Gardening, Spring Planting, and DIY Plant Markers

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It felt good to be in the garden again.  I’ve been taking advantage of the beautiful warm sunny days to clean the garden, sift the compost, pull weeds, and plant seeds.  Just days after I planted these little radish seedlings they started to emerge and will soon be ready to harvest.

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To identify what I planted, a simple garden marker made from a small apple branch was used and labeled with a Sharpie pen.  It’s a simple idea that I have been using since I saw it in Martha Stewart Living magazine {April 2011}.

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Cut small branches to the desired length. With a vegetable peeler, strip about 2-3 inches of the outer bark from one end of the twig to make a flat surface.  Write on the flat surface with a permanent marker {If needed, let the stripped branches dry overnight before writing on them}.

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Second round of planting… radishes, lettuce, sugar snaps, and tomato plants.  More seeds to sow in the near future as the days get warmer.

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My two favorite garden tools are a hand trowel {for digging and planting} and a hand cultivator {for weeding and cultivating the soil}.   The curve and slim shape of the prongs on the hand cultivator is great for getting around plants and tight spaces.  Good quality garden tools are essential and worth spending a little more because they will last a long time.

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There was a lot of buzzing going on around the blueberry and raspberry plants.

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A bucket full of compost for the garden.  By the time I’m done sifting through the entire compost pile, the garden will gain about 4 to 5 large buckets full.

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My method of transforming  organic matter {vegetable & fruit scraps, leaves, chicken manure, wood ashes, eggshells, etc..}  into dirt rich in nutrients is a simple process and low-maintenance.  I have a designated area for composting and over the course of a year, organic matter from the kitchen, the garden, and the chicken coop will be added to it until the next Spring season, when I sift the compost again. That’s it!  Worms are a good indicator of how well the compost is doing…. the more the better.

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Once the compost is mixed in with the garden soil, it is time to plant seeds {above pic: sugar snap seeds}.

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To deter unwanted soccer balls, chickens and a dog that loves to dig, I created this simple/decorative fence around the raised garden beds.

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Can’t wait till blueberry season and blueberry buckle.

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The birds are quite active and I’m sure there are a fews nests near by.  Glory, our bird-hunting dog has visited an area of our backyard frequently with excitement.

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Sharing a picture from the previous spring of the fresh lettuce in the garden.  Salad {such as mixed greens with strawberries} was frequently on the menu for us and the chickens enjoyed fresh lettuce just as much.

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Another picture from prior spring…fresh picked radishes

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The final harvest of tomatoes last fall before the frost came {see more here}.

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My ever changing vegetable garden, this picture was from the previous summer.

Gardening time!

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posted by Kay