Whew! Finally got a half way decent day and some time to play outside. We got the garden most of the way staked out, got my compost area fenced in, and I got two big beds (5 feet x 28 feet) cultivated and ready to plant. I have four more big beds to prep. I don't think I'll need/want them this year so they'll probably get mulched or cover cropped for next year. I do need to figure out where I'm going to put my asparagus. I found asparagus starts the other day here in town so I bought them. I also found onion sets and shallot sets. Those won't be as tough to figure out where I'll put them since they aren't perennial.
The wind blew like crazy today again. Not the 40-60 mph we had on Sunday but it blows here. Pretty much all the time. Some folks say it is seasonal but I think the only thing really seasonal is that the winds get stronger in the spring. This semi-flat country just doesn't have anything to block the wind.
I need to count the number of tomato plants I put in. I know I have somewhere around 20 starts. I'm also trying Brussels sprouts again. We'll see if I can get them through the heat enough to produce a decent set of sprouts. I have kale and garlic up. They are in the containers I had at our rental. I don't see any carrots yet but both containers with kale are showing green and the lone garlic shoot is about 2 inches tall. The garlic was a clove I was going to cut for making dinner and I saw it had a big sprout so I planted it in a container I had sitting there with just dirt. Guess we'll have a little garlic anyway.
I'm excited now that I have beds ready. Now I can get figuring where I'm going to put my herbs as well as that asparagus. I'm debating rhubarb as well. I'm not a huge fan but it goes nicely with strawberries so I might. I'm also going to put strawberries in. I suppose I should order my stuff one of these days.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Critters
It seems as if our new place comes with a pile of critters. Namely mice. They've gotten into my bird seed and it appears that one crawled into my husband's car and got eliminated the other day. I'll spare you the gory details but it wasn't a pretty sight.
We have deer which will be interested in my garden. We have birds too. Lots of birds. We are starting to see some Blue Jays now in addition to the little finches and Robins. If we get cats to help control the mice we'll need to put the bird seed up higher so the cats can't hunt the birds quite so easily. Also, I spotted what I'm pretty sure was a coyote in the back pasture. He was far enough out and I only caught a glimpse. We really need to get some binoculars. We used to have a pair somewhere. Maybe in the last few boxes I'll find them again. I think we got rid of them though.
Garden beds are getting dug this week. During Tom's spring break he'll work on my paths. I'm excited to be getting this garden going. It is going to be quite a bit more real estate than my last one. I thought we had a big garden before. I got out the measuring tape yesterday. My back fenced area is 40 feet x 40 feet. My main focus area is going to be a 30x40 foot area. We have two trees and a sandbox that is interfering with my planning. I want to keep them but they are stalling me when it comes to planning around them.
I need to figure out where I'm going with my laundry too. I think we'll start with an umbrella type clothesline and see how that works. I've always just stretched a line from a house or tree to a fence or another tree. There really aren't any trees or fences to stretch a line here.
My list of tasks that need done early this year:
Dig beds
Put in clothes line
Plant grass seed
Plant flower seeds
Grub out sage brush in front yard
Build path for front walk/door
Get side yard ready for chickens
Repair/replace front gate for side yard
Replace gate from side yard to back garden
Repair fencing around garden in a couple of places
Get latch for walk thru gate to back pasture
We have deer which will be interested in my garden. We have birds too. Lots of birds. We are starting to see some Blue Jays now in addition to the little finches and Robins. If we get cats to help control the mice we'll need to put the bird seed up higher so the cats can't hunt the birds quite so easily. Also, I spotted what I'm pretty sure was a coyote in the back pasture. He was far enough out and I only caught a glimpse. We really need to get some binoculars. We used to have a pair somewhere. Maybe in the last few boxes I'll find them again. I think we got rid of them though.
Garden beds are getting dug this week. During Tom's spring break he'll work on my paths. I'm excited to be getting this garden going. It is going to be quite a bit more real estate than my last one. I thought we had a big garden before. I got out the measuring tape yesterday. My back fenced area is 40 feet x 40 feet. My main focus area is going to be a 30x40 foot area. We have two trees and a sandbox that is interfering with my planning. I want to keep them but they are stalling me when it comes to planning around them.
I need to figure out where I'm going with my laundry too. I think we'll start with an umbrella type clothesline and see how that works. I've always just stretched a line from a house or tree to a fence or another tree. There really aren't any trees or fences to stretch a line here.
My list of tasks that need done early this year:
Dig beds
Put in clothes line
Plant grass seed
Plant flower seeds
Grub out sage brush in front yard
Build path for front walk/door
Get side yard ready for chickens
Repair/replace front gate for side yard
Replace gate from side yard to back garden
Repair fencing around garden in a couple of places
Get latch for walk thru gate to back pasture
Monday, March 4, 2013
A plan
I have little birds that come to eat every morning just outside my bedroom window. It always happens about 6:30-7 a.m. Somewhere between 10-30 of them come in, eat stuff from the ground, and then they fly off. I want to get some seed to set out for them but I haven't remembered while I'm in town.
I've begun my garden planning in earnest now. I'm going to work off the four-square plan. Beds surrounding the perimeter, four beds in-between paths that cross in the middle, and a center piece where the paths cross. We are thinking with all the birds up here that we want a bird bath for our center piece. The trouble I'm having at the moment is deciding what material to use for my pathways. Gravel, brick, cedar mulch, or grass? I like the feel of grass and the look but I don't like the amount of water it takes. Gravel and brick are fairly expensive and labor intensive to put in but don't take water to maintain. Cedar mulch isn't as labor intensive or expensive but in the long run it probably is as expensive since I would have to replace the mulch every year. The nice part there is that I could change my mind easily about the location of my paths.
I need some pallets for my composting area too. Or to buy a composter but I think I'd rather have three bins going. I'm noticing with my little compost that is out right now though I am going to have to get serious about fencing critters out. Even if that critter is my own dog. He is a pain about getting into stuff like that.
Once I get compost set up and my path material decided on then I can really go to work. I've started to dig beds a little. It looks like I have some pretty decent dirt. I will amend it some with some manure since the previous folks so kindly left us lots of straw and manure. Some people wouldn't be happy about that but I am.
I've begun my garden planning in earnest now. I'm going to work off the four-square plan. Beds surrounding the perimeter, four beds in-between paths that cross in the middle, and a center piece where the paths cross. We are thinking with all the birds up here that we want a bird bath for our center piece. The trouble I'm having at the moment is deciding what material to use for my pathways. Gravel, brick, cedar mulch, or grass? I like the feel of grass and the look but I don't like the amount of water it takes. Gravel and brick are fairly expensive and labor intensive to put in but don't take water to maintain. Cedar mulch isn't as labor intensive or expensive but in the long run it probably is as expensive since I would have to replace the mulch every year. The nice part there is that I could change my mind easily about the location of my paths.
I need some pallets for my composting area too. Or to buy a composter but I think I'd rather have three bins going. I'm noticing with my little compost that is out right now though I am going to have to get serious about fencing critters out. Even if that critter is my own dog. He is a pain about getting into stuff like that.
Once I get compost set up and my path material decided on then I can really go to work. I've started to dig beds a little. It looks like I have some pretty decent dirt. I will amend it some with some manure since the previous folks so kindly left us lots of straw and manure. Some people wouldn't be happy about that but I am.
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