Clean Out Birdhouses Now

It's time to clean out your birdhouses. Yes, it's a bit counter-intuitive. You might think that birds would use nests to keep warm in the winter. No, they don't. Nests are for nesting in the spring. During the winter, birds are looking for places to roost, perhaps with others of their own kind. So clean those old nests out of the birdhouses now.

I'm always surprised to see bluebirds checking out my bluebird houses in March. Wait a minute! It's not even spring yet. I haven't done my spring cleaning and cleaned out the bluebird house. By the time i get around to it, later that day, or the next day, or the next week, Mrs. Bluebird has made her decision. She likes a nice clean house. That's the reason we want to clean out our birdhouses right now, while we are thinking about it and while we don't have much else to do in the garden.

Now is also a good time to clean out our own house. Time to let stuff go. Time to downsize. Time to give away stuff we haven't used in how many years?

Everything we cherish will change and vanish. Sometimes we make it vanish on purpose. Give away the too-small clothes. Pass some of those heirlooms on to the next generation.

Then the bluebirds of happiness will be much more likely to stick around.

Sugar maples stand out now with their beautiful yellow foliage, especially this late in the season. Peak foliage, about a month ago, was rather muted. But now that there have been some frosts, the yellow maple leaves against the blue sky look spectacular.

Sometimes, it's not until the "first frost" falls on us that we take this ending of the season seriously. A friend who had a heart valve replacement earlier this year is selling her house and moving into a retirement community. She was out of commission for six months after surgery and realized that house upkeep is not how she wants to spend her remaining life energy. She is loving downsizing.

The yellow maple leaves are beautiful. And short-lived.

Let Them Go

Yesterday i gave a Master Gardener talk at the library. I was prepared to talk about mulch and groundcovers, but after introductions, in which i asked people to say something about the vision for their garden, the subject turned out to be downsizing the garden. Oh, this is hard.

One friend, Dee, who sold her house and extensive gardens last year, moved to a downtown apartment where her gardening is confined to pots on her balcony.  Dee stopped by and saw my gardens for the first time. Tears came to her eyes. At the same time, her voice-of-reason said, "It takes a small army to maintain all these beautiful gardens." Touché!

That small army used to be me. Now it includes a 10-hour-a-week gardener.

We love our gardens. And then the awareness dawns on us: It's time to let them go.

Blooming from the Heart

I was in Florida last week, visiting my Aunt Polly. She showed me the crepe myrtle in her front yard. Right now, it is bare sticks (and rather ugly), but in July, it will be a glorious purple.

When we prune our own life--downsize our possessions, simplify, or scale back our responsibilities--we can focus on what is most truly meaningful to us: living from the heart. Our heart can bloom.

What one thing can you let go of today?

The Fall Garden

The fall garden is the unsung season of gardening. So many edibles are still growing out there--kale, collards, mustards, lettuces, cabbage, and parsley. It's time to harvest some leeks and jerusalem artichokes. Apples are still hanging on my apple trees; let's make applesauce.

Every afternoon, i can walk outdoors and harvest enough for dinner. It may not be bountiful exactly, but isn't that a relief! There's just enough.

When we come to the downsizing phase of life, enough turns out to be plenty. The cornucopia garden is bountiful, indeed.