Day of Service to the Garden

 

               On Martin Luther King Day, I often spend the day in service to my garden; if it is bright and sunny, especially, it is time to set myself up for the coming year.  Today was no exception. My day went something like this:

1.        Ordered seeds for the year and had a rather large worry about potatoes.

2.       Investigated the potatoes in the basement and pulled five pounds from the Kennebec bag that we were going to eat to save for seed.

3.       Spent some time cleaning off sprouting from the other bag of potatoes and wondered about planting a few now—would they grow?

4.       Thought—I really need a bed for experiments. No plans, just experiments. Like potatoes in January.

5.    

   Looked at the cold clouds coming in and the laurel hedge, which my new neighbor did a huge prune on yesterday.

6.       Found the ladder and tools and finished the job, whacking down all of the sprouts from my side, cleaning up as I went.

7.       Went to the other side of the hedge and cleared up the rest of the branches that he did not reach yesterday, climbing on the dead fridge and walking along the edge of his trailer to do so. (It was ok with him!)  Remembered how much I love a good whack at a laurel hedge. Although it looks hacked at now, it will fill out by spring, provide a good privacy screen, and still let the neighbor get into his garage. It may also reduce the rodent highway through the yard….

8.       Cleared up all of the brush.

9.       Put away all of the tools.

10.

   Checked on the hazelnuts to see if they are blooming yet—yes, they are!

11.   Came in for lunch. Made tea. Read in the sun for an hour, looking out the south windows.

12.   Considered planting the potatoes in the barrels on the south side of the house and then reminded myself that that space was for early spring greens, so NO potato experiments.

13.   Returned to the yard.

14.   Patted Mr Beezhold on the nose.

15.   Cleaned up the greenhouse—trimmed some house plants, moved some planters outside, swept the floor, put up a bunch of pots on the high shelves.

16.   Examined the greenhouse bed and spread the two buckets of compost that had been sitting in there for months on the bed. Could I plant those potatoes here?

17.  

Why not? Tucked ten potatoes into half of the bed and watered them in.

18.   Tossed over two garden beds that have been chicken tractored to break up the mat of straw,  poop, and leaves that forms on the surface and expose everything to soil so that it will break down by spring.

19.   Dumped a garbage barrel of street leaves onto the Winter bed, as I have harvested enough from it to create room for leaves. Put the barrel back in the compost area upside down for once so that it will not collect rainwater and breed mosquitoes this spring.

20.   Moved the rabbit in for the evening and gave him a carrot and some mustard leaves. Checked on the chickens food and water—they were fine.

21.   Considered tucking a few potatoes in with the parsnips, under the new leaves. Tomorrow, perhaps.