Photo: Great grandparents at their farm in Blandinsville, IL, with five of their six children .. my grandpa was yet a twinkle in grandma's eye. Stable boy and governess also pictured. Hodges farm, circa 1903-4

Friday, March 22, 2013

Bit by Bit

It's a work in progress .. and nitty and gritty!

Day 5 ~ Was cold, cloudy, sunny, blowy and with snow flurries.  There's something neat about working out in the cold .. with the sound of wind blowing through the tree tops .. and snow flurries .. seems a bit surreal and other worldly.  Perhaps that's why it took me until 3:00 PM to get outside and work in the garden.

The call of the wood stove kept me snug and cozily napping on the couch .. but work has to get done!

I added some wood ash to the raised beds .. just a little sprinkle .. then tilled it in.

I dug the dirt and fine bark down and away from the outside edges of the raised beds and fence posts.  This will help keep the wood from rotting as fast.

Some dead scarlet runner bean vines were pulled down from the wire fence .. the bark was raked and spread out a bit.

My comfrey seeds arrived from here.  I'll be planting some just to use for making organic fertilizer.

The heirloom tomato seeds were getting a little leggy .. so I added more seed starting soil to the tray ... look, they're getting real leaves now!

Hopefully by mid (next) week .. the temps will be more normal and in the 50's.  Now .. that will be some good gardening weather.  What's up in your garden?

3 comments:

Dani said...

Sadly my garden is currently being stripped in anticipation of a good pre-winter composting.

But, I am collecting empty egg shells as fast as possible, in anticipation of my next planting season :)

Sue said...

I've still got 2 feet of snow in my garden. It's going to be a few weeks yet until I can get out and play. I'm envious of your progress.

Sandy Livesay said...

Mrs. Mac,

The weather has not been conducive to plant. My greenhouse seedlings are not doing as well as expected. When I went to Texas and left them under the care of my husband and son 1/2 of them died off. I think there was to much moisture in the greenhouse.

I love your raised beds and the nice tall fence around them to help keep out the critters. We had to put a 4 foot fence around ours with a locked gate.