Garden Work

It still may be February but spring is definitely in the air around here. We have been working every day trying to get the garden ready for planting.  As this is the first time the ground has been tilled and planted there is much to be done.  Mars has tilled the rows and we've pulled out grass and tilled and repeated.  The soil test came back and our ph is good but could use a little boost in nitrogen and phosphorus.
  We are lucky to have access to the neighbors horse manure pile.  So Sunday morning Mars got up and went down and picked up a couple of truckloads. The great thing is that he was able to get the manure that had been there for several years.  Hopefully it won't be too full of viable weed seeds.  I guess we are going to find out soon enough.  So the day was spent spreading poop and tilling it in and raking it out again.

  Right now we are working on building up the rows and pulling out what weeds we can find. I figure the more we can get out of there now the better off we will be later on.  My back is killing me but I know it will be worth it when its all done.  We are kind of working against the clock right now.  Lots of stuff that I want to get in the ground in the next two weeks and the drip irrigation isn't  in yet.  Heck, it hasn't even got here yet. I'm waiting for the UPS truck to show up today though!! 
  I did get the small beds planted this weekend though.  Two and a half beds of onion sets, a few broccoli plants, some carrots and some leaf lettuce.  Check out this cool idea.  I cut small rings from a toilet paper roll to mark the new plants. It really makes them easy to spot.

  Then to keep the cat and dogs out Mars put up a hotwire around the bottom of the beds.  MissKitty has an awful habit of following me out in the garden and walking between my legs and all in the beds trying to get me to pet her.  I'm guessing she found out the hard way about the hotwire.  I was in there the very next day and she was on the outside of the fence meowing at me but she wasn't about to come in.  I guess it works! Boy was she ticked off!

    I've got some plants started in my homemade peat pots and have them in the baggies.  Again I got a little bit of a late start but I have high hopes.  I made the peat pots out of toilet paper rolls and use MMPaints "baggie method". 

  I wish I had done that sooner since the first seeds I started really didn't do all that well.  I'm afraid we are going to have to buy most of our tomato plants this year.  But live and learn. It's all part of the learning process.  I've been working on a planting calendar too.  I'm one of those folks that has to have things written down to remember it.  

  We are a little later than I wanted to be getting the potato's in but we are still within the "window" on them so I'm hoping that will turn out.  Again, this is a first so there's bound to be a learning curve.  This is one reason I think folks should put their skills in action.  You can't just read about something and think that when SHTF you will be able to jump out there and do it. Reading and doing are two totally different things. You actually need to DO it before hand. Same thing goes for all skills.  There's always a learning curve and you want to be on the right side of it.