For those of you just starting to follow along...a few years ago, I began reclaiming lawn space building raised boxes, and blogging about my adventures in gardening. This might be year 7 of the ever-growing garden that officially launches May 2-4 Weekend every year. The community that @GardenHive has become is for us green thumbs and there are contests my gardening friends can play along with by following them.
This week, I am procrastinating no more as it is May 2-4 weekend when gardens get DONE!
It BEGINS!
The long Canadian winter is not kind to the green in the garden and there is quite the list of cleanup an preparation tasks to getting it to look like this every year.
Here is how we looked after a little cleanup in a warm spell in April and one of my gardening adversaries almost daring me to put it together so he can take it apart.
Here we go!
They say you often have to make a huge mess to clean one up and the garden is a great example. Winter-beaten dogproof fences have to be taken down, dead stuff pulled from all the beds and planters, and the soil has to be turned and augmented before any planting starts.
Makers for a good 'before' picture though if I am indeed able to get through to a nice 'after.'
This is probably 10% of the weeds pulled from the yard as they LOVE to pop up early in the rich garden soil.
Then there is the hacking of the branches to allow gardeners to get into the beds and the sunlight to make it through to the sprouts. PLENTY or removing and disposing I am still working on today.
Soil Prep
Before we even get going, the soil in the garden beds and planters needs to be busted up, tilled, and mixed with new fertilizer, compost and garden soil. The nutrients get sapped and moisture trapping compost breaks down throughout the summer and winter. Loosening it up and augmenting it with the things new plants need is a great way to get the sprouts surviving and quickly thriving.
Enter the trusty hoe! This one has seen many moons and I think may have been handed down by my mother. Still holding strong and does the job year after year.
After a round of chopping and swinging, the hardened soil is broken up, roots of weeds are decimated, and I can't help but feel for any of the earthworms who were happily going about their business before I started.
Every 2 years, I get a yard of triple mix delivered on a skid to the front of the house, then truck it to the back via wheelbarrow to mix it into the beds. Off years like this, I go a little lighter and just mix it myself. I suppose that the 3-in-1 is the best with the compost, black earth and fertilizer but it is priced at a premium. So, I mix my own and augment it with hen manure which farmers recommended to me as the best for veggies.
The main garden box is ready and planted with sprouts of peppers, beans, peas, zucchini, and whatever else my better half planted. Underwhelming so far but off to the races.
The other boxes are done too with tomatoes, lettuce & greens, carrots, and our strawberry patch. The lettuce always loves to fall flat when you transplant it and bounce back quick so worry not. One thing I learned that is worth passing on is that strawberry plants only produce a few years. So, rather than augment the bald patches with $50 worth of new plants every year, plant some of your strawberries in the fall just before snowfall. Each one does have hundreds of seeds and can end up saving hundreds of dollars over the years.
The Planting
I am like a kid in a candy shop when I go to the nursery/garden store. There are a couple big ones in town and I could spend hundreds just on flowers and veggies sprouts. This year, we took a more programmed approach at growing from seeds to save on the retail consumption and do it like it is supposed to be done. Mixes success with some things loving to be started indoors and I just fill in the gaps when the veggies go on sale in a week or so!
I like to save money and DIY on the hanging flower baskets as well. Remixing the soil form last year with new potting soil and choosing the flowers and plants individually save probably 50% off buying them premade at the nursery. It also packs a bit of satisfaction as well when you know you selected and planted each of them and they flourish
They are not much to look at yeat but my better half picked the orange "Bidens" and the colourful wave petunias will come spilling out of there in a flurry if I water them regularly.
I am proud of the return of the hops we planted last year and got a little creative with them. Hops are vines and definitely like to climb so I scaled the roof and strung a braid of twine and fishing line toe the peak of the roof. These are the Rakau variety originating in New Zealand and I would love to see them reach the peak. Think they will?
One of the deck planter selections this year is citronella. They are a neat looking fluffy green plant with a pleasant smell that is supposed to repel mosquitos. I popped a little begonia in there behind it for a little colourful company.
These little rail boxes have worked out well the last couple years because of their level pruning & watering, and how easy they are to move into and out of the sun. Parsley and basil in the close one with dill and cilantro in the far one. So great to have just outside the kitchen door so you can grab and chop and add them to food.
Ready to Launch!
Here we are late afternoon on the third day of a long weekend. Soil all prepared, seeds and seedlings planted, and the fortress of fences erected to keep Diggy McGardenson out at all costs. Deck planters set up and seeded or ready for discount flowers, winter cleaned up and lawn mowed.
As you can see, this was quite a bit of work. If not for the long weekend, these chores would have stretched into the next weekend. Either that or less napping and relaxing would have happened along the way. Hopefully he tired himself out so much that he will ignore the garden boxes.
