For those of you just starting to follow along...a few years ago, I began reclaiming lawn space building raised boxes, and blogging about my adventures in gardening. This might be year 7 of the ever-growing garden that officially launches May 2-4 Weekend every year. The community that @GardenHive has become is for us green thumbs and there are contests my gardening friends can play along with by following them.
This week, I am procrastinating no more as it is May 2-4 weekend when gardens get DONE!
It BEGINS!
The long Canadian winter is not kind to the green in the garden and there is quite the list of cleanup an preparation tasks to getting it to look like this every year.
Here is how we looked after a little cleanup in a warm spell in April and one of my gardening adversaries almost daring me to put it together so he can take it apart.
Here we go!
They say you often have to make a huge mess to clean one up and the garden is a great example. Winter-beaten dogproof fences have to be taken down, dead stuff pulled from all the beds and planters, and the soil has to be turned and augmented before any planting starts.
Makers for a good 'before' picture though if I am indeed able to get through to a nice 'after.'
This is probably 10% of the weeds pulled from the yard as they LOVE to pop up early in the rich garden soil.
Then there is the hacking of the branches to allow gardeners to get into the beds and the sunlight to make it through to the sprouts. PLENTY or removing and disposing I am still working on today.
Soil Prep
Before we even get going, the soil in the garden beds and planters needs to be busted up, tilled, and mixed with new fertilizer, compost and garden soil. The nutrients get sapped and moisture trapping compost breaks down throughout the summer and winter. Loosening it up and augmenting it with the things new plants need is a great way to get the sprouts surviving and quickly thriving.
Enter the trusty hoe! This one has seen many moons and I think may have been handed down by my mother. Still holding strong and does the job year after year.
After a round of chopping and swinging, the hardened soil is broken up, roots of weeds are decimated, and I can't help but feel for any of the earthworms who were happily going about their business before I started.
Every 2 years, I get a yard of triple mix delivered on a skid to the front of the house, then truck it to the back via wheelbarrow to mix it into the beds. Off years like this, I go a little lighter and just mix it myself. I suppose that the 3-in-1 is the best with the compost, black earth and fertilizer but it is priced at a premium. So, I mix my own and augment it with hen manure which farmers recommended to me as the best for veggies.
The main garden box is ready and planted with sprouts of peppers, beans, peas, zucchini, and whatever else my better half planted. Underwhelming so far but off to the races.
The other boxes are done too with tomatoes, lettuce & greens, carrots, and our strawberry patch. The lettuce always loves to fall flat when you transplant it and bounce back quick so worry not. One thing I learned that is worth passing on is that strawberry plants only produce a few years. So, rather than augment the bald patches with $50 worth of new plants every year, plant some of your strawberries in the fall just before snowfall. Each one does have hundreds of seeds and can end up saving hundreds of dollars over the years.
The Planting
I am like a kid in a candy shop when I go to the nursery/garden store. There are a couple big ones in town and I could spend hundreds just on flowers and veggies sprouts. This year, we took a more programmed approach at growing from seeds to save on the retail consumption and do it like it is supposed to be done. Mixes success with some things loving to be started indoors and I just fill in the gaps when the veggies go on sale in a week or so!
I like to save money and DIY on the hanging flower baskets as well. Remixing the soil form last year with new potting soil and choosing the flowers and plants individually save probably 50% off buying them premade at the nursery. It also packs a bit of satisfaction as well when you know you selected and planted each of them and they flourish
They are not much to look at yeat but my better half picked the orange "Bidens" and the colourful wave petunias will come spilling out of there in a flurry if I water them regularly.
I am proud of the return of the hops we planted last year and got a little creative with them. Hops are vines and definitely like to climb so I scaled the roof and strung a braid of twine and fishing line toe the peak of the roof. These are the Rakau variety originating in New Zealand and I would love to see them reach the peak. Think they will?
One of the deck planter selections this year is citronella. They are a neat looking fluffy green plant with a pleasant smell that is supposed to repel mosquitos. I popped a little begonia in there behind it for a little colourful company.
These little rail boxes have worked out well the last couple years because of their level pruning & watering, and how easy they are to move into and out of the sun. Parsley and basil in the close one with dill and cilantro in the far one. So great to have just outside the kitchen door so you can grab and chop and add them to food.
Ready to Launch!
Here we are late afternoon on the third day of a long weekend. Soil all prepared, seeds and seedlings planted, and the fortress of fences erected to keep Diggy McGardenson out at all costs. Deck planters set up and seeded or ready for discount flowers, winter cleaned up and lawn mowed.
As you can see, this was quite a bit of work. If not for the long weekend, these chores would have stretched into the next weekend. Either that or less napping and relaxing would have happened along the way. Hopefully he tired himself out so much that he will ignore the garden boxes.
Mom started me along my path of growing stuff when I was a kid. Motivated by so many blockchain blogging gardeners, I figured I would plant and share and learn as I reclaim as much grass space as I can. It has turned out to be a fruitful experience and I hope to inspire others to sow and grow no matter what your location or experience level is.
Just make sure you tag #creativegarden and check out the latest 
Wherever you are...JUST GROW!
I am honoured to curate for: