In spite of it still be sunny, chilly, and windy, the outdoor part of the summer garden was begun. All of the existing boxes that aren’t planted with garlic, asparagus, or blueberries were weeded and amended. One box was shifted to the left and this week, I will rearrange the stored wood in the barn to pull out a few of the long joists left from tearing down the old deck and they will be cut and built into a long box that will hold this year’s tomatoes, and will rotate with corn and potatoes in other years as they are the crops that require the biggest beds. Another double box will be built and a narrow long box will be build. I will have to purchase more Black Kow to help fill and amend them and may need another run by the pet supply store where they willingly give me the large cardboard boxes that come in. I have enough in the garage to put down for the longest box and maybe one more. The narrow box will go where the old compost pile was and that soil is good, it just needs to be regathered from where the chickens spread it out in the fall.
To the left of those two boxes is where the longest bed one goes, the other right where my shadow is.
The box on the cardboard is the one I shifted to give me space for the long box. The narrow one goes to the right of the two rows at the top of the photo. I realized that I am going to have to restring the hot wire before I turn the charger on, it is sagging enough to touch the metal fence in spots. I dug out some of the more stubborn weeds in the paths, but most of what is there will die off once new cardboard and mulch is laid over them.
Since we only have my old CRV now, and nothing to pull the trailer, the bags of compost and mulch will have to be brought in in smaller loads, enough to wear me out each day.
Last summer, I set two 5 gallon buckets full of comfrey filled with water that makes the best, stinkiest fertilizer along the fence. I used a bit of it on the fall peas that froze before they produced and the lid blew off that bucket so it filled again with rain and snow. It was used to fertilize the transplanted raspberries and the blueberry bushes while I was out there. The other bucket will be diluted and used as I plant the tomatoes and peppers later in the spring.
I finally received a notice that the tomato seed shipped, so they will be started this week. It is nice to be outdoors again and know that the garden didn’t get ahead of me with weeds before I could get it ready. Onions and peas will go in this week, probably late in the week when it is supposed to warm up and be followed by showers next weekend.
I tried to move the half barrel that I thought was still semi sound and the bottom fell out of it too, so I have loose staves and barrel rings to clean up. Maybe the staves can be pounded in the edges of the asparagus bed as it lacks a box. Soon it will be time to pull the mulch back from that bed and start looking for the first fresh green vegetable of the season.
We took a short noon time drive and you can see the hints of buds coloring the tops of the trees, not green yet, but the pinks and reds of the bud covers that swell first. This winter of isolation is going to end.
Late this week, when it has been two weeks since my second COVID vaccine, we are going out to replace the dishwasher that failed a couple months ago. I still don’t feel “safe” in the big box stores, but safer than I did 6 weeks ago.