Sunday, October 14, 2012

getting the garden in


Now that I am back at work with three commissions and other proposals to write, working at the store on Saturdays, and an open house to prepare for in just a few weeks, I have very little time to visit around blogland. My reading is hit and miss, commenting is sketchy, my own posts getting farther apart. Hopefully I will have more time to visit y'all, my virtual friends, mid-December but right now I need to be as productive as possible so if I seem to have gone missing at your place for now that's why, not because I have become bored.


Last Wednesday was farm day. The plan was to get both little gardens and the big garden planted. We have delayed getting them planted because we bought a new farm toy and it finally arrived last Tuesday!

a little electric garden tiller

After enlarging the garden and turning it by hand last spring we were determined not to do that again.

First I had to get all the weeds out that had grown unrestrained during the hot summer (did this a couple of weeks ago).


Then we added six bags of compost


and tilled it in.


Then the planting. We put in broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, onions (first time for onions), mustard greens (first time for these too). I've also planting seed for spinach, lettuce, and kholrabi in the empty space.


I took the trellises for the pole beans down in the little garden. It still has the japanese eggplant from spring which started producing again when it cooled off some. I planted carrot seeds in there. The other little garden is planted with lettuce and spinach.



















Right now my feet are recovering from fire ant bites as the little fuckers moved in the dormant gardens during the summer. I think I have finally convinced them, for now at least, that they really don't want to live in the gardens.



17 comments:

  1. The new garden looks good!
    Better to have work then to be blogging. Since I started working again I find I spend a lot less time on the computer, and think that is good. However, I do miss people.

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  2. Work is definitely a good thing! We'll be here when you need a break.

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  3. And this is what I'm doing today too. I am wearing shoes and socks because those little fire ant fuckers live in my dirt too.

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  4. i am laughing at your fire ant comment. caught me off guard but had me rolling. :)

    good luck with the fall garden! no worries on the visits (i appreciate when i see you stop in) but we know you're swamped!

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  5. Even though I have visited my Texas cousins in spring and watched them preparing the spring garden, two gardens a year just seems decadent.

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  6. Joanne, it just seems like a lot of work to me! for now anyway.

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  7. Oh you'll enjoy the fruits of your labors Ellen. I can't wait to see what those carrots look like.

    And OUCH to the fire ants. Ouch ouch ouch!

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  8. All that green. Wow. The season is upon us in DC, more golds and oranges than green.

    As for needing to work - I say: YOU GO GIRL! We'll all be here when you get back.

    Cheers!

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  9. I'm jealous of your winter garden. We barely eke out a summer garden, and look at you. Wow.

    Good luck with the pile of work ahead of you; it's better than a lack of projects for sure.

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  10. That garden sure looks better than any garden I ever planted!

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  11. I have worn out one small tiller and use mine for weeding.

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  12. It's hard for me to imagine a winter garden since that's not a part of my reality. Neither are those little fuckers you are trying to convince to move out of the garden beds.
    Those carrots look divine.
    Happy winter gardening and kudos to jobs.

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  13. Wonderful! A garden tiller is what they call in the corporate world "not sexy", but it certainly is oh-so-needed!

    Fire ants? We don't have them. :-)

    Pearl

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  14. the garden will be wonderful!!
    IS wonderful already

    I'm pleased for you that business is good, when you get exhausted remember back to when you were worried about getting new projects
    it's hard running your own business

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  15. What, no turnips and collards. What are you gonna eat with your cornbread?

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  16. What a wonderfully handy tool. I get so tired of cranking a gasoline model.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.