Up to my elbows in garden

The garden has been progressing in leaps and bounds.Let me start with the condition of the beds. I am determining that the effort of removing the sod and double digging the soil (the method I used on bed 1) is paying off tenfold compared tot he just tilled bed 2 from last year. Alas I just have not found the spirit or back to double dig the large expanded plot for this year. So I employed the assistance of 6 young boys...who spent the better part of 2 weeks digging in nirvana in my beds. I still think bed 1 is better in the looseness and quality of the soil, so double digging is absolutely worth the effort you put in to it.

I have completed work on the cucumber trellis, and 5 pea tee pees (say that fast five times). I got a bit carried away when planting my peas because I went ahead and planted some around the cucumber trellis as well, i figured they grew pretty early last season and were done before most of my high summer crops even went in the ground so we will see how it goes this year. The cuke trellis is the faux french door frame i took out of my patio door last summer secured with zip ties and staked to the ground. I used masonry string to create more climbing area. and fruit support. The pee tee pees are made of 4 foot bamboo pole I got at walmart for about $2.80 and they are tri pole tee pees tied at the top, and again I used masonry line to create more climbing area. I feel it necessary to add that while I am typing this my 2year old is sitting next to me drawing all over his belly with a red magic marker.

We had an unfortunate accident the other day when Toby the ferocious Cairn terrier ( read...dog who likes to dig) got wrapped around two of my Pea tee pees (just as hard to type as to say). We had two bamboo casualties that were mended with the power of my mind (cuz I have tiger blood right? ) no, no... just a lame Charlie Sheen shot, I used the force...Duct tape. No home improvement project (if you can call this garden home improvement) would be complete without it right?

The Toby Incident had gotten me thinking about how to keep the dog out of my garden (for obvious reasons) and so i went to peruse my local Home Depot for idea I probably could never afford and came up with a 4 folding garden fences (the cute kind grandma used to have and some chicken wire. I am not living it at the moment, I may have to get at it with some wire cutters and some good 'ol Libra artsy fartsy-ness to make it look cute again. It is semi-dog proof, truth is if he wants in bad enough he will get in. Maybe I can duct tape him.

Early last week I planted my first seeds in bed 2: lettuce, peas, onions, turnips cabbage and spinach. I am not sure the soil is loose enough I hope it was not a waste, I did not plant tons so we will see what comes up. On Saturday we too a trip to the dump and bought 300 pounds of compost in 4 garden bags for $2.80 love these prices:) I cannot love that I have to make 2 separate trips if I want compost AND mulch, boooo. Meanwhile I looked on in envy at the smart people who rented u-haul pick up trucks, they got lots of compost loaded for them via front loader. Sooo, that is what I am doing next week, I still have to make 2 trips to get mulch AND compost but I can get it all in two trips instead of six and I won't get compost in my eyes and my shoes. U-haul pick up costs 19.99 and .53 cents a mile. Which got me thinking about all the lovely things I can rent like a TILLER! I have so much more to dig and nooooo motivation to do it.. have you ever dug a farm by hand on a 30 degree incline? I think I got that bug outta my system :)

I have been taking a little break this week ( it is Monday) and the seedlings are doing well. I do have to keep on top of my tenacious two year old who keeps plucking my seedlings which really makes me crazy. I think I have resorted to saying, "YOU'RE KILLING OUR FOOD" which is starting to distress my four year old who thinks that we are going to starve now. But on the bright side, I have discovered I have a 50/50 shot of sticking that poor seedling back in the dirt and saving it, although i have no freaking idea if it is lettuce or tomato this point...heathen. But how can you get mad at this?

My last thought is about my compost. I checked it out this week. Alas, I tend to avoid the "worm house" because whereas the boys are excited to find worms all the time, I only find slugs (for which I have an extreme and disturbing obsession and phobia). But I steeled my resolve and plowed in with a hoe (yes the hoe) My dear husband had our only shovel and was working hard making our fire pit. I am a resourceful gal (read cheap because i refuse to spend 30 bucks on a pitchfork and you just don't see them often on craigslist). I think I MAY be getting closer to biting that bullet on that one but for now I have my shovel and a hoe. By the way let me digress and make it very clear that when you tell a 4 year old to please get you the hoe, it sounds remarkable like "hose" which is an exciting prospect for said 4 year old who ran down the hill turned on the spigot after which his cohort in crime looked at it and said ohhhhh something to play with, thereby spraying is unsuspecting mother in the REAR with very cold water. I almost jumped in the bin with the slugs...ALMOST.

Back on track, the compost, I found was not quite progressing so I inquired to some other composters and we agree, it looks pretty dry and needs more greens. I am hoping my husband mows this weeks and I can see if some grass clipping will jump start my compost.

That is it for this entry...I probably forgot a thousand things (you are probably glad:) I

am sure I will remember (neener neener) and I promise to update more frequently. Please feel free to add questions or comments:)