What Did You Do In The Garden?

[Branching Out]

Lots of seeds hit the dirt today. Four varieties of spinach seeds were sown in pots, as well as cilantro and some Tuscan baby kale. I'm hoping it's not too late for the spinach; we have a narrow window to get it to maturity before the weather gets too warm for it. (Below is a photo of spinach that I put in a month ago; it's about 2" tall now). The other day I found some dwarf shelling pea seeds from a few years ago so they got tucked in the ground too, with some twigs for support. Tomorrow it will rain which should get the peas off to a good start.

Scallions that were started mid-January finally got moved from small 6-cells to a large container, as well as dianthus plugs. At least I think they're dianthus-- the label disappeared somewhere along the way.

 

[digitS']

The spading fork did a good job on the 5 foot and 4 foot beds in the expanded garden.

It was lots of work, not only because of rocks but because of tree roots. The neighbor's tree was too close to the 5' bed. Fairly small and the spading fork can work around them but I want those roots outta there. The tiller can't work around them. I say the tree "was" because it has been gone for 2 years.

The 3 foot bed may not receive the spading fork treatment. After all, My Feet are Sore after that other work! And, before one path was covered with broken up sod, I removed 2 inches of top soil from it and wheel-barrowed it around to the 3' bed. Should have done that with the other path now covered.

@flowerbug , the problem with dealing with the grass sod in a proper manner, as you suggest, is I don't have a proper place. The garden space is for garden and the beds under the temporary hoop house are now filled with Asian greens. Lawn remaining has increased in value. Driveway only has room for 1 parked vehicle. House, greenhouse, garage, a carport filled with gardening equipment – the square feet of a 50 by 200 lot are all accounted for. I don't want to haul it away; grass makes good compost. I learned that from doing this exact same thing several times before.

I think that what I can do is start at one end of the 2 paths covered and shuffle the broken up sod behind me. Flip, Turn. Flip, Flip — work my way to the other end. Maybe doing it 2 or 3 times will greatly decrease the size as it dries. Maybe, by that time, the compost put together a month ago, will be ready to move to be used as Summer mulch and this extra dry grass can replace it. I don't like using compost as mulch, it's too valuable but a regular watering schedule may have started and the nutrients can be mostly washed into the soil.

Parsimonious steve

 

[digitS']

In Other Circumstances ..

. I wouldn't be so Anxious about losing ..

. that Green Grass:

 

[flowerbug]

... I don't like using compost as mulch, it's too valuable but a regular watering schedule may have started and the nutrients can be mostly washed into the soil.

Parsimonious steve

if you can keep turning it so that it will keep drying then you can keep what you're doing. it does work as long as you don't forget you have a potential crew of vagrants that will root any chance you give them long enough before they've completely died off. the bigger chunks you can perhaps keep in buckets so that they won't get wet again.

 

[flowerbug]

i have at times fed grass clods through the worm farm buckets...

 

[digitS']

Some of the 2024 tomatoes enjoying more room after a move from the 4-packs into 3½ inch pots. More room all around — quite a change from the market gardening seasons. The greenhouse is now about twice as large as necessary but maybe I can make better use of it during the growing season.

I will top-off the pots now that the bottom watering has settled the soil.

Steve

 

[Phaedra]

Applied an annual protection layer of paint to the garden chair and some small trellises, all done.

 

[Branching Out]

Round two of Painted Mountain Corn. The seeds were pre-sprouted on the kitchen counter for a few days, and many had nice roots developing. The plan is twofold: to use the corn to stabilize a scrubby slope in our back yard, and to grow supports for semi-runner beans. I made furrow and planted in that, hoping that the furrows will become proper swales for the corn to grow in as the season goes on. This is my first attempt at creating a swale and I am not quite sure how to do it. I added some fertilizer and alfalfa pellets to get the corn off to a good start. We have very warm weather in the forecast for later this week, so hopefully the timing will work out well.

 

[GottaGo]

Not much happening out in the gardens, since the woodchuck has made his/her presence known again. I believe the demon has also found a way into the fenced veggie garden, as several perennials wintered in empty beds were nibbled on, and the clover cover crop was 'mowed' in one bed.

It's not our normal way of functioning, but we have tried everything else. We may have to 'permanently' remove it or the damage will continue.

 

[flowerbug]

...
It's not our normal way of functioning, but we have tried everything else. We may have to 'permanently' remove it or the damage will continue.

yeah, they can be a real challenge to deter or remove.

what kind of fencing do you have?