Preperation time!

Hello all!

I've decided to dedicate this blog to my garden. This encompasses my veggie and flower gardens. I hope you enjoy. And I hope we can share experiences and advice here. I know I need it! hehe

March came in like a very cold lion and will hopefully go out like a lamb. So here's what my veggie garden looked like on March 1, 2009. While I
took this picture I thought about how different this area would look by the end of the month. And so it does.

I started out the season (Spring of course) with planting seeds indoors. They have long since germinated and are growing and waiting for their turn to visit the fertile soils of Katie's garden. ;)

Last year I used the Lasagna Garden method. This year, after a cold winter, the soil is weed free and ready to go! All I had to do this year was pull weeds around the garden spots and add some nutrients to it.

I'm so excited that I will be able to have a larger garden this year. Because I was "with child" last year, I made my garden as small and maintenance free as possible. This year I will be extending the garden on either side to make room for corn and other veggies. I will be mixing traditional method (tilling and adding soil and nutrients) and the lasagna garden method. Last year, I found that the corn didn't do very well in the rich soil. The year before, I had planted the corn in rich loam I composed by tilling in garden soil into the clay soil that is in my backyard. (You may have clay soil or sandy soil. Go to this link to read more about dirt: http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeandgarden/2009/03/about-that-dirt/ )


I discovered that I have a few plants already growing in my garden. The garlic grows wild around here. This year I decided to give in and grow some since I use it so often. Also there's one bell pepper plant that decided to grow where last years was. I guess a seed from a rotting bell pepper decided to wait out the winter in my garden.



Of course, I had to transplant the pepper plant. I'm doing my best to rotate the crops. Next year, I might need to move my garden to another spot in the yard to give the soil there a rest...not sure how necessary that is though. I'll have to read more on that in the future.

Well, that's it for today.
I'll be posting my progress as it happens.
Katie