The weather forecast says today is the day to head to the garden. Everything is currently still frozen, so I'm doubtful but hopeful.

Three weeks after my operation, I felt ready to check on the garden and for the hour-long drive there.

I was craving fresh greens, and the last batch was long gone.

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The weather forecast was right and there is weather for the garden. It's beautiful. I'm going to go have a look at everything.

This garden feels like an unfinished project. I keep wanting to do things. But I am leaving here, so I can't.

First of all, let's check on all the things that I wanted to preserve and then we're going to have a look at the rest of the garden. We're going to start in front of the garden house with all of these. Most of the things that I try to overwinter here and put into containers actually are doing well.

I showed you the status quo four weeks earlier in the last video. Strawberry. Strawberry. More strawberries. And strawberries and tulips apparently?

The mint had died back and regrown. By now, tulips were poking through everywhere. And everything was putting on growth. I was happy.

My garden house is an absolute mess because there was a cat in here that tried to get out. I don't know how it got in but it was trying to get out and, unfortunately, the cat didn't make it.

I found the cat earlier when I was looking into the garden house and I was right next to the door. I'm really sad about it.

I knew the cat to be the one living wild in the gardens. That no owner would miss her only helped marginally.

After dealing with the cat, and airing out the garden house, I checked on things inside.

The cat put up quite a fight--poor thing--and knocked over a lot of items. The fallen scuba tank is completely empty and will need to be inspected. A few things broke. But nothing major.

I can't really do much about this right now because lifting isn't allowed. So yeah, I don't know. I'm going to try and get at least a path into the garden house going, but most of this is just going to stay this way until we can move the garden house things over.

Three week after my operation, I was not yet allowed to lift anything heavy--and heavy started at 5 kilos.

This was also my first day out and about for more than grocery shopping, so I did not want to overdo it. Slowly and carefully, I moved some of the fallen items around.

I would still overdo it that day--though the drive would be what exhausted me. Driving means sitting upright in the same position--and constantly bracing your core. Driving is fine by now but I still put off another trip to the garden. Last weekend, I got to return.

Monday, I went to my OBGyn and got cleared for most things. In two weeks, I return to normality.

While I finish cleaning this up, let me tell you about my operation. I went to the hospital for my hysterectomy on a Monday in late February. That afternoon, I was sent home again.

An emergency had taken my spot. As so often, I was pushed aside because I was always in pain, not suddenly. I had to return home for two more days of waiting mode, redo all the final preparations necessary for leaving. Stock the fridge--again. Get my bags packed--again. Worry and wait--again.

Wednesday night, I returned to the hospital. It only marginally helped that my room mate was nice. I would not sleep until I returned home that Saturday. I would barely be able to eat either.

I am a cannabis patient treating nausea and insomnia, as well as pain with the herb. They were overwhelmed. No one there was equipped for me needing to vape before meals. I am still sure that's why I was released early.

Saturday morning, the second day post-op, I asked to go home--and they agreed.

Not having a local doctor near the interim apartment led to some fun adventures to get the stitches pulled. I'd thought pulling stitches was basic enough to trust any doctor with. I was wrong.

I've got a giant Mount Medical Trauma to deal with--which is now a little bigger than it was before. A deep fear of having to return to the hospital kept me paranoid during recovery.

Early spring flowers were poking through the leaves covering the ground. Spring was approaching.

The garden was still mostly shades of brown but green was slowly taking over. I won't need to make new beds this year now that we'll be leaving, so I'll remove this cardboard when I return next.

I was, however, happy to see the green manure had worked out as intended. If we stayed, these would now be trampled flat and planted right into. Nice.

I won't weed any of the beds this year, as most won't get planted. It'll be interesting to see what takes over where.

The former sunflower bed looked promising--except for the grass taking over yet again.

The thick layer of mulch was keeping weeds and grass in check in most places, though. Promising.

And the rescued mullein plant will hopefully grow into a tall stalk to harvest this year.

I'm not-so-secretly hoping for volunteer tomatoes in this bed. I won't get to plant any but nature might.

The lemon balm was already growing back. I plan to dig some of it up once we have a new garden.

Strawberries were regrowing through the straw where I'd planted them the year before. These are the large ones we got from the former garden neighbor when he left.

There were also strawberries growing wild where I'd stored the potatoes. I decided to check if they were still viable to regrow. Most of the ones in the garden house were unusable.

To my relief, the potatoes stored under straw outside since August of last year were in great shape. Yet again, nature knows best. These might grow into new potatoes this year. I'm hopeful.

In front of the greenhouse lies another bed that I won't ever get to finish. I'll take away that cardboard soon, too.

Most of the potatoes we'd stored were put through too much during the move. They were mushy and unusable. The few that had been stored in a rack were fine. Those, I planted. The rest, I'll throw out.

While living an hour away, I can't grow much here. Most of the garden will be onions, garlic, and potatoes. Much of my time here will be spent cleaning up and preparing to leave this place.

I also hope for some wild harvests from regrowing volunteers. But I can't start seedlings this year.

As storing potatoes in mulch had worked so well with the August planting, I only dug the potatoes into the mulch They'll have to survive on whatever water nature provides, except for my occasional visits to check on them.

My heavy reliance on mulch is making life easier again. One of the many regenerative techniques that work for me.

I am reading papers while writing my master's thesis on regenerative agriculture. Mulching is a recurring topic there--even on the large scale.

In my head, I keep comparing the smaller scale of a balcony garden, the medium scale of plots and small farms, and the giant industrial operations. The lessons are the same, almost no matter the scale.

A friend came by to chat while I harvested the corn salad and spinach. I harvested some for her, as well.

Sharing the excess of my garden, even now in winter, is one of the greatest pleasures of growing food.

She has been taking great care of my garden for me, while unable to harvest due to my low beds and bad knees. Now, she gets some fresh green.

The smaller spinach variety has survived the winter well. I harvested a good chunk for dinner.

My garden is a mess, so I don't even know where my harvesting bins are. I'm making do. I'm eager to start the cleanup of the garden. In tree months, the first garden stops being mine.

I am getting better every day. Soon, I'll be able to put in some work here.

So long, and thanks for being here.