Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Garden Prep

We have been reading and learning more about gardeningWe want to do things that will allow us to grow healthy foods.  

This year we decided to try putting paper down, then wood chips.  This will get rid of the grass and weeds and also help the soil.  We'd like to be able to plant without having to till.

 Of course the first nice day in a while, was also the windiest.  Not great for trying to place paper downBut we got a system going.

 Here Kyle and Rachel are spreading the wood chips.

 Sarah and I both drove the mower today...She and Kyle worked hard - they are champion wood chip spreaders!


 We are blessed to have the hardest working man as the head of our family! He went to the township office and brought back three truck loads of wood chips.  He also shoveled them into the barrow and hauled it over to the garden area.

 Rachel and Sarah basking in the sunshine...


Here is the whole space seven rows of paper covered in wood chips.   I didn't measure the space so I don't know the dimensions.

We plan to grow tomatoes, peppers, squash, green beans, sugar snap peas, corn, lettuce, onions.  We are going to try for pumpkins again, and maybe melons.

We have quite some time before our last frost date which is May 15th.  Sometimes if the weather is mild we plant before then.  We are hoping the wood chips will break down well. We'll see.  It's all about learning new things.

Do you garden?  If so, what are your plans for this growing season?
Are you planning to try something new?    


8 comments:

  1. You Rabes have been hard at work on these springlike days!

    And I am cracking up at the pic of Rachel and Sarah basking in the sun! :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've never gardened, but have always been fascinated by it. Your sunshine looks wonderful...it is COLD here with snow on the ground. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are so blessed to have so much space! I love it. As for us, we have three little square foot gardens and then some pots in the back. We live in a piney stick forest without all that great open space.

    Still, we try.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I hope those woodchips break down for you and that your hard work pays off! Paper? Did you purchase rolls of paper? (I was trying to discern from your pictures.....)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! That's a lot of work. Those wood chips look like a wonderful bed and may they make a wonderful garden bed, too.

    I don't know what I am going to do, but I know what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to plant so many tomatoes in the raised bed. They didn't get enough sun so they'll go in a movable garden since they'll need to follow the sun.

    ReplyDelete
  6. We are hoping to expand our garden this year to add a few more raised beds.

    It is time to take down the old chicken wire fence and replace it so we figure it is also the time to increase the size of the garden.

    Even if we can't add many new raised beds, we can leave the room to expand another year. We have to have a fence, too many critters wanting to make our garden their buffet.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh I love the garden. The prep looks great. I have used the paper and woodchips also. It really works well and smells good too. With my possible move in April, I may have to miss the garden this year :( Yet another thing that will change and frankly it all scares me a little. Thanks so much for your kind words. They make me smile. And yes....pictures of the new grand-baby will be coming! So exciting.
    Hugggsss,
    Brenda

    ReplyDelete
  8. We are doing the same thing this year! I have two nice raised beds started and I hope to have some regular garden space as well...if I can get free or cheap mulch, that is! I got some really good deals at the end of the season in the fall for cow manure already composted! Hopefully I can get a good garden started this year!
    Blessings,
    Beth

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to Creekside Cottage - a place of Hospitality, Friendship and Encouragement!

Things I Like

  Brenda from It's A Beautiful Life blog did a post with this title and I enjoyed her list so I thought I'd do something similar. He...