Oh, my! This bed is full of onions–and I still have some left to plant. When I went to Piper this evening, I had every intention of planting some cabbage and broccoli because the seedlings are starting to lay over. I think they need to be planted where their roots have a little more room to grow–although I did read that these plants have shallow root systems. Instead, though, I weeded the entire onion bed, planted some more onions (row down the middle), watered them, and raked up some of the grass in the back forty. I was going to put the grass on the onion bed as mulch, but decided to let it dry another day or so–then I will do it. At work today, Joel mentioned that he had trouble with mold when he used grass. Hmmmm. Maybe I should use some straw? I will have to investigate that.
“down the rabbit hole”
Lisa summed up this evening’s activities by saying that she was reminded of Alice in Wonderland’s trip “down the rabbit hole.” Four post holes were dug by as many people. The 4×4 posts are 12 feet long. The holes are three feet deep. In addition to setting the posts, the lawn was mowed and trimmed, and onions were planted and watered. Here are a few shots of the action:
sodbusting, the sequel
Tonight Dwight joined us for dinner, and then he and I went to Piper to do some rototilling. We started about 6:15. After we tilled and raked up the dirt for all of the existing beds, we decided to dig another bed. Why not? It was only 7:10pm. Sunset was not until 7:59 or so. So Dwight staked it off while I whacked some weeds–my new favorite obsession. Then we dug without stopping. As you can see, the last pic was taken after the sun went down.
spring omelet
Saturday evening Mom shared some fresh asparagus when I stopped by for a visit. So, Sunday morning’s omelet was a beauty: lightly steamed asparagus, chives from the kitchen garden, and grated Fontina cheese. My guess is that this one just wouldn’t be acceptable to a French chef. I will have to check with Francoise.
That sucker didn’t even need any salt or pepper. And now, for your viewing pleasure:
Weekend farmer
Some people are weekend warriors; I am a weekend farmer–at least this weekend. Saturday morning I planted 225 pepper seeds and then finished transplanting the broccoli/cabbage plants (They have been mixed up, so I will be surprised later when we find out what they actually are.) I wasn’t able to finish up everything because I ran out of potting soil. That’s okay, though, because I’ve also run out of windows for all my crops!
Sunday morning I went to Piper St with the intention of spending an hour. I arrived at 9 A.M. and didn’t end up leaving until 1:15 P.M. What was accomplished? I double-dug the north bed and the far west bed; dug half of another bed and then transplanted five clumps of chives that were growing throughout the yard. I also dropped off the firepit I bought from Laura and trimmed around the entire tree area. About 11:3o Kim dropped by on her bicycle to help with onion transplanting. We planted two rows. There are easier ways of getting food. We still have more to plant, but that was enough for one day. Note to self: buy onion sets next year. Transplanting DINKY little onion seedlings that have been grown from seed is tedious work. Did I mention that it was tedious? It is tedious. Yep.
I did not take a pic of the garden today, but will try to get it tomorrow afternoon. I’m sure it will look simply spectacular after the four hours of gentle rain we had today. Just a note: temps are predicted to be unseasonably cool for this entire week–nightly lows in the mid-30’s!
farmer with a day job
I’ve been sitting around doing nothing related to the garden for about two weeks. Don’t know why. Anyway, tonight I transplanted 97 plants that were ready. I’m thinking that they are a mix of broccoli and cabbage, but I cannot be sure because I don’t recall my plant labeling system. It’s been too long!
I also went to Farm King for deer fencing and fishing line and K-Mart for potting soil. Hopefully, we can get some sort of protection against the deer going this weekend.
rebellion of the sodbusters
Well, it has happened . . . sooner than I expected, to be quite honest. Lisa, Kim and I worked for about 90 minutes. I think the word rototiller was mentioned 45 times within that span of time. With diligent work, we were able to clear the sod from another 4×20′ bed. If we are going to have a home for all the tomatoes that we have started, we need to dig several more beds. Let’s not forget that Cindy wants some sweet potatoes. So, we will check in to renting a sod cutter . . . or not 😉
garden party
Well, the first garden party is in the books–and it was a cold one! With two hours of continuous work, we were pretty much able to finish up three beds, for a total of four. Then we took a nice little break and listened to some music while we finalized garden plans. So far we have a patio, chimenea, fence, organic fertilizer generators (aka chickens), and a hot tub as options.
Whoa!
purple podded peas
Look at those peas go! These seedlings are only six days old. They are in a west window, so they only get direct sun for half of the day. They seem to be happy. Not exaggerating–they grew at least one inch since I left them this morning in the dark. Seriously, this makes me want to try some time lapse photography.
























