The Spring Garden Part I

Two weeks ago in between the 80 degree weather and late winter rain we decided to start our winter garden. We harvested the last of the broccoli and then pulled out the stalks along with the last of the spinach. The inedibles were wrapped up for our grandparent’s turtles to feast on. Since we don’t have a composter they are the next best thing.

We had considered pulling out all of the dirt and giving it all a good till to mix the gardening soil with the natural dirt below. Since it would be a pretty big job we decided to hold off and do this either at the beginning or end of summer. After a light till, wetting the soil and prepping the sections of our raised bed gardens we were ready to get the seeds in the ground.

Since the peas from the winter garden were still thriving we left them alone, adding spinach and onions to that box. We left room for two rows of peppers; the peppers usually have to be pre-planted and kept inside until they sprout and then are later transplanted. The mixed green lettuce was also doing great and giving tons of greens so we left our other box alone as well. There was room for a row of strawberries which we did add.

There was also a tomato Topsy Turvy in the garage waiting to be put together.  We added four big boy tomato plants to the hanging container and hung it on a metal stand. Since they were so heavy we had to improvise with some cinder blocks for the stand to stay up and not bend under the weight of the plants. Lastly we planted a raspberry bush. It was a little naked stick with a lone green leaf and with some time should hopefully give us plenty of berries for some yummy pie.

As of this weekend most of the first box is gone. One of our furry friends got into the box and dug up the garden. Since they started the tilling process for us we’ve decided to give the box a major till and hope that helps the plants thrive. Wish us luck!

Our helper or destroyer of gardens? We'll never know!