OK- now that gardening season is really starting to roll I realized I haven't been tracking it here! Spring always makes me feel alive and ETERNALLY behind in garden chores. I guess it really gives you a kick start in terms of 'waking up' and getting things done.Beyond getting my food garden together, I have been giving some demonstrations on Vertical Gardening at a community garden opening in Round Hill, VA and this weekend at Purcellville's Smart Market- Farmers Market- Summer Market Opening day! So between this and my own garden- there is no extra time! Oh yeah, I also spoke at my company's Earth Day event on 'Growing Your Own Food' and got lots of nice notes saying how I inspired people to garden!
So for the record, every year I deal with the same pains as everyone else does..... My garden is horribly ugly and needs SO MUCH WORK! The wind caused havoc on everything, my soil, my deer fencing, my supports,....they all need repair! So beyond needing to add organic matter to all of my beds, and new beds, I have basic garden-keeping to do. Here is a list of what I have done thus far:
- Added two massive piles of aged manure to all beds
- Created 3 new beds
- Added additional nutrients: greensand and limestone
- Replenished my (2) lasagna beds (I am totally loving this method more than appending to my existing soil)
- Made (2) lasagna beds in containters for strawberries
- Laid down weed barrier throughout garden (multiples times because of wind ripping it up!
- My dad restrung deer fencing and shored it up and made me a cool new door
- Created new bamboo planting guides for each bed (kinda like square foot gardening technique)
- Organized seeds by the beds I want to plant them in
- Started squash, cucumber, melon, eggplant, and pepper plants inside
- Planted onion sets and peas outside
- Re-freshed my worm beds and moved them back outside
For now that is all! Phew, I just broke a sweat typing this! This weekend I hope to:
- Lay hay down on all of my paths
- Create a new cucumber 'patch' with bamboo vertical supports
- Plant leeks, greens, swiss chard, and herbs
- Mow my berry patch area
- Reinforce deer fencing
- Give vertical gardening demonstration at Farmer's Market in Purcellville
(note all of this is subject to how my 3-year old and babe-in-belly feel!)
