Gardening Dreams

If you have read this blog for very long, you know that I had 

large vegetable gardens and large flower beds at the "farm", as we 

call our four acres.  Indeed, last summer I spent countless hours out there, trying to 

keep the flower beds in decent shape (I lost that fight!). 

Here was the potato bed in spring of 2013.... I was getting ready to plant eyes and was building up the bed. 

And that year also, I started MANY kinds of tomatoes indoors, as well as 

perennials. 

Remember, we had not dreamed we would be moving. 

We also planted our vegetable garden with its' raised beds... 

here there is lettuce coming up. 

It wasn't long before we were eating fresh vegetables from our garden with dinners. 

Last year I put down a heavy straw mulch in the beds... big mistake. 

I ended up, at the end of the summer, using mulch on the beds... and on one bed never planted... thick, thick straw mulch, in "leaves". 

Remember, by this time, we were living at the new house. 

This is how I gardened at the new house, while trying to keep the old house going. 

This is what we were dealing with by August.  UGH. 

Everything was covered in weeds.  It was a MESS! 

This was the result of no one living there.  You have to do 

daily maintenance.  

You also (take note of this, new gardeners) should NOT build any of your beds under a huge old maple tree. 

 I used my hands, and bent and pulled... the ones I could not pull up, I dug up. 

Slowly, we began to see the beds again. 

It was NOT fun. 

Slowly, slowly, the beds came back, and you could see the flowers again. 

The dirt that we had lasagna - gardened, was still very good. 

Grandson Chris helped me one day... and then I dug and pulled the rest. 

Grandson Jake helped one day, at the end. 

It helped to be able to pull alongside the beds, so I could dump the dirt and mulch. 

Fast forward to today. 

First, I need to explain that we have still not rented the old place... Keith became very ill several times, and was hospitalized, and now we are getting used to Life on Dialysis. 

We did not have a garden here at the new house last year, except for one tomato 

plant in a big planter ... A Burpee Early Girl, which bore and bore and bore. 

We had no other vegetables, but we did have some herbs. 

We had some flowers grown in pots. 

See that fence line above?  I am going to have a man come 

and till the length of the fence line, inside and outside of the fence.  It will be 

flowerbeds, and one or two areas of vegetables, for tomatoes and beans. 

There is a big gate in the fenceline, and to the left of it, I'm also going to have it tilled up. 

I am not so sure about the area where the tubs are on end, on the left (sorry for the cloudy picture)... because that is where water runs off the terrace.  We had hoped to put a water garden in this area, where you see the bird - feeding poles... because it stays wet after rain.  That is something 

that will need to wait, I think, for a while. 

I have also learned that the birds do NOT like the swinging feeders... they sway too much in the wind. 

At the old house, they were hung from sturdy 4 x 4's embedded in the ground. 

I finally took the nice suet/seed feeder down and put it on the table, and as it is... no one has tried the suet at all.  

And heaven knows, I am getting plenty of cataloges! 

My son has asked me to start some seeds for him, so... next week... I'm going to load up my shop lights with their grow bulbs, and set up a seed-starting table in the basement. 

I kept my Fafards seed mix... and we'll get the whole shebang started over again. 

I am going through these old friends and starting to decide what to start this year. 

I'll take pictures as I get set up for starting the seeds. 

Someone asked me what I will do if someone rents our house this coming spring... and does not care to garden. 

Well... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.  We won't be selling that house any time soon (thank heavens, because I love it so)... and if I have to remake the beds, I will.  I am going to try to bring some of the plants over here. 

Are any of you starting seed?