my achin' back!

if i wanted spring to hasten it's arrival a few weeks ago and perhaps go south until it landed... i'm now thanking my stars at the slow, inching progress that is a Maine spring.

why the change of heart? one look at my garden list, and you would understand.

I have an infastructure list that includes:
-enlarging the chicken's fenced in yard... and keeping them there. Little to they know that their free-range days are nearly over. My babied seedlings and new sprouts will not become poultry fodder...
-scavenge barriers for upper garden beds (picture to follow... you'll get what i mean)
- build third and final greenhouse box (picture also to follow...)

I have a planting list that includes (in the next week):
- transplant next 100 strawberry plants (between yesterday and today, i got in 100... i have 100 more to go. 150 if i can't pawn 50 off on some other gardening friends. i overshot the strawberries a bit... in fact, i overshot the whole garden. that's my theme for the year. )
- seed first round of peas on wednesday
-seed first round of lettuce, spinach, radish, beets... other assorted greens... maybe broccoli
-plant remaining seed packets of flowers that need to be started indoors
-all above planting follows bed preparation: turning, rock-hocking, composting...

Misc. important tasks:
-FIND COW MANURE! in bulk
- begin to install deer netting

So, as you can see, i have plenty to be doing in 45-50 degree weather with leaves yet to emerge and night still leaving a frosty sparkle by morning.

But i love it! I love that my body is achy and every time i scan the property i see another chunk to work on. yes, it's a bit overwhelming and maddening when i'm trying to do something that is not paticularly kid friendly (i'm no longer planting small seeds with children present. not happening)... but WOW! i have always wanted to garden and grow on this scale and now it's happening.

It's a bit like parenting your first child really... all my other gardening experiences are like mere babysitting in comparison. Like the new parent i was, i'm reading voraciously and buying new products (yesterday... MooDoo (bagged composted cow manure) and fabric row covers)... constantly wondering if what i'm doing is the right thing and Googling suspicious or confusing behavior (yellow tomato seedlings? wilting broccoli seedlings?) I have no idea what i'm doing right and what i am completely flailing at. The proof will be in the harvest... or not... i suppose.

So anyway... we're gardening... it's fun :)
Here are those photos, as promised.

Here's the outside "greenhouse box" set up:


inside look:


Side garden views... these beds will be filled mostly with herbs, flowers, and greens for daily cutting: lettuce, spinach, chard, etc... As you can see, they aren't done, but are on my list. A few beds are set in with trunks of trees Kevin has taken down; one is ringed with random cinder block scraps that were in a heap from behind the shed. Today Liam and I picked rocks off the rock wall for another.


Here's that bed:

We also got up a flag pole (another felled tree) to fly our "Pesticide Free-Zone" flag. Saw it at a Farmer's Market the last time we were visiting Santa Barbara... loved it. So cool to finally see it flying! Was hard to get a picture with the wind just right, but it's a lady bug:

Moving to the lower garden.. here's a long view, chicken shack in foreground:
If it looks big, that's because it is. I guesstimate it to be about 1/3 of an acre. There's still a swath to the back and side that havent' been rototilled because it's too wet. The rest is good and ready to go, though.

Here's a closer shot... strawberries are on the far side. Not that you can tell. It's pretty unexciting to look at an open field like this, i understand.
Eventually, this field will be filled with the peas and beans, onionsgarlicshallotsleeks, a huge winter squash, pumpkin and melon patch, tomatoes, cukes, carrots and other roots.

So, thats' the tour, as of now. Going to try and stretch a bit before bed and be asleep by 10pm.

'till next time...