Welcome to the 2014 Season
I created this journal as a way of keeping track of the things I’ve been doing in the garden. If you are just joining us, I usually forget what I did the year before and more specifically the exact dates I did them. I found that by keeping a simple journal online allows me to write this stuff down so I can refer to it later.
I’ve also had several people inquire about our gardens. I found this was the best way to share it with you all. I hope you find it funny, entertaining and sometimes useful. Maybe you even learn a few things. I’m just getting the fields prepared and the broccoli in the ground. It’s late April and early May just for the record.
Today (April 26th) I spent the entire day hauling compost. If you remember from last year we found a great compost place called Midwest Organics in McHenry. I added another two yards to my plot and another two yards to my wife’s side of the yard. It was an exhausting day for both me and the aging pickup truck. I was sore several days afterwards. It’s a good sore, its my body telling me how much it enjoyed the pain of outdoor labor.
Since my wife is taking care of our newborn son, I ended up hauling all this on my own. Won’t it be great when the kids is old enough to help out. I guess I should be careful about what I write, it might come back to haunt me in the future when he gets old enough to understand his daddy is planing on putting him to work in the fields. Hey he needs to earn his keep somehow right?
After hauling the compost, both my section of the garden and my wife’s section needed tilling. A few weeks ago I raked all the leaves onto both garden beds. Now that we have a mound of leaves and compost it needs a good mixing. I broke out the rototiller and tilled each plot mixing the leaves with the compost. I think we are ready to start planting. At least on my side.
May 5th was when I eventually got around to planting the 4 broccoli plants I bought. No I did not start them from seed this year. My wife started some other plants from seeds including my tomatoes and peppers. I’ll be writing about those in a future article. But today May 5th is when I got the broccoli in the ground. The images below are the start of season two for Dave’s garden. Stay tuned as we get the strawberries, tomato and peppers in the ground.
I’m kicking myself because I don’t remember how much I paid for the broccoli plants. I believe it was $2.99 for a 4 pack. Menard’s was out so we ended up going to the Barn Nursery to get the plants. Note to self, make sure you save your receipts or at least make a mental note of how much you paid. See I talk to myself. It’s true all those rumors you heard about Dave being off his rocker.
Thanks for following along,
Dave
