Spring Garden 2009

I am so excited to have started my garden. We have had 75 degree weather and I am about to bust to welcome Spring. I know that we will have some more cold weather come before Easter, but for now I am pretending and preparing for Spring.

I got out and weeded and tilled up my two raised beds to prepare them for planting. In the fall we put a layer of leaves on top of each bed, so I worked them into the soil. We got a truckload of top soil when we made the beds last year and mixed it with composted manure. Around here, top soil is red Alabama clay. I know what the mixture is for the square foot gardens (please don't leave me comments) and even had a couple of people tell me that nothing would grow in the clay. Our garden did well and this year is much richer and looser. When I planted things in it last year I dug a hole and added fresh compost. It may take a little longer but it is better to start and let it mature with each season rather than not start because of the expense of all the proper soil materials.

I planted some strawberries in my strawberry pot on the deck. I have never planted them before and they were all bunched together and I was ripping them apart because the package said it contained 10 plants. Well, after I did about four I saw they had a rubberband around them, so hopefully I didn't damage them.

I have started indoor seeds of green pepper, jalapeno pepper, chili pepper, cherry tomato, beefstake and another tomato, eggplant, daisies, thyme, basil, broccoli, parsley, watermelon, zinnias, snapdragons, and marigolds. Today I planted some onion bulbs in rectangular pots. I didn't have enough soil to fill the other rectangular pots to plant some lettuce and spinach, but will get some and plant those in the next few days. I also have some flower bulbs to plant. I am growing the onions, lettuce, and spinach in pots and will keep them around the deck so that I don't take up space in the raised beds. I thought I had carrot seed but will have to buy some seeds and get them planted. I ordered all my garden seeds through an heirloom seed company but they have not arrived so I am using up what I bought last year.

I am in awe of Little Homestead in the City. They inspire me to work with what I have and not wait to have acres of land. I hope to one day be able to grow most of our vegetables and some fruit. The one thing that I cannot ever plant enough of to feed our family is corn. I am going to plant an area on the side of the house that is about 30 feet by 6 feet wide, but with an average of 3 ears per stalk we won't get much. Maybe one day we will be able to buy some land that we could build on in the future when the kids are not in school. We could plant fruit trees and corn and take a camper there. That is my dream. Then, one day I would build a small house and a root cellar or basement. We could build a barn for the grandkids or they could just sleep under the stars. They could bathe in the creek. And we could have a great big chocolate tree just for me!