seeds planted on March 22nd, Corn Salad -Mache seeds on March 18;
after last year's wilderness growth, a sort of green manuring,
my first full growing season here, and cutting and snipping with the hedge trimmer,
this year I started with 'lifting' the grass sod as soon as the surface
started defrosting,
and for the peas again another small area two days after a wet snow fall,
the ground dried good, the sod was co-operative, the grass roots landed
on the soon-to-be more compost
and corn salad and peas are "covered" each with their very own plastic umbrella
that needs lifting under the March sun.
Practically, I was sitting outside all winter whenever the sun was out,
me and the garden are on the south side
and this being part of the 'most sunniest area' of Canada
with the most sunshine per annum,
I at least earned a sun tan that I can now parade in my mirror
I don't dig down, I'll build up and have some top soil yet coming this week:
enough for carrots and potatoes;
yes potatoes I've ordered from the east coast;
all sorts of seeds are going into the ground, spinach, lettuce next
New Zealand Spinach goes up on some trellis that I already practiced with,
so are the beans and the honeydews...
The five deer were thoroughly productive throughout the winter
while they were feeding off the dropped apples
and off whatever green there was;
their manuring was indeed professionally done...
The old apple tree got his pruning done, probably too much;
now I got to do some raking to make use of the leaves
and 'turn' the sod as well;
this tree will be watered for the next crop I want to eat myself
and make again fresh apple juices...
There's not much rain coming here in this quasi desert,
so I play with mulching, cover crops and watering.
All my garden 'beds' need to be watered, mulched and cover cropped...
Rainworms got to replace now the five deer to make this garden productive;
lots of quick Chinese vegetables
but I will try regular cabbage and the rest like chard and kale etc as well
Tomatoes, I paid at Christmas $1.25 a tomato, that sealed my gardening adventure;
now last year "after last frost date" was sometime beginning of June
and "the first frost date" was September 18th that deconstructed all my tomatoes
so everything I do is with plastic to begin with
to continue with
and to end with
I have different tunnel systems to explore
and doing this square foot by square foot
while I remove the grass sods,
below which is good smelling earth that even smells good
like humus rich bacteria party in progress
well, yes, as long I can keep it "moist" throughout the growing season
and within it the various needs of the vegetables and flowers and herbs
No, I will go nowhere - just into the garden to virtually eat it,
watch butterflies
and birds that I fed all winter:
now their manure from hundred of birds
sits around the lilac bushes...