Garden beds

After a typical Easter weekend, the weather has returned to its perfect state. From cold, windy, and a little wet to no clouds, no wind and in the 70's. I took advantage and laid out the garden beds this morning. So call me anal, but any job worth doing is worth doing right, and with tending garden in the desert you have to be conscious of water use. This means that I prepare the beds as level as possible and add a small soil wall around the edges so water does not run off.


The garden is big, 16 beds, but we share the spoils with friends and nothing goes to waste here. What is not fed to humans goes to the dogs, and what does not go to the dogs, goes to the chickens.

To my dismay I find that the asparagus crop this year is a total failure. Nobody to blame but myself. I should have fertilized and composted them; after all they are a perennial crop. Nobody flourishes on just water and air alone. Note to self: take care of asparagus this fall and winter.

Meanwhile the horses thought this was a total waste of a perfect riding day. What could be better than going out for an easy walk "out back" and snatching a little green grass after the rain? Even Emma quietly protested by sitting right outside the garden fence, heaving heavy sighs. What about a little hike? Never mind that she, and Shawna, went for a 40 minute walk at 6 am this morning ...


The seedlings in the cold frame are reaching large proportions. Hopefully I will be able to plant soon because I have another flat sitting on a heating pad in the laundry room: sunflowers for the Great Sunflower Project!