Mood:
happyToday, as they say, is the first day of the rest of your life. Or my life. Or whatever. I decided as I was working today, that I would blog about what's going on in my garden. Perhaps that will give others ideas about what to do in their gardens. And if I end up with followers, perhaps that will bring attention to our club website. So here goes.
Day one. The weather was nice today. It got up to 66º today, with very little wind. Yesterday I spent two hours raking up the lovely tumbleweeds that blew into my yard from Jack's old place and the Rabans' farm. I'm sure my backyard produced some of them, but most of them blew over the fence. I raked them up, as many as I could, and burned them. The breeze started blowing, and blew the smoke all over the neighborhood, but apparently it influenced other people because today several of my neighbors decided to burn stuff.
Yesterday, I also dug some of my raised beds, added a thick layer (maybe 6") of leaves, and then re-covered it with the soil I dug out. I watered them all very good and then covered the soil with some chopped pine needles because they help acidify the soil and don't blow away as easily as do leaves or compost. Then I laid my water lines back on top to hold everything together.
Today, since all the burning was done, I thought I would focus on compost. I finished up one of my smaller raised beds, filling with leaves and grass I got from the City. Just so you all know out there, when the City and the County cut grass, they often take it to the green waste, and what a waste that is! Just think, all the clippings from the big park, the Little League field, the grass around the library, in front of the courthouse and old high school. All that goes to the first taker, or the green waste if nobody gathers up the bags the workers put on the sidewalk.
Anyway, I'm often the first taker and I carry all I can back home. I even had Eric deliver the season's last mowing to my house, right in front of my compost bins, about a month ago. Thank you, Eric!! But I took that and layered it with some goat manure from Jack's old place, some horse manure I got from my neighbor, and leaves I was paid to haul away this fall from a guy's house. I sifted the goat manure because Jack wasn't all that careful about what got scooped up with the manure and there was wire, string, chunks of metal, blocks of wood, a glove, a shovel handle, a wheel of some variety, and various other undesirable things in there. But I layered maybe 6 inches of leaves or straw from my chicken coop, then an inch or two of one of the manures, then leaves, then grass, then straw, then manure, and kept going until it was maybe 4 foot high. Gave it all a good water, and by spring, if I turn it once or twice, it should be sufficient to mulch my plants, and by summer, it will be perfect to add as a mild fertilizer.
Winter is hard for me because there aren't that many growing things, but with my little greenhouse, I can grow greens and other cold-hardy things all winter. I replanted chard, beets, snow peas, and greens just the other day. I will let you all know when it comes up. I think it was Thursday I planted, so we can count down from there.
I've aded this blog to our Garden Club website in the hopes that our members can feel more connected to what is going on with the actual people within the club. Please feel free to comment, add your own experiences, or ask any questions that pop up in your mind as you read or peruse the website. It is my hope to have an entry every day, even if it is just to post the weather stats. Happy Gardening!
Regina
