We have been getting the compost turned, giving the raised beds some extra composted manure and getting everything ready for the seedlings to go out. Hopefully this weekend we will have everything in the backyard garden and will only have the big garden left to work on. Our lettuces are ready, so our first salad from the garden is coming shortly...the kale and spinach have taken a beating though from the squirrels, for some reason they want to dig them up. I added a lovely aluminum pie plate on a stick to scare them a bit and it works until the plate gets free. I hate having what looks like junk hanging in my garden, but I also don't want the groundhog eating my lettuce and the squirrels digging up my other greens! The seedlings are holding on even though I have had some dampening off and the garlic spray seems to be helping some of them. I was glad that we put in grow lights for them because it has been so cloudy and rainy for the past couple weeks, although you can tell we had s...
Square foot gardening is our inspiration for the raised beds. I am excited to be so organized about planting. It feels even more productive that you will use each inch to its best potential. I recommend the book if you think you would like to do some raised beds for vegetables and flowers alike. The book is "All New Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholome It is a little corny, but there is a lot of useful information. I like not having to guess, like on soil composition, how to set up the beds, how to set up the trellis, all this information is the result of someone else doing the work first. Everything so far has been fast and relatively easy.
You can not have a good garden without compost. We made ours out of old pallets and it took about 10 minutes to secure 3 sides and we left the front open for turning. It cost us nothing. I suggest that anyone who can have one do so. Plus there is nothing better for your flowers and for potted plants inside! I also have a "worm bucket" as my father calls it. They are great for super rich nutrient dense soil. You can use the dirt to make "worm tea" to liquid fertilize your plants as well. The worms are now living in the compost for the summer, and I will take as many as I can inside for the winter.
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