Gardening

The only thing that I like about winter..........is NOTHING!  But, it does allow a rest, a rest from cutting grass, a rest from the heat, more time to read and gain weight.....don't need that! So, during the hibernation I found some interesting YouTube's on gardening.  I plan to give them a try.   

With that said, the last couple of days have been fabulous here in the South.  I have been taking advantage of the great weather and have gotten busy in my Vegetable garden. It is hard to believe that we have here 10 years this spring.  Each year I have added horse manure mulch to my garden.  (We have horses)  Now, I have a great 5 inch top soil. I mean the dirt is black!  And below that is southern dirt with some clay.  The horse manure mulch is great and I have never burned up anything with it.  Chicken and Cow manure can be very HOT, so use caution!  The mulch has helped with weeds, but three to five days out of town, wrecks havoc on the garden.  

I don't have a Large garden.  I have had really large gardens, but I was home more and didn't seem to mind the weeding as much.  With a large garden, it was real handy to just run the tiller down the rows.  With my medium garden, the tiller just really doesn't seem to be a great plan.  Actually, I haven't broken up my garden in years.

One of the videos that I found is Ruth Strout and I provided the address below.  Check her out!  Very interesting lady!  I would like to think that it really was as easy as she suggest.

Ruth Strout's method  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNU8IJzRHZk&feature=share

Like I said, I have watched several videos over the winter.  We have been trying to eat healthier and frankly it scares the day lights out me that we know so many people with cancer.  If you grow it, you know whats on it. So, I am increasing the size of my garden.  Not really the size, it is the same size, but probably 50% of it over the past couple of years has had flowers in it.

 Last years Garden.

Flowers, I've got some things to move...

Veggies

 I usually have about 6 tomato plants, 2 Egg Plants, 2 Bell Peppers, Basil-my new favorite, Okra, 3-4 hills of Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Patty Pan Squash, Cucumbers, Corn, Lettuce, Spinach. I just want to increase what I am growing and put more in the freezer and may do some canning this year...YIKES, I haven't done that in awhile.  I also want to put in some strawberries and potatoes. I may try Strout's idea of just throwing the potatoes whole on top of the ground and covering with hay.  But, I don't want to spend a lot of time weeding.

On to what I am doing.....This is what today's blog is suppose to be about.  I decided to do raised beds, because I want to use all the good top soil where the plants will be growing.  And use some of Strout's plan of using the hay to fight off the grass.  My ground is very soft, because of the great top soil.  I have laid out my beds to be 3 ft wide with 2 ft walkways.  I have been digging out the walkway, approx 4-5 inches and throwing the dirt over into the bed.  I recycle...so I have newspaper and cardboard on hand.  I am laying that down in the walkway and covering with hay.  After, I plant I plan to put hay around everything.  But, now when it rains for days, it shouldn't be a problem getting into the garden...

Cardboard down, some rows have newspaper.

 NO, I am not measuring the depth, just showing you.  I am just digging the depth of the top soil.

 First couple of rows. Actually the beds are wider but they are still mounded up and some of the hay is laying over on them.

Black dirt

So, Far this has been a task.....And it is going to be another beautiful day to take advantage of.  Tomorrow back in the 30's and I will be in the house, except for taking care of horses.  I hope this plan helps with the weeds and using my time for more productive things this summer.

Check back to see how the garden grows......I may rig up a little greenhouse...... What are you doing in your garden?  Please leave a comment and let me know that you were here.