More Early Spring Gardening

For me, being able to be out in the garden really means spring is here. Since our irrigation system isn't usable, I water most of the plants that I plant daily. It is a good way to get a little fresh air since I tend to be a hermit and stay inside most of the time.

In an earlier post, I mentioned the annuals, the new peach tree, and some other plantings for this spring. Digging the hole for the tree required a bit of effort, but the rest wasn't too bad. Then I started my spring cleaning in the garden. The spring gardening really started last fall when I emptied one of the compost barrels. Half went into the asparagus bed; the other half went into one of the garden beds. I had hoped winter would help finish the breakdown of the compost, but we didn't have much winter weather.

We have an area that helps drain water from our walkway into the street through a meandering path. Unfortunately, that area is in the midst of scrub oak, which means it regularly fills with leaves. I spent a couple of hours cleaning it out and moving the leaves to an area I would like to keep the water out of. Other than pruning, on which I'm late, this is the most labor intensive of all the gardening jobs at our house.

In February, I started my tomatoes and some herbs. They are currently growing in the kitchen windowsill. The Pro makes jokes about eating the little doughnuts in the window.

Last month, I talked about replacing two of the ollas in the asparagus bed.

I have started watering it and they seem to be working. After replacing the ollas, I added a few bags of topsoil to the bed to replace some of what has drained out. As you can see, I've left a lot of space-the beds are double height. I do this because the HOA does not allow a garden fence, and I want to limit the depredations of the rabbits, deer, javelina, and skunks in the neighborhood. It seems to be working.

This week, I added a bag of manure and more topsoil to the other garden beds. One will hold the tomatoes in a few weeks. In the other, I planted some carrots and some chard. The Pro loves to pick carrots and eat them fresh. Chard isn't something I find often in the store or my bountiful baskets. It is a good addition to salads and smoothies.

There are still some shrubs and trees that I will have to prune. I have left it a bit late, but it must be done. Luckily, these things are incredibly hardy and will bounce back quickly. I generally do not get this done until things warm up a bit.