Mom started me along my path of growing stuff when I was a kid. Motivated by so many blockchain blogging gardeners, I figured I would plant and share and learn as I reclaim as much grass space as I can. It has turned out to be a fruitful experience and I hope to inspire others to sow and grow no matter what your location or experience level is.
Just make sure you tag #creativegarden and check out the latest @gardenhive post to see if you can get in on the contest.
Wherever you are...JUST GROW!
I am honoured to curate for:
https://leofinance.io/threads/zekepickleman/re-leothreads-jbc1fqzb
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people ( zekepickleman ) sharing the post on LeoThreads,LikeTu,dBuzz.
The hard part is over, let the fun begin.
With how the hop vines grow, they should reach the peak of your roof in a few weeks.
Mom's hoe still going strong. Back in the day, the handles of most tools were made from hickory and ash. I'm not sure what kind of wood they are using these days, but apply a little too much pressure, and they snap like a toothpick.
Everything is looking wonderful. I'm sure you'll add a little extra chicken shit to the bed that will hold the hoooot peppers.
Damn straight!
That's what I've been waiting for man! The garden looks great, as someone who lives in the country I know how hard and long it takes to garden. I also know how great you feel after it's done. I'm sure you're in a good mood right now. Even more so when the things you planted grow! Good job!
Ah thanks for the feedback. Now that I have things growing, I can get to spring cleaning and smaller jobs. Then it will be summer with a whole new round of adventures.
Feels good and I am excited to fill in the last holes with the seedlings I have grown indoors.
wow, you have a healthy Garden, Nice Job. Thank you for sharing
Thanks for reading along and engaging! Well met.
It’s looking great after the cleanup! I also have some old, trusted tools like I hoe that still work after years of abuse. Those flower baskets are gonna look great in summer. I love both - bidens and petunias and also use them in my pot arrangements every year.
Nurseries are indeed some of my favourite places to go spend my money. My friend and I always end up with baskets full of plants, but like you, I also love growing from seeds. So much satisfaction when it’s a successful attempt. This year I didn’t plant any seeds in time, as I was a bit disheartened by the prolonged cold weather.
Citronella has other great uses - you can stick a leaf inside the ear if it’s painful.
Anyway, happy growing and looking forwards to the updates 😍
!KING
Keep up the good work King @zekepickleman, fantagira(1/4) is appreciative of the time and dedication you put into writing this post. Your efforts are truly valued.
You are a true asset to this community. @fantagira is sending you 0.075 FT as a way to say thank you for all that you do.
BTW! FT is the token of our game RAIDS, it will serve to make your NFTs stronger warriors and earn more rewards
Wow I didn’t know about that use for citronella!
With the seeding this year, I assigned that to my little one. List out the seeds we want to plant, research what gets planted indoors, which month is best for each, and put together a chart. Worked like a charm.
We have a little mini greenhouse with trays and still have speouts coming up. They seem to frow so much slower than the stores but fun anyhow.
I’m happy I could share something of value 🥰
Looks like it’s a great team work at play in your garden. Sounds like everyone is having fun with it too 😍
I also like seeing my own seedlings grow
We’re getting a late start with the garden this year.
Busy lives interfered with garden time. That’s just wrong.
Looks fantastic and right on time to me!
With the big stuff out of the way, I love how it is just watering, pruning and inspecting in quick 20 minute shifts. A little escape from a busy life in manageable chunks of time.
Your dog has an awful lot of creative names, I notice. He must be able to jump pretty high if those fences are just to keep him out. I need two foot fences to keep my Hazel out.
Looking good! Nice and neat. Or did you do what I do, which is to take some time to pile the mess away from the beds I want to photograph?
You ask all the right questions!
I actually made a dump run with the big stack of sticks I posted and a couple paper bags of other dead stuff. Free drop off at the dump like 5 minutes away from home.
The only mess I have to sort out is in the shed, tool room and garage. I bet it is 1 load and I am good.
Now all I need is some nice flower sales and a barrel full of rain.
Oh my goodness my garage, which functions as my shed, is a MESS. I just shut the door and leave that for some other day. The tools are clean and orderly for the most part, but the rest of the place is one big junk room.
I have to stay away from flower sales!!! If I do have to go to a nursery for something, I try to put on blinders.
I look forward to seeing how your garden develops.
OH MY GOD
This looks amazing. I want something like that myself 😯😯 Beautiful garden transformation is on the way! Your hard work and dedication are truly inspiring. Keep up the great work and happy gardening! 💪⛺#creativegarden tag I will use in the future hopefully. 😞
I just love those shots. Amazing colour, funky perspective lines and so many little baby plants to see.
I will have to go back looking for later season sales and take some more pics of the fantastic greenhouses to share.
Now to get back to work on my beergut!
Has sido curado por @visualblock / You've been curated by @visualblock
Bienvenidas delegaciones / Delegations welcome
Encuentra nuestra comunidad aquí / Find our community here
Trail de Curación / Curation Trail