Spent 6 hours working in the church of the garden today. G-l-o-r-i-o-u-s!
It may be another 6 months before I have more than an hour a week to do anything at all out in the garden or yard, but all I can say is, It restoreth my soul.
Raked back the dead leaves from the beds, put down a little fertilizer, spread compost, re-shredded the leaves and laid them back down for mulch. Cut back dead stems on perennials that are starting to sprout new leaves under the mulch, pulled dead leaves from daylillies, Raked and mulched still falling oak leaves from here, there, and everywhere, mowed the yard to mulch the oak leaves that had fallen since Christmas, prepared the raised beds for peas, lettuce, onions, spinach and kale, planted violas at the edges of the raised beds and in a hollow tree stump.
Did not get the hellebore planted.
Not having a truck or any friends with a truck is problematic. Buying composted cow manure, garden soil or mulch by the bag is prohibitively expensive. Most of the beds got less than half the compost they need, or at least deserve, and even at that, I didn't have enough to do all the beds.
Also did some watering, though not enough. We are back in severe drought.
Stared intently at the large pile of wood chips from when I had the big oak taken down last summer. They need to be spread around trees. It is a big pile, but not big enough to mulch around all of the trees, and I still can't figure out how to distribute it aesthetically. (also stared intently at the gashes and piles of soil I can't mow over from large branches that plummeted in the process of that tree being taken down, and which the tree guy said he would come back and smooth out, but never did.) That is one of those jobs that a cultivator would make quick work of, but doing it with a shovel, a hoe and a rake will take half a day, and wreck my back and shoulders for a week or more.
Not whining, just struggling to come to terms with limitations.