President’s Day Gardening

On President’s Day, as I was finishing lunch, I looked out the window and saw snow! We’ve had practically nothing since Christmas, and now on the day I was finally ready to work in my garden, it decided to snow? I ran outside as fast as I could, determined to get some work done before it got too cold. Half way through, the flurries stopped, and it was just cold. The first step to getting a garden ready is cleaning up from last year. My chickens did most of that for me, when we let them loose on the garden during the winter, but there was a pumpkin vine they didn’t touch and a bunch of those giant prickle weeds, so I grabbed a huge garbage bag and started filling it up. Then I made my way to my smaller boxes and started cleaning those up. They were mostly full of some sort of grassy weed, as I had harvested everything from all but one box last year.

Chickens digging through the grassy weed.

Chickens digging through the grassy weed.

Delicious winter carrots.

Delicious winter carrots.

The box that still has food in it is full of carrots, because they over winter beautifully, and since this winter was so mild, I didn’t even have to cover them. I cleared out the grassy weed from this box as well, and fed all of the weed to my chickens. I figure it’s some sort of annoying grain, which chicken’s love, and they’ve been enjoying digging through it. I, also, suspect that this weed helped to insulate my carrots when the temperatures did get cold. So, this weed and I don’t have too bad of relationship, especially considering how easy grass is to pull out of Mel’s Mix.

Thistle. These are all over my yard, even in my grass.

Thistle. These are all over my yard, even in my grass.

This weed and I, however, have a very complex relationship. Thistles are considered a noxious weed, which means it’s attempting to take over the planet. No, really it means harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant. In this case, all three, though it is only mildly poisonous. When they bloom, they’re deathly beautiful, but they kill to even lightly brush up against. Don’t wear flip flops around these things. I’ve been collecting any of the dead flowers I can find, in a probably futile attempt to prevent them from growing in my garden. They’re so hard to get rid of that even digging them out doesn’t stop them from coming back. Once I had a thistle so big that a colony of ants made it their home. That was gross.

Clean garden box and large garden pot, ready to be planted

Clean garden box and large garden pot, ready to be planted

After a quick, though not thorough, clean up, I devoted my energy to one box. My chickens used it as a place to dust bathe in, so there was lots of chicken manure and feathers strewn about it. I left them there and hoed them in, while breaking up the Mel’s Mix to make it nice and soft for this year. The dirt was thawed completely, and I wonder if it even froze this year. After about fifteen minutes, the box was ready, except for needing a little compost for added nutrients. I don’t know if my compost pile even did anything this winter, because there wasn’t any snow to insulate it while it rotted. I’ll be checking the bottom of the pile later this week to see if I need to buy some compost or not, and then, I’ll be planting Tom Thumb Peas. I’m very excited to eat them. Combined in a stir fry with the carrots planted last year, it’ll be delicious.

2013 Garden Update

We’ve been working on our garden since March, and since we already had two square foot garden boxes in place, I was able to plant as soon as the ground defrosted. It’s been about a month and a half, and we have fantastic lettuce, onions, and radishes on their way to becoming a delicious salad. The swish chard and carrots are taking their time, because I didn’t sprout them before I planted, but they are still coming. I’m trying out red and green cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower this year. These are wonderful for a spring crop, because they can be snowed on and still survive. It’s almost like they do better the colder it is.

Cabbage and Such Lettuce

We’re ripping up grass by the side of the house to make way for more garden boxes. This house came with far too much grass (a.k.a. dandelion field) and I’m trying to find ways to get rid of some of it, so that my poor husband doesn’t have so much to mow. I planted strawberries in these new boxes, in hopes that these plants will survive a few years, and I won’t just rip them out when all the other annuals are dead. Sadly, the deer like strawberry plants and ate the leaves off of some of my precious plants. We’re currently working on a way to keep them protected from the deer, while still getting enough sun and water. The upside to having cooler weather is that I don’t feel totally weird when I cover my boxes with sheets to keep the deer from eating them.

Strawberry Plants Potato Plant

And, in some pots, until we clear out the weeds from the space we intend to plant them in, are some thornless raspberries. We put them in the larger pots, because they were becoming too big for the pots we bought them in. Plus, they’re able to take advantage of the fantastic Mel’s mix we surrounded them with. And, in the other pots are potatoes! What? Potatoes in a pot? Yeah, I’ve no idea if it will work, but they’re growing, and I have a fun blue variety in there.

Raspberry Plant Jonathan Apple Tree

Some of our friends have enough land to plant their own little mini orchard, and in the spirit of having fruit in your backyard, we bought our first fruit tree! Yes, just one, compared to their twelve, but it was all we could afford at the moment, and the only tree I was sure I wanted. We got a Jonathan Apple tree. These are by far my favorite apples ever, with a wonderful tart flavor, and perfect for whatever you want to do with them. We won’t be getting any fruit off of the tree for another three to five years, but it will be wonderful when we do.

In our future, we’re planning to rip out three feet of grass along the entire west side of our house. We’re going to plant eight tomato plants there, and I am super excited for it. We are getting many different varieties this year, some for canning, some for saucing, and most for eating. Since I’m new to canning, I’m sure I’ll even end up freezing a lot of them. We’re getting our plants from here. The guy who grows them lives just down the street, and it’s been really fun to watch them grow from seeds. I, also, have enough weeds cleared for another square foot garden box, and will soon have space for a second.