The Garden

The garden is looking pretty good so far this year.

My goal is to get out and weed a little bit every day, even if it is just for a few minutes, and pull at least one weed every time I walk into the garden. Last year, I would neglet the weeds for days at a time, and things quickly got out of control. It did help to have a good tiller on hand to re-till a section before I planted. I just wish I had enough compost to cover the bare sections of soil...

Here is a shot of the beans sprouting along the fence and my nice row of potatoes...

I really need to get some new chicken wire (or something) up along the neighbor's pasture fence. There is some old chicken wire put up years ago to keep the goats from getting their heads stuck there. The previous owners of our place had some dogs that would have eaten the face off a goat... But now that chicken wire is falling apart, and the chickens can come right in. I suspect that one of them is responsible for uprooting my pepper plant, and once the tomatoes start producing, I'll definitely need better help keeping them out.

My blueberries seem to be doing well, and the raspberries are really starting to take off. But my home-made soaker hose hasn't worked as well as I had hoped. I started poking holes in it with a diaper pin, but that started to bend, so I ended up using a utility knife. The diaper pin holes tend to reseal themselves, and some of the utility knife hole blast the water out... So before I cave and buy more soaker hose, I think I'll try some poking some holes with a drill and bit and turning the water low so the pressure isn't too great.  I really need to get my watering systems down if this summer turns out to be as beastly as I think it will be. It is the beginning of May, and already the grass is crunchy.