April 20, 2013
May 20, 2013
I've been thinking about just how much happens in the garden in a relatively short period of time. How much change takes place over the course of a growing season. How much more we learn every week. I thought it might be fun this year to share weekly garden notes and photographs. If you're doing something similar and want to share it with the rest of us, do leave a comment with a link to your own garden notes!
This week, in my garden...
...has been a busy one! With our average last frost date having just passed, it's all hands on deck to get the garden in. Most of my seeds and seedlings are in now. Peas, beans, beets, lettuce, chard and kale are coming up. The garlic we planted in the fall is coming up beautifully. Being in a more permanent garden spot than we ever have been before, it's so exciting to be placing perennials here and there along the edges, an asparagus patch in the back, and more rhubarb too. We've gone with wide, deep beds, with wood chips creating our semi-permanent pathways among them, just wide enough for a wheelbarrow or wagon to fit. We used every last shovel full of our mountain of wood chips (that served as a sliding hill all winter long, covered in snow), and still ran out. Thankfully, all the brush we're clearing in the pastures means we have piles and piles more to make - the chipper is rented for today and I expect another mountain by day's end. The most exciting garden development of the week might just be the arrival of the new bees. Two new packages were installed - it's so wonderful to hear and see them buzzing about and doing their work as I work on planting and weeding and mulching. This week in my garden, I am feeling grateful for their company, the long days of mild weather, and the surprising absence of black flies for the time of year. Add in a few extra sets of little but eager working hands, and I'm calling it a fine and full week in my garden.
