Friday, February 18, 2011

Sunshiny day!

This wonderful teasing weather has definitely brought on a Spring Fever for me.
I've spent a few hours each day in the garden, clearing beds from dead plants, pruning, weeding, loosening soil in the beds where I direct sow, and starting seeds in the greenhouse.

Crocuses are blooming and last year's parsley is coming back strong.
 One great thing I did last fall - was to mulch the beds better than in previous years. On most of the beds I added a thick layer of leaves. I've peeked under the leaves, and the earth worms have been having a blast - the soil is moist, soft and crumbly, and with very few weeds.
I also mulched the kale and garlic I planted in the fall - with sheets of newspaper, and shredded office paper. The newspaper has done a good job keeping the weeds down, and where the weeds did grow among the shredded paper - they were super easy to pull out!
(before weeding)
 Mulching well in the fall is really the best gift you can give yourself and the garden!
(after weeding)
I've kept the kale and garlic covered with row cover, to protect them from hard frosts. 

Some of the plants started in the greenhouse include: savoy and regular head cabbage, kale, Chinese kale, Bok Choy, mesclun mix, lettuces, spinach, Swiss Chard of different colors, arugula, sorrel.
Outside I've planted the first round of peas, carrots and beets. 
Lets hope for a good growing year!

1 comment:

Nancy G. said...

Amen!