Kia hora te manno
Kia whakapapa paumamu te moana
Kia tere te Karohirohi

May the calm be widespread
May the sea glisten like the greenstone
And may the glimmer of summer dance across your pathways

Friday, March 20, 2009

First day of Spring

You wouldn't think so if you spent very long outside today. The thermometer reads 51 degrees, but the cold gusty wind makes it feel like it is in the low 40's. Grumbling to myself, just a little bit, I dressed warmly and went out to the vegetable garden, to plant the six spinach seedlings I bought yesterday. Once the spinach was in the ground, and I stood there admiring the green of the plants against the dark color of the soil, I told myself, I am already cold, so why don't I just go ahead and plant sugar snap peas, and also some sweet peas, for picking to fragrance our home. Soon I forgot how cold I was, as I became engrossed in the task of planting the seeds, placing in the name markers and admiring my handy work. I can't help but feel excited, at the thought of all the vegetables and flowers I am going to have in my 20 x 20 foot garden plot.

This photo of my first attempt at growing vegetables in my brand new plot, was taken last year. This year it will look a whole lot different, as I will be trying the square foot method of gardening.

Quote of the day

Take thy plastic spade,
It is thy pencil; take thy seeds, thy plants,
They are thy colours.
~William Mason, The English Garden, 1782

12 comments:

Victoria Williams said...

Your veg garden looks fantastic. We had the warmest day here.......it was SO nice.

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Now, I feel like I am behind! Thanks for speeding me up!
What soil do you use - your own mix or?

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

Tatyana, we have sandy soil on our 10 acre property, so we used a mix of it along with a nice heavy mix of compost and llama manure to fill the raised beds. Now when I harvest a crop from one of the squares, I add compost, dig it in and replant right away.

lynn'sgarden said...

KeeWee, that is one neat looking garden plot..I love the tire planters! Can't wait to see how it progresses.
Lynn

Heather said...

Wow, I am so excited for you and your pretty veggie garden. I think you will love the raised beds the longer you have them. I found that there is definately a couple year raised bed learning curve, then you will never want to go back to the old way. Enjoy, it looks so nice! PS- what do you have growing in the tires?
-Heather

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

Heather, the first two tires have strawberries, the next four were herbs garlic spinach. This year I am keeping the first two in strawberries, and planting four varieties of tomatoes in the rest. I also have two other tires with blueberries in them.

tina said...

It looks beautiful. I know that gravel is a great thing for your veggies too.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

Great job! I think I need to replant our sweet peas, they never sprouted. I hope you see signs of new growth in your garden soon!

dinzie said...

It sounds like we have similar temperatuires at the momement.. But of course our days are getting shorter. We've planted a few winter greens in the sunniest raised bed .. the rest we will start to tidy up and plant a green manure crop through the winter as the sun doesn't hit the garden for a few winter months ....

D

Anonymous said...

Your garden looks impeccable. What a pleasure it must be to work (play) in it. I was the same way today--perturbed by the chilly wind. But after awhile I was so into what I was doing, I forgot to be cold. :)

Chiot's Run said...

I love the raised beds with the gravel walkways and the fence! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

I'd love to feature your garden on my Garden Spotlight someday. Send me some photos.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I'm glad you got your veggies in. I like your garden. I hope it warms up soon.