Spring Time Garden Update

I wrote a post here a few weeks ago about how the city left a nice pile of mulch on our front lawn (A gift from sweet-baby-Jesus Himself, as I frequently remind myself!) This Sunday the two amazing men in my life worked diligently to get that pile distributed over our front and back beds. Again, the heavens parted and I heard trumpets and angels singing, and if I would have squinted into the lovely sun... I'm sure there was even a dove and a lamb and a lion up there in the clouds dancing around.

Why do I get so fired up about mulch and getting "thing done" around here?! Because I can.

6-8" of FREE and LOCAL (how much more local can you get than getting it from the trees on your street!)
mulch lovin' for the soil to feast on this summer. ps. Does anyone see Joe in this photo?

We also tackled the lovely task of getting the raised beds ready to rock and roll for the gardening season of 2013. I had covered them with a THICK layer (6+ inches) of maple leaves this past fall, and under that was 4 weeks worth of Hard Winter Wheat I had sown. While raking the leaves out (because they were not broken down enough to leave in there yet), I uncovered a HUGE surprise... GRUBS! White, brainless grubs!

Head Gardener on Sunview St.

Now... We have a policy here around these parts about killin' and all things mean and terrible. There are two things I give the go-ahead to kill... and that's RED ANTS (the bane of my 2011 summer existence  and white brainless grubs. 

That's it.

Everything else can be saved, relocated, or prayed over in hopes that it dies of natural causes on someone else property. :o)

The squish site... TMI?

So, I gave son-ski full permission to "do what is needed" and he was a big boy about it, and did the squishy deed to about 10 white guys. 

I didn't praise him for it, but rather just said: "Son, sometimes mamma is going to ask you to do somethings that just have to happen, and then we move on" and he nodded and asked more questions about planting seeds and if we could hook up the garden hose yet. And it was a good day. 

I have been busy with more transplanting. Today was ground cherries and orange pepper day. Thank God they are going in the ground in the next month. The poor babes are ready now... but I think I can help them off for another little while.

Here is a visual update on the tomatoes growth to the left

<--- They are doing very well, and I have had to pinch off suckers already. 

Here is the garlic we planted this past fall... in-between the rows are spring peas that were planted last week. There is Joe, smoking his pipe under the cedars, keeping an eye on my leaf pile :o) He also has a friend who we have yet to name.... both are SOLID concrete... and I'm thinking "Tubby" might be appropriate for the one off to the far right.

Far left is ever-bearing strawberries, and to the right (out of view) is our raspberries we planted in 2011.



We planted these last fall too... I didn't know they were variegated foliage tulips (nor do I know their colour of bloom) so I am excited to see what happens here shortly. Pink I am thinking... maybe a prediction of the baby within!

These are one of my favourite signs spring is DEFINITELY on the way.

Can you see the tomatoes crying in the back ground cause they want to be out of their containers and into the rich soil!?


I can.




Tomorrow I have the honour of watching my girlfriends little guy for the day. He's a very helpful little man. I hope to be outside working away at raking and weeding if time allows. I love little boys, cause if you give them a job to do... it does not matter what age they are... they (for a limited amt of time, depending on their age) will do it! So Win has the job of being helpful with raking and shoveling tomorrow. I cleaned up some dump trucks and diggers, and I'm sure his mother will wonder why he's so messy and tired... but hey. 

These things happen :o)