We are finally getting some seriously nice spring weather and no more cold snaps. In our zone, which is 5, and for our area, which is northwestern Ohio, our very last last day of frost is supposed to be May 15th. But we had some cold stuff still hanging around until the last week! Rainy, cold and just unpleasant. But after this last winter, can you even be surprised? I know, I’m not.
So about two weeks ago, we finally got started on the garden, seriously. We had done a bit here and there, but nothing really hard core. Jess and I got our gardening hats on and set off with a mission. To do some clean up, some weeding and get some of the 28 planting boxes and beds into shape.
We had our trust tin of seeds… lots and lots of the little dudes.
Can you say, Seed Hoarder? Yes, I know you can.
One of my goals this year is to pretty much burn through most of my stash. Some of it is getting a bit old. It’s time to plant it and get it working for us, instead of sitting in the box. So be it. We had a plan and it was a good one.
Our onions and garlic did fairly well over the winter. We did loose some, as you can see by the bare spots. We’ve also had a bit of rooster damage… there are a couple roos that seem to think the garden is their private little hang out and veggie patch. We might have to clip a few wings and put up a bit of netting…. bad chickens! So far, they just have been digging around and messing up the onions we just planted. The over winter ones are much more established. We will probably replant a few bags of onion sets…. just to see if they will take.
Maggie came in and did a great job of mowing it all down for us! If it were all up to me, I’d have boxes and beds all over and very little grass. That is the ultimate goal. This is the corner that I want to have our orchard. I’m not sure if we’ll have the funds to get it going this year, but I sure hope so. It takes so many years to really get an orchard growing well and we have already lost out on three of them!!! But good fruit tree stock is not cheap and I would rather wait until we can do it right. Sigh… someday! 
We had gotten a bunch of nearly free seeds at the dollar store when all the seed packs went on sale for 90% off! How can you resist that? Well… you get what you pay for! Out of over 25 packs of flower seeds… all we got was that wee bit in the bottom of the bucket. Not really very much, eh? Well, we planted them anyway, in the courtyard and we’ll see what happens! You just never know. And I love zinnias…. I definitely have to plant some in the main garden as well.
Jess and I really worked hard! We cleared out a whole bunch of junk and failed experiments. Just got it all out and ready to be cleared away, burned, thrown out, whatever made sense!
The shutters, however, I’m going to be using to make some raised beds! Why not! Anything that helps to hold in some dirt, compost and spent bedding, works for me! And it will be pretty in there… That’s the best part.
We got the place cleaned up, and mowed, and a lot of the beds weeded and roughed up with a steel rake and ready for planting. Jess and I planted about 8 of the boxes before we just got too tuckered out and ready for dinner. It looks wonderful and we’ll keep at it for the next couple weeks to get everything planted and growing. Over all the space is nearly 9,000 square feet! Hard to believe… but it’s 60 feet wide by 140 feet long. Eventually, I want this to be such a lovely wonderful and productive garden! Just can’t wait…
Pin It