The First Entry

Last year I kept track of my garden's progress on one of my personal websites. Updating was a chore, I lost all my data twice, and a big rain storm destroyed my tomato plants so the entire summer of web page work was all for nothing. Grrr...

As I have succumbed to the pressures of Blogdome, as it were, I figured this was as good a place as any to keep track of my garden (as I know I'll never write in a 3D journal, nor print my photos fast enough to put them in the journal anyway) This blog will be heavy with photos, so keep your personal load time in mind if you choose to come back.

I had intended to get my garden into the ground by Mid-April, however Life Happens and I haven't quite gotten there yet. So far I have dug out a new area for my tomato plants and my dad has provided me with lovely (but slightly ugly) tomato cages made from concrete reinforcement wire. They are sharp and scary looking, but will not be destroyed by the plant itself (one of my cages last year crumbled under the weight of my plant!!) I'll be using the remaining cages from last year's tomatoes for this year's cucumbers. Other than that, the exact plan of the garden is a bit up in the air. Dan and I are a little at odds for what we want to plant, although we agree on a few things... he wants to stick asparagus in the garden, however I can't find a spot in the plots where it will fit, and we haven't seen any starts for sale anyway. Perhaps I can convince him to put it in the bed right by the fire pit wall... we need something fluffy to grow there, and he's reluctant to let me move the boxwoods.

All of this would make sense if I had pictures of the yard up, but they are still hanging out in my camera... perhaps I should move on...

We spent the weekend mulching all of the flower bed-type areas in the yard. 6 cubic yards of compost... yeesh! I'm still sore! The beds looks great for the most part, and hopefully weeds will either be choked out or easy enough to spot that I won't spent all summer crawling around under the bushes and trees. I have purchased bird seed that is supposed to not sprout weeds if it falls to the ground, so hopefully that's true and not just a clever way to get me to spend more on birdseed.

Yesterday we spent the morning at a local nursary buying plants. We have several new ground covers to stick under some trees, and I bought up a bunch of herbs, plus some pickling cucumber plants. The herbs will go in pots on or near the deck, and the cucumbers will, of course, have a lovely wall to climb on in the garden. I'm really looking forward to canning my veggies in the fall, so here's hoping the deer and racoons leave my most important crops alone!

Signing off for now... photos next time...