First day of Spring

Finally!  It is SPRING  as of 34 minutes ago.  Busy day.  I haven't done anything at the farm garden this week.  Too busy.  I was up last week to clean up old vegetation out of some of the raised beds.  Found the remains of a deer skull in one of the beds.  That would be my daughter's dog,  Brooklyn.  She is a scavenger and obviously likes to share.

Red Maple 

I have decided to cover the pathways with mulch this year.  Last year  I tried mulch on bare earth.  That means I ended up mowing.  This year I am going to lay large pieces of cardboard and then cover with mulch.  In the last 30 years I have tried black plastic and weed cloth.  I am still finding bits and pieces of these materials in my yard every year.  I want biodegradable products this time around.  If I run out of cardboard, wet newspaper or paper mulch in a large roll will be used as well.


My husband Mike dropped off 15 bags of mulch at the garden yesterday while I was at a day long class in Baltimore.  He also picked up several hundred pounds of lime that I had to put on my lawn today.  Last summer I had a soil analysis done on my lawn as well as the garden soil.  Ph was 5.5.  Too low for grass to be really happy.  Southern States recommended 80 pounds of lime per 1000 square feet.  The kicker is, you cannot lay more than 50 pounds at a time, so I spent my day in the yard.


We also pruned a lot.  We had some fierce wind storms this winter and lots of broken branches to deal with.

In our town, we have a yard waste drop off at Heritage Farm Park.  It is great!  You show up, drop off your yard waste and they grind it up and make mulch, which is free for the taking.  I personally like the bags.  Easier to handle and you don't find any Christmas ornaments in your mulch.

This pile is about 15 feet high

Our dog, Bear came along for the ride

Well,  the shelves have been bought, I bought grow lights to put into fluorescent fixtures, added potting mix to  the containers, and brought them inside to warm up.  I want everything ready when Mike sets  up the   shelves and lights.  There is construction going on here and it will be a few more days.

  The chances of me not being sore tomorrow are pretty slim.  It is now 8:36 pm.  I need a shower and 2 Aleve.  I will try not to whimper when I am working with my patients tomorrow.  I am in constant motion at work (Thank God!) and then there is yoga after work.

These used to be brown