I couldn't resist sharing another picture of Luella's tree with you. I took this yesterday while out walking the dogs.
I'm itching to get to work in the garden, and in fact I started yesterday. First, I picked the small baby collard greens I'd planted back in October. They never got very big, and most of the seed I sowed didn't come up. So this bundle was my first and only harvest of collards this year:
I trimmed and washed them and put them in the refrigerator. I'm planning to cook them tonight; we'll see how they taste. After pulling up the collards, I got to work with my hoe and tackled the weeds that had sprung up in the bed. After they were uprooted and tossed aside, I turned over the top layer of soil, breaking up any dense areas. Last of all I smoothed everything out with a rake. Now the bed is clean and ready to go for the new year!
I went to Lowe's midafternoon yesterday and purchased several large bags of compost. I spread a layer of it a couple of inches deep over the top of the bed to hopefully enrich the soil.
Speaking of compost! I have a compost bin! With Gregg's help I built it yesterday. It was the simplest design ever: three pallets at right angles to each other, secured with heavy duty zip ties. I had a roll of chicken wire that we stapled all around the inside to help hold everything in, and except for a top, it's done.
As you can see, it's not beautiful by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it will be functional. That's the important thing, right? And if, for some reason, it doesn't work out, it will be very easy to take apart. The best part is that it cost me less than $20 to build. I only had to buy zip ties to hold it together and a strong staple gun for the wire.
The tomato and pepper seeds I started a week ago are slow in germinating. So far, I have only three tomato sprouts and zero peppers. I've added a heating pad underneath the tray they're in to hopefully help things along, but I think today I'm going to start some extra seeds just in case. I'm not used to such slow germination and I don't want to be planting out late.
We've had cool weather, but not really cold. Thursday it's supposed to hit 75 (F). I have a compost bin; keep in mind they take forever to fill up and months and months before you can use the compost at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteI know it's going to take a long time. For this year the store-bought compost will have to do!
DeleteHappy composting!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've already started throwing kitchen scraps (veggie peels and such) in my new bin.
DeleteMy daughter wants to build a compost bin just like that. In fact, the pallets are in my garage right now!
ReplyDeleteIt was super easy, Margaret. Good luck with hers!
DeleteI think you are going to have a fabulous garden this summer! Hurray! Good work on both the bed and the bin.
ReplyDeleteAnd Luella's tree is definitely the most beautiful Japanese magnolia I've ever seen.
I sure hope my garden does well this summer! You never know what might go wrong, though. :)
DeleteYou’ve worked hard x
ReplyDeleteI have, but I enjoy it. The fresh air and exercise feel good!
DeleteIt will be a lovely garden this year and next, with that home made compost.
ReplyDeleteHopefully next year I'll have some homemade compost and won't have to buy so much.
DeleteThe baby collard greens look lovely!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThey were tasty, too! Very tender and sweet.
DeleteThose Greens look good. I would make Greek 'Horta' from them. May I suggest that you make a second area for your compost. You really need to leave the first lot for a year before using it, meanwhile filling the second. Three sections are even better!
ReplyDeleteI know it's going to be a long time before I have useable compost, and that's okay. I'm glad to have a place to put vegetable peels, leaves, coffee grounds, etc. instead of the trash! I love the idea of a second and even third section, but space is growing limited in my small backyard.
DeleteI count four, not three pallets :-D
ReplyDeleteYou've been busy in a good way, taking advantage of your time off and fine weather. The bed prepared for seeding looks wonderful, and so do the collard leaves.
Luella's tree is beyond competition for loveliness anyway!
You're right! I almost corrected the post to say "four" but in the end I didn't bother. Good eye! :)
DeleteAnd yes, Luella's tree is lovely. Unfortunately, those flowers don't last long and the tree is already almost done. Such a short blooming season, but so worth it.
You have been busy and you have done good jobs both with preparing the vegetable plot and building the compost bin. Well done! You remind me that I must dig over our vegetable plot quite soon even though our main growing season starts later than yours because of the possibility of frosts well into May.
ReplyDeleteWhat vegetables do you grow, Neil? And thanks for the kind words! We've had hard freezes in early April around here, but that's rare. Our usual last frost date is around April 10th, I believe.
DeleteI love your composter! The pallets held together with zip ties is brilliant. That is my kind of DIY.
ReplyDeleteThe "door" pallet is held on by zip ties on one side only, and they're loose enough that the "door" can be swung open and shut. It was so easy and cheap to do!
DeleteI like the look of the compost bin. It should look even better when filled.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea for a compost bin. We have a couple of plastic compost bins in the very back of our garden from a previous tenant and we never use them. Perhaps we should! Luella's tree looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteeveryone needs a compost bin...I've been trying to get them to set up several here at apts and they look at me like I been smoking shit.
ReplyDelete