A weekend's worth of work
I don't know about you, but I'm ready.
I'm like a prize fighter whose been hitting the gym.
I'm ready for gardening season and I'm ready to have a knock out crop.
Everyday it seems like I learn so much about gardening. Just looking at pictures and seeing how other people do things in their gardens seems so beneficial. I spend about 30 minutes perusing pictures of flower beds and reading cool books like Backyard Harvest and it just gets my brain churning with ideas.
While doing all the prepwork is nice, it's definitely important to get out and do work.
This weekend, I was so excited because I got my seeds from Sow True Seeds in the mail today! I ordered a handful of seed catalogs and theirs was the first one I got. They specialize in open pollinated, organic and heirloom seeds. They are also a North Carolina seed company. This is awesome to me because I like the idea that I am supporting sustainability and biodiversity as well as the local economy by buying from them.
Most of the seeds I got won't be ready for action until March or April but I did get some neat carrot seeds, Shin Kuroda. These are Japanese seeds that grow well in heavier soils. I've had a lot of difficulty getting my carrots to grow which I've felt was in large part due to how dense my soil is. Hopefully this will help.
So, Sunday morning I made my way to the garden. I'd waiting for it to warm up as much as I could and decided to start with some pruning. I finished up pruning the 3 x 3 rose bush bed. They were literally about 7 feet tall and are now about 2 or 2 1/2 feet.
I left a few roses unpruned along the big flower bed because after being stabbed nearly to death I couldn't handle any more thorns. As a matter of fact, I would really like not getting any roses for Valentine's day. I kid, I kid. It wasn't that bad. I played a lot of kick ball with the shepherd, which was a lot of fun. I hauled about 3 wheelbarrow fulls of thorny branches and I was ready to go do some work in the garden.
About this time, my husband came out to join me. After checking out and praising my hard work, he made his way with his new hatchet and ax to chop up a stump.
I looked at my garden journal and saw what I had planned out. I decided to leave two rows unplanted for the meanwhile - I'll come back to them when the weather is a little warmer. I plan to use those for herbs and flowers for pollination purposes. I could buy some pansies or something but for right now I skipped ahead and put out some onion sets.
I did not have a lot of success with onion sets last year - although my mom did. My mom, however, did not have three little helpers (Reese, Dodger & Dixie) breaking into her garden and digging up everything she was planting. So, I'm going to guess that perhaps things will go better this time around. The package I got from Wal-Mart were Red Barons and covered about a 2 by 8 foot section which was about what they indicated.
I also tilled up a little patch for my carrots which I sowed before I was done.
At this point, the day was catching up with me. I decided the next thing that I wanted to tackle was the compost. I opened up one side of my "bin" and raked out everything on the top. Below that was beautiful, rich soil.
Quite a few worms in there, which surprised me for this time of year. I have to admit, although I'm not that great at gardening, I can really make some compost! I laid some of that compost out beside my rows of leeks.
They are really tiny-ish but they have grown by leaps and bounds these past few weeks, so I hope they keep it up.
Speaking of leaps and bounds, my little seedlings emerged. I have radishes, rutabaga, and arugula all popping out!
After that, I pulled some weeds, which I fed to Rabitha.
And a day in the garden would not be complete without inviting over the neighbor dogs to play some fetch and kick the pine cone.
The absolute best part though is that it rained last night - so I didn't even have to water my plants! What a win.
Anyway, that's the big garden update. Hope you're garden is going well.
Take care,
Rebecca
I'm like a prize fighter whose been hitting the gym.
I'm ready for gardening season and I'm ready to have a knock out crop.
Everyday it seems like I learn so much about gardening. Just looking at pictures and seeing how other people do things in their gardens seems so beneficial. I spend about 30 minutes perusing pictures of flower beds and reading cool books like Backyard Harvest and it just gets my brain churning with ideas.
While doing all the prepwork is nice, it's definitely important to get out and do work.
This weekend, I was so excited because I got my seeds from Sow True Seeds in the mail today! I ordered a handful of seed catalogs and theirs was the first one I got. They specialize in open pollinated, organic and heirloom seeds. They are also a North Carolina seed company. This is awesome to me because I like the idea that I am supporting sustainability and biodiversity as well as the local economy by buying from them.
Most of the seeds I got won't be ready for action until March or April but I did get some neat carrot seeds, Shin Kuroda. These are Japanese seeds that grow well in heavier soils. I've had a lot of difficulty getting my carrots to grow which I've felt was in large part due to how dense my soil is. Hopefully this will help.
So, Sunday morning I made my way to the garden. I'd waiting for it to warm up as much as I could and decided to start with some pruning. I finished up pruning the 3 x 3 rose bush bed. They were literally about 7 feet tall and are now about 2 or 2 1/2 feet.
 |
| They'll thank me for it later. |
About this time, my husband came out to join me. After checking out and praising my hard work, he made his way with his new hatchet and ax to chop up a stump.
 |
| Here he is, "working" apparently ;) |
I looked at my garden journal and saw what I had planned out. I decided to leave two rows unplanted for the meanwhile - I'll come back to them when the weather is a little warmer. I plan to use those for herbs and flowers for pollination purposes. I could buy some pansies or something but for right now I skipped ahead and put out some onion sets.
 |
| Com'on little onions! |
I also tilled up a little patch for my carrots which I sowed before I was done.
At this point, the day was catching up with me. I decided the next thing that I wanted to tackle was the compost. I opened up one side of my "bin" and raked out everything on the top. Below that was beautiful, rich soil.
 |
| Behold the glory of the earth |
 |
| Meek leaks |
They are really tiny-ish but they have grown by leaps and bounds these past few weeks, so I hope they keep it up.
Speaking of leaps and bounds, my little seedlings emerged. I have radishes, rutabaga, and arugula all popping out!
After that, I pulled some weeds, which I fed to Rabitha.
 |
| She's feeling shy. |
 |
| The Shepherd Security System (TM) |
 |
| Dixie - preparing to lean on someone. |
Anyway, that's the big garden update. Hope you're garden is going well.
Take care,
Rebecca
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