Yesterday, was a good day. I spent a good 3 hours in the garden ripping out old garden boxes, moving dirt and pulling weeds. It’s amazing how quickly a garden can go downhill if you are not on top of things.
Sure it may only be 45 degrees outside, but at least it’s not raining. And for a Seattle area gardener, that means a lot. This year we decided to reduce the number of garden beds from 16 to just 10. The garden beds are all 4×8 and a few of them are a little rotted in places but I think I can still squeeze another year or two out of them if I’m careful.
This year I’ll be focusing on quality, rather than quantity. So that means lots of heirlooms and lots of fruits and vegetables my family will eat without any nudging. {You can see my 2014 seed order HERE}. Yes, I’ll still grow a little kale and Swiss chard for the chickens and Lucy the puggle dog, but I won’t be growing any for us to eat. 😉
Yesterday we dug up our remaining turnips.
We also dug up a few carrots. If you look closely you’ll see a crack at the top of the carrots. That happened when we had a heavy frost about a month ago. The carrot is still edible, just not perfect. But I’ll take a local, homegrown carrot over a store bought one any day of the week.
And looky here. Kale. Yee-Haw!
It’s official, the kale bed has been dug up and all the pretty little leaves have been tossed to the chickens. If I had some fireworks I would have celebrated like the fourth of July. 🙂
I’ve still got a few more days worth of work ahead of me but man does it ever feel good to get outside and play in the dirt again. Gardening is rad.
~Mavis
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Peggy Stenglein says
Yay for you! We’re still dreaming here in PA, but I was just thinking this morning about a huge tree trunk/tree laying on it’s side at our family farm that I wanted to plant pumpkins and gourds to climb up and over it last year, but the weeds and time got ahead of me. The next few weeks is the perfect time to get up there and put down a very heavy layer of mulch hay to prevent weeds from growing around the trunk and surrounding area so I can actually plant those Big Max and Cinderella pumpkins and Luffa gourds this year! A gardener’s mind at least, never rests!
Mavis Butterfield says
Oh Peggy, pumpkin vines on a fallen tree would look magical!!
Peggy Stenglein says
I’m hoping so, I’ll send pics as they grow!
Angela Willis says
Planting pumpkins around a fallen tree makes me picture a fairy tale forest:) What a cool idea! Hope it works out and please post pics if it does!
Tiffany Berting says
Oh this is so lovely. I will live vicariously through you as I fantasize about spring looking at it buried under 4 inches of snow right now. We’re not used to this much snow in Cincinnati. This has been a much colder winter than usual…..I may not get to plant anything until June at this rate!
Mavis Butterfield says
Hang in there. 🙂
Sara says
Yes we live in Wapakoneta, Oh that is north of you Cincy. and it is 8 degrees here and 4 inches of snow. I am planning in my mind what and where cannot wait.
Paula says
My husband *loves* kale in his salads. He’d be fighting your chickens for it. (I like it, too, when the leaves are very, very small.)
Tricia @ OurProvidentHome says
Jealous! My garden is frozen as well. I’m flipping through seed catalogs and figuring out what to plant still. Your dirt looks lovely.
Krista S says
Nothing wrong with kale:P my family loves it, i prepare it like i would collard greens and make a spicy garlic version they devour
Cecily says
Nice variety of seeds Mavis! How will you fit all of it into your reduced gardening space? Maybe vertical gardening is in your future.
Ock Du Spock says
Lovely to see you out in your garden again! Our garden is almost ready for its clean up after the summer slowdown over here in Australia. Can’t wait for another big growing year!
Kathryn Harvey says
I am also jealous. Getting itchy to get in the garden myself. I placed my seed order already and I know I can start (and should start) my artichokes indoors now. But other than that, there is not much I can do. I still have beets in the ground from last fall. Pulled one out today and it still had frost on the tip. Boo. Anyhow, your pictures made my evening happy. Thanks for sharing.
Mavis Butterfield says
What about starting leeks, onions and lettuce? You should be able to start those too.
Fran Macleery says
Mavis do you start anything in the greenhouse or do you harden them off in there? I have been gardening for 2 years now and I grew all my starts in the house then moved them into the greenhouse (not heated greenhouse) once it was warm. How do you do yours? How should I be doing mine? I have no grow lights. I am in Port Angeles, WA.
Mavis Butterfield says
With the exception of lettuce, the last two years I have started seedlings indoors and hardened them off in the greenhouse. 🙂
Bobbi Bently says
Help me Mavis!! I really like your blog and garden/home guidance material. I see you uprooting your raised beds and I needed to know… How much food can one raised bed produce? Im asking because all my family has to work with is a flower bed about the size of your raised beds( 4 x 8). Last year, 2013, I planted straight into the ground. I had a few things growing(tomatoes, herbs, squash, cucumbers). But this year I really want to maximize my yield, so im thinking i’ll do a raised bed. What do you think I should plant to get the most out of my garden? Im working with a disability budget. I wanted to show you this link to a garden plan thingy.. http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KGPJS …. But, im unclear if the measurements it’s suggesting are ‘feet’ measurements. Any help you could give me will be greatly appreciated! I felt like maybe I didn’t get a good yield because the space is so small. What do you think? Thank you. -Bobbi
Lynn says
I see your beds are 4×8. How deep are they? What kind of lumber do you use? I’m not too sure of the depth of roots of plants, so not too sure how deep I need to make my beds and how much dirt I need to plan on to fill them. Considering cinder blocks, but would rather use wood. Thanks so much!
Mavis Butterfield says
About 12 inches deep, Hemlock and cinder blocks would be great for retaining the heat. 🙂