Spring Weather

April 26, 2008

We’ve been having days alternating between too cold and wet to be outdoors, or very warm and dry.  Last week I decided to lay out some chip paths in one section of the vegetable garden – this makes it easier for me to step in and move around without getting muddy, or crushing down the planting beds.

Rather than planting in rows, I can plant these beds solidly and replace with new plantings throughout the summer. 

I started at the back with some early spring plantings – they will be finished before anything else will be shading them. 

It’s no accident that the bed width is a little less than the distance of my arm length – I can reach to the center of each planting bed.  Ideally these would be raised beds, but we just aren’t able to do it quite yet!

We’ve since had some thunderstorms, and the paths are still in place, and the spinach, lettuce, cilantro are all poking up.  I think the chips are keeping the soil from floating away.  Oh, the peas have been up for a bit, too!

Some of the first bulbs, other than the crocus, are either up or blooming.  The standard daffodils are some of the first! Everyone has seen these, nothing fancy, but their sunny-looking faces always make me smile.

And these.  Bluebells?

The bulbs I planted last year have not yet bloomed.

The last big bit of news is that I’ve procured four 55 gallon food grade barrels in order to make rain barrels! I hope to have one of those up and running by late May or early June. 

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2 Comments Add your own

  • 1. X-ray Rocks  |  April 29, 2008 at 11:45 pm

    Hi! Love your blog! I’ve really enjoyed reading about your garden. Where did you find food grade barrels for rain barrels? I live in MN, but I can’t find any for sale.

  • 2. minnesotagardener  |  April 30, 2008 at 3:11 am

    I had a difficult time getting my hands on some barrels. A woman at UW Extension had a “Making Your Own Rainbarrel” class, and I was able to reserve four through her. I believe these are coming from a brewery. She said that they have to account for any barrels sold/given away because people have taken them, filled with toxic waste, and then dumped the barrels.

    A good place to try might be a brewery, or Pepsi Bottling, something like that. If you can find a source who will sell them, often you can get them very reasonably. Mine were $5 each.

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