It's That Time of Year Again.......

[Hound dog]

The garden plot has been expanded 4 times it's original size. I did half of it..........then had 3 adult helpers with the 2nd half. Good thing as by that point my muscles were rebelling. Not sore.....but refusing to cooperate strength wise.

sister in law brought the dirt............which turned out to be clay (because it didn't occur to him when digging a hole top soil is going to be on the bottom of the pile of dirt) We were exhausted after 2 truck loads......and decided that was going to half to do it as none of us were moving well at that point. I'll till the clay with the dirt that was there along with some manure and it will be fine. I'm going to rent a gas tiller..........clay is a major *itch to do with a manual tiller the first time around.

Umm, I'll do that once I can move my computer mouse with no effort and pick up my coffee mug without fear of dropping it. omg

Evidently 9-10 hrs (I started nearly 3 hrs prior to anyone arriving) of hard manual labor......digging, tilling, shoveling heavy wet clay dirt..........is enough for my muscles to tell me to go stick it they're not doing anymore work for a few days. LOL Works out it's raining, so I couldn't do that type of work at the moment anyway.

 

[everywoman]

This year, for the first time in my life, I have a garden----cukes, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, okra, green beans, lettuce---my watermelon didn't take . I also have a small herb garden growing under my kitchen window. We have, however, been undulated with buckets of rains since March. I'm hoping the plants will survive too much water!

 

[JKF]

I love love love to garden! I'm doing my "salad garden" again this year because it grows easily and I've always had good luck with it. I have lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers going already. A couple of years ago I experimented with squash, beets, carrots, corn, peas, and green beans and I got good results but I don't have the time or energy this year so I'll stick with what I know best. I also have a nice herb garden going in window boxes on the deck this year - rosemary, thyme, basil, cilantro, and oregano. I might try some pumpkins in the back corner of the yard too.

 

[Hound dog]

Last year I had no issue with weeds in the garden. (knocks on wood quickly) When I till.....I remove anything green from the area by the roots.......then I till. It helps with the weed issue. I hate mulch....hate hate hate it. And I hate weeding too. I'll do it, but I don't like it.

Like I said, this year I'm cheating and plan to rent a gas tiller from lowes. I am only one person.....I can only do so much if I care to move again. LOL I still have to get the garden fence up.......before I can put anymore plants in there or Maggie and Rufus are going to be in lots of trouble in the future. I need the sils again for that as I don't think I can get the fence poles in myself.

This year I'm trying to stick to mostly what we eat. I am putting out herbs in the once flower beds out front.......simply because I'm not that used to growing them and I need to know where they are so I don't rip them up thinking they're weeds. My mint, sage and chives are growing very well. I have as yet to plant the others so far.