March 1, 2008

Well, I didn't post on Leap Day because my wife had a thing last night so she dropped the kids off at my folks house.  After work I went there instead of home and spent the evening with the family.  By the time I got home it was close to midnight and after the week I've had and fighting this cold, I fell into bed.  So I'll have to wait another 4 years to post on Leap Day.  Ah well.

So my dad and I talked about the blackberries, the wood and the potato bins.  He thinks the blackberry pruning is a good idea (of course he does, he doesn't have to do it).  However he didn't think just putting my "dirt" on top of the weed infested ground for the potato bins was a good idea.  I used up all of my landscape fabric doing my garden area, so I've been reluctant to buy a new roll for just over 4 SF.  Then my dad suggested we use it over the concrete patio when we build a deck over it.  It will help keep anything from growing under there and also drain well.  So now I've got a reason to buy a new roll.  Looks like a trip to Costco is in order since they've got their garden pallets out now.

So here's what my garden to-do list looks like for this weekend:

-Direct sow broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, peas and spinach.

-Buy fertilizer (5-10-10) for the peas and spinach at least.

-Buy mulch for around the trees.

-Mulch the trees.

That's about it for this weekend, but I've got a ton of other errands and taxes to work on. 

Today's going to be a good day for the running around because the weather's crappy.  Yesterday I went out at lunch without a coat on.  By the time to go home, it was rainy, windy and grey. It's been icky ever since.  Tomorrow's supposed to be better weather for working outside.  We'll see.

Well, the rain has been just as predicted, showers.  Not worth working in but worth waiting out.  My day has been pretty full since I wrote that list.

I had planned on taking my eldest out to run some errands, including several for the garden, but my aunt and dad showed up.  Of course my son wanted to play in the yard with my aunt so my dad and I went on the errands. 

First we went to Costco and got gas and landscape fabric.  They had 4' x 220' for $21.  Can't pass that up and we can use it for under the deck we're building this spring in addition to the potato bins. 

Then we went to the local nursery (the $28 vermiculite one).  They're still the best thing around for gardening information and stuff.  We spoke to a knowlegable person there and he directed me away from Miracle Gro fertilizers because of the salt content that depletes the soil of nutrients to a more natural product.  So I not only got my 5-10-10 All Purpose Vegetable fertilizer, but I got the one for Azalelas and Rhodies (read bluberries) as well. 

 

While I was there I got mulch for around my apple and plum trees.  Of course, my gardener aunt was right, they recommended compost for mulch around the tree, just not touching the trunk.  So I got 4 bags or Cedar Grove compost for nearly the price of a cubic yard in bulk (if I needed that much or wanted to bag it myself). 



We also asked about worms there, but they only had composting worms like Flatlander has, and agreed that they would not be good for putting in my beds.  So from Sky Nursery we went to Joe's (formerly GI Joe's) sporting good store on a mission to set some bait free.  We got 8 dozen worms, nightcrawlers to be precise, and dumped them in my beds, two dozen each.



Then we started unloading the bags of compost.  Boy are they heavy.  So I got my trusty wheelbarrrow out to move them to where the tree is.  Unfortuantely over the last two weeks, the wheel went flat.  Odd.  So up to the gas station to fill it.  Sure I could have carried them by hand faster, but I also want to move all the left over Mel's Mix to the area between the two potato bins since that's where they're going eventually.  While we were filling the tire, the rain started so we came back, put the tire back on the wheelbarrow and my folks called it a day.  I made lunch for the family and am posting while I eat it.  

If the weather cooperates, I'll put landscape fabric under the potato bins to keep weeds from growing up into my fertile soil, mulch around the trees (putting landscaping fabric under them too rather than newspaper (since I've got it).  If the weather doesn't turn nice, I'll end up doing taxes... come on sunshine! 

The weather held to just be overcast.  Was a bit chilly after 5 as the sun was going down, but I got the landscape fabric under both bins and put the Mel's Mix I removed back on top. Let's see the weeds get through that, hehe.  It got too dark so I cleaned up and came back in to finish up today's entry.  Hope you like it.  I sure had fun making it!