Catching Up

I had business in Europe the last few weekends.  Finally, I am back home and the good weather has allowed me to catch up on the spring chores.

I raised the height of 2 of the beds.  This year we will plant garlic, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, spinach, bell peppers, hot peppers, green onions, herbs, basil and tomatoes.  I brought some of last year's compost into several beds, and turned the beds over.  We are not going to plant potatoes.  We had a great crop last year, but we can only keep them until mid-February before they start to sprout.  We decided to opt for more squash (which we freeze).

I am watching the garlic plants.  We put it in last fall, but only half the crop had emerged so far.  We had a rough winter - I hope the other bulbs will emerge soon.

The chives, oregano and Russian tarragon are doing well.  I can't say the same for the thyme and sage.  I have to watch them to see if they made it through the winter.  The rhubarb is coming in fine.

I finished cleaning up the yard where the well driller had done his work.  I filled and leveled the excavations, shoveled up more clay and debris, and spread some grass seed.  I also re-stacked the stones over the well head and put the old-fashioned pump on the well.

I removed the snow plow, tire chains, and wheel weights from the tractor.  Next weekend I'll put the mower deck on (must remember to sharpen the mower blades).

I raked up a lot of twigs and spruce cones.  I also raked out the shade garden and the painted garden beds.

I will plant some spinach next weekend.  The weather will need to be more amenable before the rest of the garden goes in (probably late May!).

I put in a couple of rowing sessions and a bike ride this weekend.  Time to kick back and relax!