Spring Fever! It's garden time!
Last year we tilled up a 22' x 14' section of lawn right dab in the middle of the yard. Grow food, not grass, right? We also have a 12' x 6' raised garden bed and another 6' x 3', partially filled with asparagus.
After turning and breaking up the soil, we created designated growing areas with hay-lined paths in the large garden, and picked up some soil from the store to mix in. We also sprinkled Epsom Salt around in preparation for the growing season. And of course the chickens provided lots of rich fertilizer that "wintered over" from last fall.
We had some help with the soil turning. Ava, our newest flock member, decided that soil + manure was the PERFECT place to take a "dust bath" in. She was flinging soil everywhere! But the great thing is she was mixing everything up thoroughly.
But then the other girls decided that she was onto something and hopped into the "soil hot tub" for some feather dusting too. I do think the soil, compost and manure are well mixed now. :wink:
And then came the fun part: deciding on our crops and ordering seeds.
Jake and I attended a seed starting class at the library earlier in the month. Although Jake wasn't too impressed, especially since we didn't have plans to start seeds inside, I found the class quite interesting...and I was able to pick up a seed catalog for a local company called Pinetree that carries inexpensive non-GMO and heirloom seeds. Support local businesses, right?
2013 Crops
Bush Romano Bean
Windsor Broccoli
Boston Pickling Cucumber
Small Sugar Pumpkin
Early Girl Tomato
Kennebec Potato
Parisian Carrot
Knight Pea
Carouby de Maussane Snow Pea
So, as we wait for our seeds to arrive, we've been watching the early flowers grow in Cati's little flower garden. She also planted some Calendula and Coreopsis that we were given at the seed starting class. And she's crossing her fingers that the Bleeding Hearts bloom this year.
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| Crabapple leaves, asparagus, Peonies, Bleeding Heart, and something of a mystery |
Are you planning a garden this year?
I actually worked on the garden all morning long! Got 12 tomato plants in the ground and still more to go, but I'm exhausted!
ReplyDeleteAva is a cutie and the chickens really do a great job of digging up the soil for you. And it's fun for them too, so it's a win-win :)
Definitely! But we've had to train them to stay out of the garden now that pumpkins are planted there. LOL It's a good thing they're quick learners!
Deleteyeah! You are getting your garden done. Looking forward to some updates.
ReplyDeleteYes! We have everything in but the tomatoes since it's still a bit chillier than they like right now. Maybe the end of May?
DeleteWish I had those chickens! Although we don't have any chickens, I did toss about 20 big, juicy worms in my compost pile! Hope they get to work!! We are planning to put the majority of our seeds in next week, and then start putting in tomato, pepper, and jalapeno plants the week after that.
ReplyDeleteI think we're fortunate because we have WORMS everywhere! LOL
DeleteI'm so jealous of your chickens!!! ;-) I'm still working on getting my gardens planted. So far I have radishes, bunching onions, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, egg plant, garlic, chamomile, chives and dill planted. My one strawberry plant bloomed along with my blueberry bushes and nanking cherry bushes. Hopefully, I'll get a bit of produce from all of it. :) Good luck in your garden. I look forward to reading more about it.
ReplyDeleteLynn