Life has been busy with one special event or another. Just got done with a benefit performance of Rocky Horror over at church. That was a blast!
YESTERDAY
Yesterday and today we put in some garden work. We’d started do last month but got derailed, but I think we’re definitely going now. The momentum is carrying us along.
Yesterday we were weeding all the beds and watering, checking plants after the cold snap. Most did ok, some might have to go.
We got the Nantes carrot tape out and planted them in the two squares that were empty in the sweet onion plot.
The exciting part was when I took the cardboard off the plot I had wanted to use for strawberries and found a little black racer snake sleeping. He woke up and glared.
It was close to sunset so I decided to call it a day and go in to make dinner. Julia’s nerves had gotten rattled anyway so she was definitely done.
TODAY
Today while she was at preschool I picked up 16 Sequoia Strawberry plants. I keep telling myself to get organized to start them myself because they’d be way cheaper! But I’m not always that organized.
When I opened the trunk to show her the surprise in the parking lot, she lit up and claimed first dibs on all strawberries. I told her no because last year I only did 8 plants and I hardly got any. So I got extras so I could eat some too. After lunch we planted some flower seeds (petunia and marigold) in the windowbox starters and took a rest.
Then in the afternoon we went out. I raked over the snake bed to make sure he’d gone and we settled into to work. Pulled out all the grass from the edges, dug out all the soil into Rubbermaid totes, and lay fresh cardboard down to suppress any grass or weeds from popping up. It seems to last about a year so turning the garden beds over isn’t much trouble when it’s 4×4 plots at a time. Put all the dirt back and assembled the new grids Paul made. Will have to saw about an inch off one end because the beds are not exactly square.
Julia planted most of them herself all around the bed. I only had to help with the back middle 4 because those she had a hard time reaching.
Most of the plants have blooms. Some have fruit. Probably been in the pot too long but can’t be choosy when you procrastinate and have to go with transplants!
Julia is giving them organic plant food out of the bag in the plastic tub.
One side of the 4×8 bed is pretty much sweet onions and the other is strawberries. Here is a better view of the sweet onions in the foreground.
This is what they were like almost 6 weeks ago when I first put in the onion starters. They’ve come along well.
Julia working her way around the bed.
I just rip them off but she wanted to use scissors to get the plastic labels off the peat pots.
Our little 4 x 4 ft strawberry patch all planted. I hope they are sweet and juicy!
We showed off to Daddy when he got home and then made him put up the bean trellis.
I was trying to do it with Julia but she’s too short to hold her end up high enough so we had to wait for him. We planted purple beans.
I think we are either going to put more carrots down in front of it or more strawberries. Julia is campaigning for the berries, of course.
