It has been a wonderful treat to see the growth and progress in all areas of the garden.
Last year, as we were working on getting a new house in, we didn't get to work much in the garden. In fact, we did a LOT of dirt work, but the heavy equipment kind, taking out stumps, leveling the ground, bringing in big gravel, repairing the garden beds and getting branches and lots and lots of tree parts out. This year we are also having to use heavy equipment to move dirt away from the foundation making sure we are allowing for the 5% grade we were informed we're required to do. Beyond all that, we finally, finally got to dig into the gardens again.
This January we decided to add a new 'Kitchen Garden' to the other side of the house because the new kitchen window faces the opposite side of the house it used to. I enjoy being able to see the beauty of a garden as I'm working in the kitchen and while preparing meals and it's especially lovely to catch glimpses of easily accessible food we can add to what we're making! The previously existing weeds and grass were already gone because we had to clear out trees in that area and we finished fall 2016 by mulching it all with straw and keeping the remaining Maple tree's leaf litter in place.
So, I found an ad for someone needing their excess rabbit manure picked up (woohoo!- top quality garden & worm food there) and we got the farm truck, pitch forks & shovels and filled it up not once, but twice! Each time we got it home the boys spread it in nice rows to prepare for a potential garden layout. I also put free, raw sawdust from a fine furniture maker in between those rows as a great mulch and to better define the planting areas. The rabbit folks were happy, the furniture store is happy, we are happy, and I'm dreaming of explosions of greens, pinks, and tall yellow and orange Sunflowers....aaahhh.....
Last year, as we were working on getting a new house in, we didn't get to work much in the garden. In fact, we did a LOT of dirt work, but the heavy equipment kind, taking out stumps, leveling the ground, bringing in big gravel, repairing the garden beds and getting branches and lots and lots of tree parts out. This year we are also having to use heavy equipment to move dirt away from the foundation making sure we are allowing for the 5% grade we were informed we're required to do. Beyond all that, we finally, finally got to dig into the gardens again.
This January we decided to add a new 'Kitchen Garden' to the other side of the house because the new kitchen window faces the opposite side of the house it used to. I enjoy being able to see the beauty of a garden as I'm working in the kitchen and while preparing meals and it's especially lovely to catch glimpses of easily accessible food we can add to what we're making! The previously existing weeds and grass were already gone because we had to clear out trees in that area and we finished fall 2016 by mulching it all with straw and keeping the remaining Maple tree's leaf litter in place.
So, I found an ad for someone needing their excess rabbit manure picked up (woohoo!- top quality garden & worm food there) and we got the farm truck, pitch forks & shovels and filled it up not once, but twice! Each time we got it home the boys spread it in nice rows to prepare for a potential garden layout. I also put free, raw sawdust from a fine furniture maker in between those rows as a great mulch and to better define the planting areas. The rabbit folks were happy, the furniture store is happy, we are happy, and I'm dreaming of explosions of greens, pinks, and tall yellow and orange Sunflowers....aaahhh.....
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Yes, that is our tiny farm guard we got from Grandma and Grandpa surveying our work and the giant stump (on the far left) is what's left of the huge tree that destroyed our old house. After the length was cut off, it ended up slowly righting itself over a period of weeks and looking like it never fell! I plan to mulch heavy around it and use it as a 'nurse tree' to grow goodies in the future!
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Genesis 2:15
Additional Note: Later, we were able to get some free local wood chips from a service doing work along our road. We used this to make a mounded border around the entire garden making a nice walking area and definitive line dividing it from the grass. This also acts as a nutrient hold capturing excess water or potential runoff and filtering it before it heads down the hill to filter again through the grasses toward the creek.