Well I have a budding gardener on my hands…he has been badgering me all week to “plant the seeds”. We had picked out all the seeds for our vegetable garden last weekend and he was anxious to see them grow. I am growing an Organic garden, using only organic soil and seeds this year. Plus creating a new ‘hanging garden’ space so I can plant more.
We had to start of course with preparing the beds…picking weeds, adding some new soil, spreading around some fertilizer…Ethan patiently helped with all this work. I ended up running around trying to find some specific fertilizer for the lawn and didn’t get around to the garden. We had a yummy supper outside on the deck (first of the season!) and I was resigned to the fact that the garden would probably have to wait until Monday…well not Ethan! After his last bite of food he was ready to ‘plant the seeds’. So off we went.
First he helped with our new ‘hanging garden’. Randy had gotten it set up but Ethan and I had to add the dirt. Our ‘hanging garden’ is made out of simple rain gutters and we planted lettuce, spinach and basil in them.
Then we moved on to the garden bed. We had to rake it to level it and then we started planting. We planted: peas, corn, swiss chard, carrots, radishes, beets, tomatoes, and butter crunch lettuce. I taught Ethan how to space the seeds apart and how to cover them up to put the seeds ‘to bed’. He was very careful to make sure they were covered up nice and cozy. Then we gave it a good watering before calling it a night.
Here’s to a bountiful garden this year! Last year was a good one so I’m expecting nothing different. Also I’m excited to see how the ‘hanging garden’ does…We are also planting potatoes…vertically. I need some straw and chicken wire and we’re going to grow some potatoes without a garden bed to plant them in. I’ll add pictures when we get it built. It’s a project for another day!
I’m so excited to grow with Ethan, I remember planting gardens as a kid and working in them and being so excited to see things grow. Not to mention I know that Ethan eats more vegetables when he gets to pick them, whether its in the store or in our garden. At least coming from our garden I know what to expect!
I also spent a lot of time and money on our lawn yesterday. We have a bountiful crop of dandelions already…arrgghh! So I went the Round-up route again. I did a good dose of Round Up throughout the yard and we’re following up with a Organic Bio Weed and Feed product and some good grass seed. I hope I can win the battle of the dandelion this year! We’re also calling a tree company to come out and take a look at our Weeping Birch. It’s slowly dying and we’ve been told it might have bugs. I love that tree so much I would be heartbroken if we lost it. So I’m hoping to save it. I don’t know squat about trees so I’m calling in the pros to help. None of my other trees are suffering so I’m hoping it isn’t bugs. Randy did trim it quite a bit last year so I’m half wondering if the shock killed it. I also haven’t ever fertilized them but I don’t know that it would cause that. We’ll see, hopefully Greenblade can help me out!
We’ve got some big plans for the front yard this year. We’re tearing out the cement steps (the bottom one is disintegrating) and building some wooden stairs and making them a bit wider then the old ones. Then the flower bed to the right of the stairs is getting shrunk in size and I’m going to plant a shrub right beside the stairs and a half circle flower bed around it. We’re also planting some shrubs along the side of the deck to get some coverage so you can’t see underneath and to add something to that corner. The railroad ties are being pulled out all over and a new paving stone path and retaining wall will be put in. Randy wants to put a kidney shaped flowerbed in at the base of the driveway around the little tree that is there but I don’t know if that will happen. The back path is being re-done as well and I’m removing the crappy stone pathway and putting in just a cement pathway. We’re siding the house this year and replacing the last of the windows in the front of the house so overall the house is getting a massive face lift on the outside.
If only I can kill those damn dandelions…
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