Monday, May 28, 2012

The Garden Push Before the Baby Push

I'm over 38 weeks pregnant now. We decided to make the garden a priority on the pre-baby project list. We've always enjoyed having flowers and vegetables growing in our yard, and we knew that if we didn't do it before the baby was born, we would very much feel their lack in mid-July when we had two babies and no time to garden.

Friday I worked on my perennial herb garden. I added thyme to replace the thyme that didn't make it through the winter. I also planted a second oregano plant and garlic chives. I took cuttings of my overgrown sage plant. I am trying to root them both in water and dirt. If I get a few viable plants out of this 5th-grade science experiment, I will pull the existing sage plant this fall and replace it with a new one.

 

Saturday my in-laws came down and played with Alessia, while Adam and I went to the garden center and bought plants, dirt, mulch, and compost. Our own compost operation still isn't sorted well enough to provide for our needs, but we were very pleased to find lobster compost and organic mulch from the coast of Maine. When we got back to the house, we ate lunch, put Alessia down for a nap, and with four sets of adult hands we did some serious planting.

Along the back fence, in the shadiest part of our yard, my mother-in-law planted ginger and a few other perennials that she brought from her garden. In two of the three raised beds in back (also fairly shady), Adam and his mom put ginger and various flowers. Adam planted ornamental grass and some flowers in a few containers for the patio.

 

I pulled out what was left of the spinach plants and the arugula from the front raised beds and planted tomatoes and eggplant. We also added several containers to our vegetable growing this year. I planted three more tomato plants and a hot pepper plant. I planted rosemary, tri-color sage, lemon balm, and stevia in pots. I bought a small parlsey and basil plant at the garden center, just in case my seed starting doesn't go so well. Those both went in the large raised bed with the tomatoes. To top it off, my father-in-law did some heavy-duty weeding and mulching just about everywhere. These are not jobs I would ask of anyone. He just jumped in and did them.

 

Sunday I potted up my Italian basil, Thai basil, parsley, and cilantro seedlings. I have a fear of finding my self in the hospital and having all the seedlings die neglected in the basement. So I am going with a tough love program. Some of the seedling went straight into the raised beds. Some went into 4" pots in the cold frame. A few are still living the good life under the grow lights in the basement. I also direct seeded some, just to see if it was worth all the effort of starting seedlings.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment