March 27, 2013 - Another Busy Day in the Garden

It was raining lightly when I woke up this morning, gray and gloomy but 50 degrees.  I convinced myself there would be no gardening today, but right after breakfast the sun came out!  It turned into a lovely, warm, sunny day, so I donned my old sweat pants and gardening gloves and headed out to the garden.

I couldn't put off planting the Yukon gold potatoes any longer, so I started digging holes in the bed I had tilled yesterday.  This potato bed wouldn't be as large as the one I planted last week, because I'm at that area of the North Garden where there are still old roots from the maple tree that used to reside there.  I still managed to get 28 hills of potatoes planted, and I'm sure that will be more than enough for us.

Next to the potato bed, I dug a 1' wide future cabbage bed.  I think there might still be room for a wide row of leeks, if the seedlings ever get large enough to plant.  That will be all that can be planted in that section though, as the big roots are right at the surface.  I set a couple of concrete blocks over the surface roots, and zip tied a garden sprinkler to them.  The oscillating sprinkler waters most of the North garden.  Moving on toward the east, I dug all the soil from the old barrel that held winter squash plants last year, and moved it out of the garden.  It will be repurposed as a container for cucumbers, up against the fence.  The soil that was removed was mounded right in the middle of that garden section, and will be planted with three hills of butternut squash in May.


Yukon Gold potato bed, framed in bright red yarn, future cabbage bed to the right, possible spot for the leeks, then the sprinkler setup.  The hose is coiled over the mound of soil that will be planted to squash.

Next I went to work on the strawberry bed, cutting off all the dead leaves, and doing general cleanup.  I sprinkled on some fertilizer, then scratched it in with my long handled cultivator (which kept losing its "claw").


Strawberry bed cleaned up and fertilized.  Notice last year's broccoli at the end of the strawberry bed.  It was one long stem, with broccoli growing at each end, so I covered the center of the stem and held it down with the frogs on a rock.  It's loaded with shoots!


A bit of leveling, weed hoing and cleanup of the debris, and the North Garden was all ready for future plantings.  I hooked up the hose to the sprinkler and checked it out to make sure it was in the right spot for complete coverage, then called it a day.


As I exited through the east garden gate, I rolled it over my foot for the hundredth time.  Some day maybe I'll learn to keep my foot out of the way.  Then again, maybe I won't.


31 comments:

  1. I'm glad you got some sunshine. Sounds like you made the most of it!

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    Replies
    1. Ray, I did, but I didn't overdo the potato digging this time! I paid the price on that first bed I dug.

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  2. That strawberry bed looks terrific. All your plans look, as usual, pretty great.

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    Replies
    1. Stefaneener, I bought a half dozen new plants this year, to try a different variety. Now I don't know where to plant them! I'm thinking maybe I'll rip out a section of that strawberry bed and do a side by side comparison. My only other good spot gets dog trampled to death.

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    2. Bad dogs. That's why we had to make a Kevin-fence. Now our dogs can be as bad as they want. . . sigh. But I should go out and pick off strawberry leaves. Once the rain stops.

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    3. Stefaneener, the garden is fenced to keep out the bad dogs, but the spot where I want to put those new berries is in the main part of the back yard. There is a 6' solid fence that separates my bad dogs from the neighbor's bad dogs, and all four bad dogs try to call each others' bluff by sounding vicious and attacking the fence, which means they trample anything and everything next to said fence. That's why I put my tomatoes in buckets over there. They'd never survive all those bad dogs :-)

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  4. I'm glad you got a nice sunny day for working outside. Yesterday was fabulous. I spent some time outside. I think today will clear up a bit in the afternoon and I'll be out working again. I'm slowly getting all my spring crops planted too.

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    Replies
    1. Daphne, it's so nice working out there when it's 60 and sunny, probably close to 70 in that sunlight. We're actually supposed to hit 70 this week, with no freezes in sight.

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  6. Don't worry, you're foot will develop a fence roller callus. :) Everything looks great, as usual, Granny.

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    2. Like here. I meant to type 'your' and typed 'you're' instead. At least on your site I can reply and correct myself. Ugh!

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    3. And I didn't even notice! LOL, I'm slipping. Old age will do that to you every time ;-)

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  8. I haven't even started on my gardening yet and your beds look so nice! I wondered why the beds near your yukon gold potatoes are on an angle? Yukon Gold is what I planted last year. Expecting my new strawberries to come in April. Nancy

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    Replies
    1. Nancy, those angled raised beds are part of the old garden. It was so narrow, I had to set them in at an angle to get 4'x8' beds in there and still have room to walk around them. I extended the garden last spring, and have removed 2 of the old angled beds. Unfortunately, my raspberries and strawberries are in the other two, so they must remain as they are.

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  12. It sure looks neat and tidy. I love the promise of empty beds. Happy Easter!

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    1. David, I'm sitting here this morning, the sun is shining on the garden and it looks so beautiful to me. Even though there isn't much growing yet, it looks neat and clean and I can imagine what it will look like in another month! I have a feeling it will be a fantastic gardening year.

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  16. have you heard of paul gautschi? (backtoedenfilm.com) he covers his strawberry plants at the end of the season w/mulch (just lightly). many people do this over winter but he does not move the mulch in the spring. he just lets the strawberry plants grow through the mulch - this way the dead ones just compost (less work for you) and the strong ones, that will produce the best berries, will come through (no overcrowding either)! may want to keep that in mind for next year. i don't have strawberries but it makes sense...

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    Replies
    1. Newbiegardengirl, I have tried that with straw in the past, but ended up with so many slugs the berries were ruined. Now that I have my neighbor saving her chopped leaves for me, I'm hoarding them and will be mulching many of my beds with them (including the strawberries). I may have to resort to using Sluggo!

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  17. You will be drowning in potatoes this year... well you better be with all the work you put into it! Your garden is so gorgeous and tidy looking!

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    1. Erin, of course I'll be drowning in them since I gave up eating "white". I only allow myself to enjoy white potatoes once a week. I have a feeling that will be changing once I can begin digging for those sweet babies. Which means I'll have to start dieting again next fall.

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  18. I can only dream of raked soil beds that clean-- wowsas!

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    1. Amy Renea, it's pretty easy to do this time of the year. I have to keep on top of it so the weeds don't get away from me! Right now it's volunteer flowers that are growing where they aren't supposed to, and I have to tackle them with the hoe almost daily.

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