Garden madness continues
Apr. 5th, 2009 08:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaunthieWonder of wonders, we had good weather all weekend long. Sunshine. Mild temperatures - well, once the frost melted away, anyway. NO RAIN.
Not too surprisingly, I spent a ton of time doing yardwork this weekend. Jake and I had already made plans to spend Sunday in my yard, hacking out more sod in the quest for extending the flower beds around the fenceline (and add on more veggie beds in the back). But even though I knew I would be spending all day Sunday working in the yard, when Saturday dawned bright and sunny...you know I was doomed. So after![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fisherbear and I got back from the gym Saturday morning, I got on my garden grubbies, hauled tools out from the garage, and started tackling the rockery beds and existing veggie beds. I had a lot of catching up to do.
Many hours, and much hacking, pruning, weeding, separating, planting, and transplanting later, I had a bulgingly full yard waste can (the smaller of my two, but still a full-sized can) full of ex-weeds, three different kinds of peas, two different kinds of nasturtiums, and many different kinds of annual flower seeds planted, had dug out and transplanted two full rows of garlic volunteers (one of elephant, one of inchelium or spanish red; I can't tell at this stage) into one of the veggie beds. This is in addition to all the other garlic I'm growing, not that I need more; I've got enough garlic growing right now to supply a small army. I had also harvested enough volunteer spring garlic and end-of-season winter greens (kales, spinach, mustards, chard) from the old winter garden bed to make a gigantic pot of soup. Which I did, after which I collapsed for the evening. I've still got empty space in the current veggie beds to plant up, probably with spring and summer greens. I have to keep reminding myself that it's still too early for beans and all the other things I want to plant. And of course I need more bed space for some of those things. Speaking of which...
Today I got up in time to make scones for breakfast. Jake arrived around 11, a plethora of garden tools in tow, including her rototiller (!!!) and a giant screen she'd made (beautifully overengineered with handles and everything!). We put in a huge day's worth of work, and I owe her big time. It's marvellous having a friend to do these things with, who's barking mad about gardening in the same ways. She rototilled sod, which was MUCH faster and more effective than hacking it out by hand like we did last week. We screened out the chopped-up sod from the dirt and dumped wheelbarrowfuls of it back into the cleared areas, and she spread and tilled in compost. In just a few hours we filled my BIG yard waste can up to the brim. We had to call it quits when we ran out of room in the can.
The result of today's work: Now I've got two areas along the fence that are actual BEDS, ready to be planted in. The rest is at least tilled under. The rest of the fence-bed-to-be breaking down under weed cloth. The ex-winter-greens bed and the was-a-big-patch-of-dirt-but-will-be-new-veggie-beds aren't under any kind of cover yet (I ran out of weed cloth), so I'll need to break down some cardboard and get those covered over ASAP. All the not-yet-finished beds are well underway, just awaiting more time to weed out the ex-grass (and space in yard waste cans) and the addition of compost before they're done, too.
I was covered in dirt from head to toe by the time I came in, and my toes especially were IMPRESSIVELY black with soil. I was thoroughly tired, and rather sore, and positively SMUG with gleeful accomplishment.
We'll be tackling Jake's yard again in two weeks, planting away (I think she said something about potatoes and onion sets). In the meantime I still have tons more work to do in my yard, but I'm miles ahead where I would have been without her help these last two weekends. I'm so grateful - and so glad to be working in the garden again!
Not too surprisingly, I spent a ton of time doing yardwork this weekend. Jake and I had already made plans to spend Sunday in my yard, hacking out more sod in the quest for extending the flower beds around the fenceline (and add on more veggie beds in the back). But even though I knew I would be spending all day Sunday working in the yard, when Saturday dawned bright and sunny...you know I was doomed. So after
fisherbear and I got back from the gym Saturday morning, I got on my garden grubbies, hauled tools out from the garage, and started tackling the rockery beds and existing veggie beds. I had a lot of catching up to do.Many hours, and much hacking, pruning, weeding, separating, planting, and transplanting later, I had a bulgingly full yard waste can (the smaller of my two, but still a full-sized can) full of ex-weeds, three different kinds of peas, two different kinds of nasturtiums, and many different kinds of annual flower seeds planted, had dug out and transplanted two full rows of garlic volunteers (one of elephant, one of inchelium or spanish red; I can't tell at this stage) into one of the veggie beds. This is in addition to all the other garlic I'm growing, not that I need more; I've got enough garlic growing right now to supply a small army. I had also harvested enough volunteer spring garlic and end-of-season winter greens (kales, spinach, mustards, chard) from the old winter garden bed to make a gigantic pot of soup. Which I did, after which I collapsed for the evening. I've still got empty space in the current veggie beds to plant up, probably with spring and summer greens. I have to keep reminding myself that it's still too early for beans and all the other things I want to plant. And of course I need more bed space for some of those things. Speaking of which...
Today I got up in time to make scones for breakfast. Jake arrived around 11, a plethora of garden tools in tow, including her rototiller (!!!) and a giant screen she'd made (beautifully overengineered with handles and everything!). We put in a huge day's worth of work, and I owe her big time. It's marvellous having a friend to do these things with, who's barking mad about gardening in the same ways. She rototilled sod, which was MUCH faster and more effective than hacking it out by hand like we did last week. We screened out the chopped-up sod from the dirt and dumped wheelbarrowfuls of it back into the cleared areas, and she spread and tilled in compost. In just a few hours we filled my BIG yard waste can up to the brim. We had to call it quits when we ran out of room in the can.
The result of today's work: Now I've got two areas along the fence that are actual BEDS, ready to be planted in. The rest is at least tilled under. The rest of the fence-bed-to-be breaking down under weed cloth. The ex-winter-greens bed and the was-a-big-patch-of-dirt-but-will-be-new-veggie-beds aren't under any kind of cover yet (I ran out of weed cloth), so I'll need to break down some cardboard and get those covered over ASAP. All the not-yet-finished beds are well underway, just awaiting more time to weed out the ex-grass (and space in yard waste cans) and the addition of compost before they're done, too.
I was covered in dirt from head to toe by the time I came in, and my toes especially were IMPRESSIVELY black with soil. I was thoroughly tired, and rather sore, and positively SMUG with gleeful accomplishment.
We'll be tackling Jake's yard again in two weeks, planting away (I think she said something about potatoes and onion sets). In the meantime I still have tons more work to do in my yard, but I'm miles ahead where I would have been without her help these last two weekends. I'm so grateful - and so glad to be working in the garden again!
