Catching Up - March 26, 2009

Yesterday I transplanted 1 mum, the Gallardia (I think) and a divided daylily to the mailbox planting bed. I mowed 1/2 of the backyard for the first time this season (Dave will take over from here). It will have to be mowed again in a few days if we get all of the rain they are forecasting. My rain barrel is full! Yay! Now I need to move a hosta or 2 so I can get the 2nd rain barrel set up. Unfortunately the rain came down heavy enough to create new ruts in the backyard. :( The battle against erosion continues. I'm still not getting any birds at the feeder. Just a robin and a few doves.

Catching Up - March 23, 2009

Transplanted 3 Russian Sage from the front yard to the back. I am hoping that they will help with erosion control. I also divided 2 daylilies in back and moved them to some barren spots by the Sugar Maple also with hopes of helping control erosion. Gotta fix this erosion problem I caused by killing off all of the grass to build my garden! :)

It is super windy today and we are supposed to get thunderstorms tonight so I'm hoping all of my hard work doesn't get washed away!

I mapped out my 2 garden beds today. This is very important to reference for next year so I remember what was planted where for proper crop rotation. The upper bed has Cupid's Dart flower, a coneflower, snow peas, red onions and peas. The lower bed has carrots, red lettuce, Bibb lettuce, Romaine lettuce, a coneflower, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.

Catching Up - March 21-22, 2009

The rain barrel is set up and ready to go! Would like to get it on the cinder blocks before it fills up with rain. Hopefully I can do that on Monday [Editor's Note: I did. Or, more correctly, Dave did.] I ordered a 2nd rain barrel. It arrived last week. Can't WAIT to get get it set up! 140 gallons of water capacity baby!

Today (the 22nd) I planted lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and red onion sets. I hope the unfinished compost doesn't cause problems for the plants. Guess I'll know soon! I was able to plant only one broccoli plant - not enough room. I really need to get 2 more beds built so I have plenty of room for Spring and Summer crops w/o having to leave something out. I have pea & snow pea seeds soaking overnight. Am hoping to get in the ground before I leave for work tomorrow morning.

Began transplanting daylilies from under the front yard trees to the enlarged bed around the mailbox. They should be much happier with more sun. Some of them can be divided so I will put those in the backyard on the hill to help control erosion.

I'm afraid that the hostas under the Sugar Maple have died [EN: They didn't!]. Probably "drowned" in too much soil since they are at the bottom of the hill w/the erosion problem. I really hope I didn't lose those hostas!

Set the rain gauge out. Time to start tracking!

Watched the squirrel get only my feeder. This has been a mystery. He's figured out how to jump over the squirrel guard. Little butthead! I have few birds this year. Not sure why. Am very sad about this.

Catching Up - March 14, 2009

The next several posts are transferred from my garden notebook. Enjoy the history! :)

March 14, 2009 - Got all of the yard Spring Cleaning done! We had at least 6 piles of Maindenhair grass alone! Also had 3-4 more piles of Crepe Myrtle, Red Twig Dogwood and Butterfly Bush along with 5 bags of shredded leaves!

Put some compost in the veggie beds. Not as finished as it should be - and this is stuff that's been in there for at least 18 months! I've decided I don't like the Gardener's Supply compost bin. It keeps the compost too moist and you can't get in there and turn the compost well. I think the reason why I'm not getting compost is because it stays too wet in the location I have it and I cannot turn it...and because the bin is plastic. I'm thinking about tearing out my Korean Lilacs and Yews by the back door and building a compost bin there.

[Editor's Note 4/29/2009 - Ohhh...but the Korean Lilacs smell soooo lovely this year. I'd hate to lose them. They are probably too big for me to dig out and transplant - but a girl can try!]

1st Post - Nothing Thrilling

Well, I'm going to try this blogging thing again. This one will be about my garden. Since I can type much faster...and neater...without the hand cramps...than I can write, I will track all of my gardening escapades in this blog.

Tomorrow I will try to get caught up to the current date. Right now it's time for bed and sleepy time is ALWAYS more important than blogging! :)