We've finally gotten some warm temperatures lately, so I've started planting the vegetable garden. So far I've put in carrots, kale, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, spaghetti squash, lettuce, and spinach.Still to go: beets, tomatoes, basil, peppers, hull-less oats, broccoli, potatoes, and dry beans. I've probably forgotten a few things in there, but that's the basics.
I'm also going to take my composting more seriously this year. I've levelled out the ground around them to put down a thick layer of gravel, to keep weeds down, and I'm going to build a larger collector for grass and leaves. Feeding your vegetables is really just feeding your soil, and while it is very healthy at the moment, with lots of worms, all the produce I take out of it each year depletes it of nutrients, so I need to be better about putting them back in.
I've also gotten better about incorporating flowers into the garden, so along with the patch of lavendar I now have allium, soapwort, sedum, and violets. I did have some lupine, but they seem to have died off. I found some beautiful tulips in the Breck's catalogue that I might splurge on too. Even though they don't last long, they add a nice punch of colour.
They are encouraging us not to mow our lawns for the month of May, to help out the bees, but I finally had to give in and mow yesterday. I wouldn't have been able to mow at all if I'd let it get much longer. No doubt the dandelions will recover! I also have a lot of thyme in my lawn, which is pretty.
We had a lot of pool bags spring leaks this year, so my husband is cutting them up and stapling them as a weed barrier on the back of the wooden walkways in the garden, which is a clever reusage of materials.
Lastly, I am going to lift my paving-stone path and re-set it in gravel to clean it up. Over the years the pavers have sunk into the ground and are slowly disappearing. When we're done, the garden will be rejuvenated and welcoming. And this year, with the quarantine, I'll love being out there more than ever.
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