If you are relocating to Montgomery, AL and plan on buying a home, lawn care will likely be part of that package.

The Feed Lot has products that will help you take care of it.

In this neck of the woods, Bermuda grass is the ground cover of choice.  It has a fine blade, is invasive, and varieties are used for golf course and football field turf.  Whether you care for it or not, it’s probably in your East Montgomery yard.

Upon moving to Montgomery, we built a house and battled weeds in our Bermuda lawn for 5 years.  When properly treated, it has a slick, highly manicured look, and weeds stick out like a sore thumb.  Our neighbors had effortless, immaculate lawns.  We had no kids and time to kill.   We fertilized,  we fretted.  We constantly had weeds.

The difference?  They had their yards sprayed by a lawn service and we didn’t.  Or, rather, we wouldn’t.  There was principle involved.  We didn’t need to pay someone else to keep our tiny yard tidy.  Where’s the fun in that?

The clover finally did us in.

Wait – isn’t this post supposed to be about The Feed Lot?  Stay with me . . .

So we called in the folks at Southern Lawns and got on their program that involved spraying fertilizer “stuff” on our lawn 3 or so times a year.  It was magical.  The weeds were gone.

Fast forward another 5 or so years: a new house, bigger yard, same problems.  We loved our experience with Southern Lawns and highly recommend them, but once again, we’re on a mission to do it ourselves.

Someone recommended The Feed Lot as a great resource for weed control products that actually work.  It’s the real-deal hardware/country store on Meriwether Road in Pike Road.

So we’ve gotten the “pre-emergent” fertilizer down that’s supposed to kill the crabgrass . . .

We’ll let you now how it goes . . . In the meantime, we’re Realtors, so give us a call if you need help finding your next yard (and home) in the Montgomery area.  We’d love to do the legwork for you!

I took a fun tour of the new Wilson YMCA in the New Park neighborhood of East Montgomery today.  For those of you who have yet to see it, I’ve posted a few pics below.

Where I grew up, the YMCA wasn’t a huge program, but the YMCA in Montgomery is a big part of daily life.  There are 15 locations in the River Region offering facilities for group exercise, athletic fields, water parks,weight rooms, gymnasiums – and the list goes on.  A lot of youth sports (football, soccer, basketball, etc.) are played through the YMCA, and childcare (”Childwatch”) is offered at some locations.

So what’s the new Wilson facility like?  The first distinguishing factor is that it is part of the new development, New Park, off of Ray Thorington Road.  It is right behind the new Wilson Elementary School, and shares its gym with Wilson students during the morning hours.

Right now it has a gym, a weight room, a group exercise room (one class per day, M-F), and a Childwatch area.  It sits on 16.5 acres so there is room to expand – in the lobby are the site plans for other phases of development that include a pool and water park area.

Childwatch hours at the Wilson Y are 8:30-10:30 am and 4:30-7:00 am.  You can let your young children play in this area while you exercise. Y basketball teams are meeting in the gym on weeknights for practice.

One of the reasons the YMCA is such a big deal in Montgomery is the membership fee:  a family membership costs $59 a month ($100 sign up fee), and members can use all 15 facilities.  Members pay only 1/2 of the registration fee for sports programs, too.

For more information about a YMCA membership, go to ymcamontgomery.org.

If you live or work in Wetumpka, or are just passing through, you need to know about a great little “meat and three” place that just opened up on 231, close to Riverside Chevy.  The Must Stop Cafe is a winner in my book.

They are having a soft opening so lunch was free when I went by there today. A friend tipped me off, but don’t think the free eats affected my review.

They started us off with “orange rolls” which were basically an orange flavored cinnamon roll type thing. Yum.

They have a daily menu, country style or meat and three style, whichever you prefer. I got the country fried steak, purple hulled peas, and okra. It came with cornbread, they didn’t even ask. I like a place where they assume you want cornbread!

Mine was really good. The steak was not too bready. The peas were fresh and not overcooked. The okra was good, but the real surprise was the mac and cheese. I was expecting the normal runny deal but it was more like grannie’s mac and cheese casserole. It was firm and cheesy, not runny. Excellent.

According to their website, they officially open on March 2, 2010, so maybe the days of free lunch are over. But I can tell you – I will be back!

In case you misplaced your flier, here are the Montgomery County, AL, monthly clean-up dates.  On the last Saturday of each month, you can dispose of that large stuff you’ve been wanting to get rid of, but won’t fit in your trash can for regular, weekly pick up.

Yes!  So long broken basketball goal that has been sitting behind my fence for a year and a half !  The flyer says there will even be workers at each site to help you unload the stuff you bring.  Won’t it feel great to kiss that pile of junk goodbye (in a legal and responsible way)!

(This service is REALLY helpful to those who move into a different house in 2010 – if you’ve moved recently you know the kinds of stuff you are left with . . .)

All locations will be open  from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.

Here are the DATES (again, these are the last Saturdays of each month of 2010):

January 30, February 27, March 27, April 24, May 29, June 26, July 31, August 28, and September 25.

Here are the LOCATIONS:

Hope Hull: Vacant grocery store at railroad tracks (Wasden Road)

Mount Meigs/Pike Road:  Belser Blvd. in Bridle Brook subdivision OR County Lot Office across from The Feed Lot

Pine Level:  Pine Level Park (across from Sikes and Kohn)

Pintlala: Pintlala Elementary School

Ramer:  Transfer Station (County Road 12, Hickory Grove Road)

For more details about exactly what can and cannot be unloaded (toxic waste, items with freon, etc.) click here or call (334) 832-1210.

For those who live within the Montgomery city limits, your bulk trash is collected every 1st and 3rd Saturday from 9:00 am – 2:30 pm at city Public Schools.  Call (334) 241-2750 or click here for more info.