relevant to growing in our unique environment

-obligatory pictures of my pets

-more really exciting things!

Thank you for joining me here! I'd love to hear from you-please feel free to send me your suggestions, requests, and pictures of your gardens. Happy planting! (well, someday. Happy skiing or 'boarding for now)