Monthly Archives: March 2013

Last year was the first year we didn’t do it all ourselves. Mainly because of my surgery. This year, though, no excuses. It is wonderful to have the yard cleaned up, edged and mulched without killing ourselves in the process. Again, we chose a local family owned West County business, Rhine, to come out for two days and ready the property for spring.

Yes, they filled the truck with old mulch, top soil and clipped materials before they finished today. Included this year was the burying of our downspouts that would direct water to areas we wanted to irrigate. Like the area around some young evergreens and a pin oak.

The trenching was done today. Tomorrow they bury all the pipe and clean it up. They also extended all our drip lines on our trees, created a new transition area, created a drainage area by the shed, and lots more, including pruning of huge shrubs.

What you can see here is my new transition from the deck and new edging. You can also see, if you look carefully, that they were very careful in not disturbing the dozen garlic plants I put in last October. They, along with the dozen in the pots on the stairs, will provide me with ample garlic scapes for pesto, as well as two dozen heads of garlic to cure.

Tomorrow, they will mulch, finish the drainage out front and around the shed, and clean out my garden. Two days to do what used to take us weeks, including trips to buy mulch, haul it and drag it all over the yard.

When you are in your sixties, it is good to have people half your age doing heavy lifting, at least my back thanks me for not stressing it.

The finished pics and results will go up tomorrow night. Now, for a related subject, the indoor seed starting has produced some great greens so far, and I just planted Thelma Sanders squash seeds, dried and saved after I received this heirloom winter squash from last year’s CSA.

The squash seeds were planted in the seed starting boxes. The greens have been in a few weeks. Waiting to take them outside soon. Here is the squash from last year’s haul. It is a cooking squash, somewhat reminiscent of a pumpkin. Great for my hummus recipe, and for “pumpkin” pie. Saving heirloom seeds is a first for me. I dried and stored these seeds. Hopefully, this is a successful way to carry my garden to a new level.

Besides these heirlooms, the garlic in the pots and the yard all are heirlooms from my CSA last year. I saved four heads of red and of white garlic to plant for my second foray into garlic growing. Last year I was too late planting and only harvested spring garlic, not mature heads of garlic.

Here’s to lots of homemade pestos and hummus, and of course, my tomatoes and cucumbers, plans for the summer garden. Don’t you just love springtime?

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