Rebuilding the Past
One of my hobbies is building rock walls. Back in Ohio, I built them all around the garden. Yesterday I spent time rebuilding and repairing a rock wall along the front of the new garden area.
The original wall was in terrible shape, no longer resembling a rock wall at all, it looked more like a pile of stones instead. You can see it in the photos below, just barely sticking up on the right hand side of the photo. The large tree is the one you see in the second photo behind the wall.
After a few hours of work, I managed to rebuild about 20 feet of it up to a height of about two feet tall. This is just small portion of the walls I will eventually build. Just to enclose this new garden I’m going to need a couple hundred feet of rock walls. When I think of how long I will need this wall to be, I might cap it at two feet!
You can see the continuation of this wall back into the woods. It continues the entire length of our property, which is pretty far. Though it is in rough shape in some sections.
I think one of the reasons I like building rocks walls so much is because I really enjoy puzzles. Rock walls are just real life puzzles that you don’t have to take apart and put back in the box when you’re finished.
What’s one of your hobbies besides gardening?
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Slowly but Surely
Yesterday, I was finally able to spend time in the main edible garden that’s located above our garage/shop. I started working on setting up the row system and marked the first one. Two thirds of the new row was raked smooth and will be ready to plant when I need to. I’m hoping to get some compost before adding anything, hopefully that will happen next week. Since I didn’t have time to make any compost last year, I’ll be buying some this spring. Next year I should have all I need.
While I was marking my rows, I measured the back garden to get an official size. It measured in at: 45 feet wide by 75 feet deep for a total of 3,375 square feet of gardening space. Add to that the 50 I’ve got in the small potager behind the house, and I’m finally going to be able to grow a respectable amount of food. These won’t be the only gardens, I’m in the process of putting in another one that will add around 500-750 square feet of edible gardening space. (How’s that for a view while gardening?)
I was happy as a clam yesterday while soaking up some sun, measuring and laying out the crisp rows in my large vegetable garden. It will be interesting to see how much I can fit into this space.
How much total edible garden space do you have?
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Friday Favorite: Starting from Seed
There’s nothing I love more than starting my own plants from seed. Partly, I do it to save money. When you have a garden as large as I do, you could easily go bankrupt trying to buy plants. Starting from seed is a great way to get a lot of plants for minimal monetary investment. I also like starting from seed because you can find really interesting varieties.
Take this asparagus for example, it’s ‘Precoce D’Argenteuil’, an old French heirloom which is prized for it’s tastiness. I also started ‘Mary Washington’ asparagus seeds this year as well. (source: Baker Creek)
Not only can you find rare and unique varities, it’s so much fun to watch the life cycle of a plant starting from seed. These tiny asparagus spears make me smile. Even though I know it will be 3 years before I can harvest anything from these plants, when I finally do I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing exactly what these plants have seen throughout their lifecycle.
What’s your favorite seedling to see in spring?
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Patiently Waiting
Remember that spinach I sowed in the low tunnel in the garden at the end of March?
I’ve been keeping a keen eye on it waiting for germination. It looks like the two types of soaked seeds germinated a day ahead of the non-soaked seed. Not sure if that makes soaking worth the hassle. I’ll be watching to see if one grows better than the other as well, but I’m guessing they’ll probably be the same.
One thing is for sure, I can’t wait to harvest my first bowl of spinach. As I prepared a frittata this morning I was wishing I had some kind of green to put in it. I used to very much dislike cooked greens, but the more I eat them the more I like them, especially with eggs.
What’s your favorite way to enjoy spinach?
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Sweet Spring
Dexter (aka Big D) and I have been enjoying spending as much time as possible outside working in the garden. We work until the sun goes down and a chill returns to the air. He’d actually like to stay out much longer, but I make him come indoors when it gets dark.
Yesterday I played hooky from work. It was a beautiful warm day with highs in the mid 50’s. It’s supposed to rain the rest of the week, so I figured I could spend the rainy days getting all my office work finished up. Is there anything better than spending a day in the garden on a beautiful spring day?
What would you consider the perfect temperature for a day in the garden?
