My Life, My Organic Garden

Since I have written the last post I have been busy, and that has taken my attention away from the garden. I guess not all blogs can be all about productivity! However, I did take string and we divided the raised beds (two, 4′ x 8′) into 1×1 foot squares. We have little screws on the outside of the box at the measurement so it’s only a matter of weaving the string on - like getting a loom ready.

I’ve planted some early riser peas, lettuce, mesculn, spinach, spring lettuce mix, and chard. The rosemary is coming back from last year, and the peas and arugula is coming up! I’ll have to thin the arugula in about 1-week I think. There is some lettuce popping up, and a little spinach sticking out of the dirt. I’m going to be patient and try succession planting in 1.5 weeks. (Plant more seeds to keep a continuous crop, and hopefully make up for where some greens don’t work out for some reason. I have a feeling some greens aren’t going to make it since it did freeze a little while back. We’ll see!

It’s amazing to just really notice everything. The buds are either opening (e.g., azaleas, daffodils…) and some buds are just swelling now (e.g., serviceberry bush, dogwoods, rose of Sharon). Some seeds were rough and tough (spinach/chard), and some were big and smooth (peas), while others were light and small (lettuce and arugula).

My next goal is to keep cleaning up the yard, spread more mulch, and try to continue to pull out the invasive plants so we can plant more without desirable plants having to compete.

Also, when I have a day off I’m going to do a fun neighborhood walk where I take pictures of landscaping features and designs that I love, dislike, and other interesting finds! Coming soon!

My struggle is to balance life to save time for gardening.

It’s good to be a gardener!

Today I purchased some irregular flagstones–and a cool geode that I could not resist, 50% off–from May’s Greenhouse. Upon returning home I laid out the four to five flagstones along the south facing side of our house, which I am designing to be a sunny, butterfly garden. In order to hold the stones in place I used my trowel to hug some soil against their sides. Vola! Instant path that is 1) not permanent or 2) difficult. At one time I thought about laying a path by digging the area out, pouring materials to make it flat, etc., and this just seemed like too much work and expensive! I still need to get more stones to finish the walkway, but it is a good start. Over the spring and summer I will plant some ground cover plants in-between the stones to reduce weeds and erosion, and to introduce different textures. This will provide contrast to the hard stone.

Here is a picture now in spring. It looks so bare, but there is some stuff growing! When we moved in there was not much there but grass:

This post is going to have to be a quickie! I wanted to mention that Bloomington is about 30 homes away from being certified as a community with the National Wildlife Federation! The online form takes about 15-30 minutes to fill out, and as you fill it out you can use it as a way to make a mental “to do” list to help your garden become even more hospitable to wildlife. Here’s the link: National Wildlife Federation. Only a one-time fee of $15.00, but you get a lot out of it! Ultimately, just being good to wildlife is the best reward, but if we get certified maybe Bloomington will have a celebration, too!