This was the second day of garden building! After getting the frame built yesterday, today it got filled. We broke up the sod underneath and then laid down a layer of newspapers to help prevent the grass from grown up through the bed. I would have removed it altogether, but our sod is very healthy (and thick!) so it stayed where it was. After 3 trips to our compost center, using recycling bins to get the good stuff, it was full. I laid out a rough grid with a nice bright pink cotton, so it was easy to see against the dirt. Then, since we did get some plants in addition to seed, the plants all went in the ground. Four kinds of tomato, three kinds of peppers, mustard greens, and collards are all happily planted. I'm still about two weeks before the last frost date, but I figured I'd risk it. As luck would have it, we have a frost warning tonight, so all of the pots and other small plants that I have are all fit in around the plants I just put in the ground and covered over with a tarp so they don't get damaged. I figure between the covering and the fact that the compost is still generating a little bit of heat they should be fine.
I also found out last night that plans I had made for next week were changing, so I find myself with 6 days off starting next Friday. So it looks like the twin to this bed is going to be built then and (hopefully) planted as well! So far, the lineup for that bed is: potatoes, squash, onions, kale, and parsnips. And I'm putting in my new herb garden setup. It's going be a modified gutter garden concept, moved closer to the house/kitchen for easy access (because that's mostly the purpose of growing herbs for me - yummy food!). I'm also considering tearing up another part of my lawn on the other side of the driveway and putting in a couple of rows of corn and perhaps getting some asparagus rhizome to anticipate for next year, because somehow, I almost always miss asparagus season at the farmers markets around here... In any case, there are more plans and plots going on here at The Rose & Thistle, who knows what tomorrow will bring!
Looks great! I like how you're planning stuff out and making a nice pretty grid... I just kinda threw stuff into the dirt and figured I'd see what happens. And 6 weeks before our last frost date to boot!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the herb garden. I saw some awesome ideas on Pinterest for modified gutter gardens. Planters on ladder rungs, modular stacking beds... they were pretty cool!