Today I dug four new garden beds.
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Two 10 1/2 foot rows of Burpee's Garden Sweet Peas were planted on the south side of the kennel garden, and protected with folding wire fencing.
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Two 12 foot rows of Sugar Lace Snap Peas were planted on the north (left) side of the kennel, also protected with the short fencing.
Two new beds were made at the west end of the kennel. The small bed (back) will probably be the home to a couple of cucumbers that can be trained up the kennel's chain link. The 2' x 8' bed in the foreground will possibly be planted with parsnips.
All four of the new beds were amended with many bucket loads of composted manure. I think I might have worked off a couple of pounds today! But I wasn't quite finished for the day.
I hauled 8 more buckets of manure for the raspberry bed. Then I began cutting strips of old nylons and tied a few canes to the wires. I was just getting started with the tying, when Son John showed up with a nice surprise.
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See the green fence posts and the plastic mesh fence?
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Can you see where he's going with this?
The RV dealership where John works is replacing their 4' chain link fencing, which is in excellent condition. It was just going to be disposed of, so John decided it could be repurposed as a sturdy garden fence for me! This first section, which happened to be exactly the length of the west garden, is one 23' long solid gate. John will remove the wheels, and the end posts will slip right over the two green corner posts. He brought a 5' gate, on wheels, that will be installed where the tiny gate is now, along the south end of the garden. That will allow me to at least get the garden cart through! He has all the posts, railings and chain link to do the entire garden. No way will Annie and Otto be able to get in!
Well, back to work. I'm in charge of removing all the old fencing. I also walk around with level in hand, so John keeps everything plumb and level.
What a great surprise. And I'm so sad I can't plant peas yet. I suppose normally it would be a week off anyway, but I'm ready to get outside. I'll have to wait for all the snow to melt first though so I can see how frozen the soil is.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, it will be so nice to have such a strong fence. I can actually plant something up against it, and it will be strong enough to hold. Next year's peas for instance! Then I can pick them from both sides, which is the main reason I planted them around the kennel garden.
DeleteI'm sore just looking at all of that work! How exciting to get a new fence! What a great son you've got! Chain link fencing isn't cheap!
ReplyDeleteMegan, we went out for dinner tonight, because I was worn out. Then, when we got back, I trenched under the chain link with a hoe, helped John stretch the fencing, manned the nuts and bolts attaching the link to the posts. Worked until 7:30, when it got too dark. Almost finished!
DeleteUnbelievable! You're a machine!
DeleteWow! What a nice set up! And everything looks so neat and tidy! Nancy
ReplyDeleteIt's getting there, Nancy. I think I'm a bit farther ahead than I was this time last year. Of course, last year is when we doubled the size of the garden.
DeleteWow, you were busy! How nice that you had light to work until 7:30!
ReplyDeleteRay, daylight saving time fell on the right day for me! It's almost 9 now, and I've already taken 2 Tylenol and soaked in a hot bath, but I'm still as stiff as an old board! Fencing to finish tomorrow, and I was hoping to at least get started on the potato beds. I don't know if I have enough Tylenol to get it all done ;-)
DeleteI hear you! Boy would I like to get potatoes and some onions planted tomorrow but we are getting rain....quite a bit.
DeleteI move around pretty well until I sit down for a bit; then I can hardly get up!
Same here. If I just keep moving, I'm fine. I wanted to work right through dinner tonight, but the Mr. insisted on going out for Chinese. I ate really fast so I could get back to work, but I was feeling pretty achy by then, and it was already getting dark.
DeleteGreat job Carol. Isn't Free stuff wonderfull. Not to mention free labor. Ha Ha I had the grand kids over Sunday helping me plant onion sets. It took twice as long with them but four times the fun. Almost have the front raised bed complete. I will send you a few pictures when I finish it. Peas are soaking and will go in after work today. 60 and sunny.
DeleteYour Gardening Frind
Frank from Virginia
Frank, free is definitely wonderful! Of course, I'll pay John something for all his work, but the materials would have cost a lot. I'm looking forward to your pictures!
DeleteWOWSA! What a fantastic surprise! You got a lot of work done and then to get such a great gift, amazing. I'm smiling ear to ear for you. :-)
ReplyDeleteBarbie, I'm grinning too. Mr. granny, however, is grumping. He just doesn't see why we even have a garden fence. Duh....Annie and Otto are why, as well as visiting granddogs!
DeleteWould you please slow down so I don't look so bad? I'm looking forward to warmer weather, but I'll never be able to keep up with you.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Langela, I have to take advantage of the decent weather while I can. I'm not slowing down until everything is planted and securely fenced!
Deletegreat looking fence and what you are planting peas already...wow
ReplyDeleteMrs. P., get out your snow shovel and get to work....it's spring, ya know ;-)
DeleteYou're one busy lady! The fence looks great. I'm hoping to get my peas started in pots soon. My soil is way too wet to direct plant at the moment.
ReplyDeleteDan, we got the fencing finished this afternoon! I dare the dogs to get in the garden now :-)
DeleteEEK!! I'm so behind on my plantings. I just bought my pea seeds today!! Looks like you're off to a great start!
ReplyDeleteHolly, I actually put mine out a bit early. I like to plant them on the 15th, but then again, I usually do get in a rush!
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Have you planted sugar lace peas before? I just ordered a packet,and was wondering how you thought they did.
ReplyDeleteI have been growing dwarf ann sugar snap peas for years and thought I would try something different...
thanks :)
Gineen, I planted them in 2010, and loved them. I blogged the following notes about them:
DeleteI'm not exactly happy with this year's sugar snap peas, Oregon Sugar Pod II (OSP). Last year I grew Sugar Lace (SL) and loved them. OSP must have the strings removed, SL are stringless. OSP has a lot of lush foliage which makes the vines heavy so they tend to tear away from their trellis when they're wet or wind blown, SL are nearly leafless and light weight, with lots of tendrils that hang on to their support. On SL, the pods are so easy to find and pick, OSP pods are hidden under all the foliage. OSP blossomed once and gave me 2-3 pickings, then no more blossoms showed up. SL continued blossoming and forming pods until the weather got too hot. The seed catalog states "stringless, but self supporting. Its crisp, sweet pods yield abundantly. Sugar Lace is semi-leafless with interlocking tendrils that prevent the need for staking or trellising. It is also enation resistant for growth during warmer weather. The pods form at the end of its branches for easy picking. This is one you'll want to grow every year. Approximately 68 days to maturity." I found that to be true. So why didn't I plant SL this year? Well, I wasn't going to plant peas at all. I happened to be near the seed rack at the grocery store, noticed the OSP II packets and thought "Why not?", so I bought them on a whim. My bad.
Then I didn't plant them in 2012, because I was gifted with a couple of packets of Cascadia peas. I wasn't very happy with those either, I don't like having to pull strings from my snap peas. I'm anxious to give the Sugar Lace another try.
PS: Here is a photo of the Sugar Lace peas growing in a wide row against a 3' high wire fence. I had commented under the photo that the peas were coming on faster than we could eat them!
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