raised bed = FILLED

Saturday we got back to work on the yard. After a mean 9 am work meeting we went up to Dyno Dirt to get the compost mix for the veggie beds. It took two loads but we finally got them filled for cheaper than we thought with a very rich soil. Lucky for me, Arab came to help so he and Mr. Dirty Feet did all the hard shoveling (really they did ALL the hard work today).

Except for having to make two trips, it took almost no time with those boys hard at work. While they did the tough stuff I pulled up daffodils from the foxglove bed to transplant them into their very own pot. Bleeding Hearts are going to go where the daffodils were. We also added an additional raised bed onto the end of the big one for onions and potatoes because we ended up with extra dirt and blocks.

Arab and I had been talking about putting CDs in the trees to help keep the birds away for almost a year and figured while we were out working we'd go ahead and get it done. Dirty Feet and I sent him up the tree armed with CDs and pruners.

We had dinner then put all the veggie seedlings and the onions into the newly filled bed. Dirty Feet got the peppers started in the peat pods while I ordered our new bees. May 17th I'll be picking up 3 lbs of Russian honey bees with a marked queen from a very freaked out post office. Until next weekends adventures....

Grassy Toes in the foxhole

Here is a project we had to do to get the raised bed set up. Were the hole is, there was a clothes line pole and a massive piece of concrete. We dug it up and cut the pole off. We then decided to bury the massive chunk of concrete but before that could take place Grassy Toes wanted to play in the foxhole. She is a cutey! It seemed more logical to just bury the chunk a little deeper rather than look for fill dirt. What a way to conserve huh?

The beginning

This year we started a huge adventure together.... urban gardening(and this blog). Instead of excitedly bombarding people with picture messages we'll try to keep all you far away people (Hi Jesica and Jesse's dad!) updated here. As of right now we've got all kinds of seedlings started: broccoli, squash, cauliflower, zuchinni, three kinds of tomatos, brussel sprouts, spinich, honeydew, watermelon, and canteloup. The peppers are going to be started this week, too.

Yesterday we spent the better half of the afternoon putting in our very first raised bed. Thanks to Daddy for letting us jack his truck to haul 90 cinderblocks. It was super hard work but it looks amazing. Of course, Jesse did most of the hard work and showed no signs of tiring :) That's my baby. The interior dimesions are 22' x 4' x 16" The bottom layer is filled with composted leaves from our yard and I can't wait to get the dyno dirt to fill it the rest of the way up.

In addition to getting the garden started, I'm also super excited about getting our bee hives going. My super amazing craftsman built the hive, now I'm just waiting to hear back from the Collin County Backyard Beekeepers as to whether or not I can hive the new babies in May (the only time I can find a delivery for 3 pounds of Russian bees and their queen). The box isn't painted yet but I LOVE it and can't wait to be munching on local honey.

On top of all the gardening we've also got to get the back yard whipped into shape after a long period of neglect on my part. We've built two super awesome composters out of old pallets and chicken wire that we've already filled to the brim with lawn clippings, ashes, and kitchen waste. On saturday Arab came over to help us trim the sweetgum tree and clean off the tin roof and Jesse cleaned out the Foxglove bed. The weather was fabulous over the weekend but we've got a high of 55 going today.

The first composter without the hinged door on yet

Composter #2 work in progress



Our kiddo scaling the limbs to be cut. Note the super clean Foxglove bed below!



Today I'll try to teach the cute guy how to use the blog and get some pictures that weren't taken with my cruddy cell phone camera up. Happy Monday!