yard action and first planting

This weekend was full of rewarding work in the backyard, including moving crusher fines from a straight path to a curved one to add visual interest and promote observation from various angles.

We planted a few beds with lettuces, radishes, beets, carrots, onions, herbs, peas, kale, chard, brussels sprouts, arugula, spinach, kohlrabi, cabbage, among other things! We spread chicken manure and grass clippings on the areas we'll be planting in a few weeks. The paths between rows got chicken or horse manure covered with wood chips.We also planted asparagus and rhubarb. It was really rewarding to plant things and make some visible changes.


Thanks to IFTTT scanning Craigslist Free, and a generous neighbor with chickens, we got wood chips (delivered), horse manure, and chicken manure all free.

garden plot update

I've been negligent about posting about our garden plot this spring. Here it is as of today. In mid March we double-dug and added 3 bags of compost/manure plus worm castings. At that time, there were some survivors from fall plantings of arugula and lettuce, including enough arugula for one delicious arugula wrap.



We switched from a path to two stone spots, which I think will give us more maneuverability while taking up less space.

Here is our master plan:



Note the coordinate system... A3... you sunk my radicchio!

So far we have planted: arugula, radicchio, dill, lettuce, leeks, beets, radishes, carrots, red onion, kohlrabi, chard, kale, echinacea, chamomile, spinach, and parsley.

And are enjoying our perennials, some of which were gifted to us last fall: hyssop, chocolate mint, echinacea, thyme, oregano, sage, chives.

The exploding chives bring joy to the early spring—their strength is admirable.

planting

This past weekend we got our garden plot started. We started by loosening the soil using the double-dig method. We then amended the soil with the three bags (~9 cu. ft.) of compost that we picked up the previous weekend. Finally, we planted seeds for peas, radishes, arugula, lettuce, spinach, rainbow chard, broccoli, and mesclun (lettuce mix). In addition to all of those fresh plantings, we inherited a strawberry patch and a few onions in our plot! Thank you previous gardeners!

To get ready for summer planting, we started seeds indoors for tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, broccoli, basil, and other herbs.

Since we are new to gardening in the ground, we've needed to find good information from websites and books. The Boulder Culinary Gardeners' website has an excellent Boulder/Denver planting guide. We have read a few different gardening books as well, including How to Grow More Vegetables and Square Foot Gardening. I like the detail and explanations in How to Grow More Vegetables. What's your favorite gardening book or resource?