This space has been quiet during this past week or so since we’ve been spending almost every spare minute outside preparing for spring. We’ve had a few cold days but we’ve all bundled up and ventured out to work in the yard.
We hadn’t spend much time outside since late fall and the boys have definitely been in their element. They’ve been digging with their ‘digger’ they received for Christmas, exploring all around the yard, digging in the dirt and just being boys and getting messy.
We purchased a load of soil and added some to our existing raised beds. We have plans to build a few more beds so we can have an even larger garden this year.
One of the big projects we’ve been working on {mainly, John David} is clearing out the area between our chain link fence and the property line fence. It was full of brush and remnants of a tree that fell during a storm and we had to have cut down. We’re thinking about turning this area into a chicken pen.
One of John David’s big projects has been preparing a space for our baby chicks which arrived this past Friday! We all have enjoyed the chicks these past few days and are looking forward to watching them grow.
We spent Saturday afternoon working on turning a flower bed into a raised bed space. This area was covered with mulch which we raked up {and moved to the front bed, thus mulching the front for free!} John David built a raised bed around the 3 strawberry plants which were already in this space and then built 2 small raised beds. We’re wanting grass to grow around the raised beds so there isn’t as much to weed!
We’ve enjoyed being outside, creating things and working together as a family.
Have you been preparing for spring in any way?
It looks like you have all been busy! It has still been cold and snowing here in Ohio, so no preparing for spring for us yet. For the first time ever, I have a list that shows when to plant which vegetable (no wonder my lettuce and brussels never grew – they need to be planted in March!), so I am preparing (on paper) where everything is going to go and which companion plants will go along with it. Fun fun! Before you know it, the gardens will be blooming and food will be producing. I cant wait! 🙂
We're also following along with a list, it maps out week by week which plants we need to start from seed or start outdoors. It's making our planning much easier! Here's the link if you're interested: http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/store/gardening…
I'm so looking forward to harvesting food again this year! Last year our carrots, cucumbers and strawberries did amazing and I'm hoping to have much more success this spring/summer/fall!
Thank you for the link!
I am including the link to my blog post about companion planting, free printables, and the list I am using to determine when to plant (I will be planting in just 4 weeks! YAY!) I hope you dont mind.
http://sparing-change.blogspot.com/#!/2013/01/com…
Thanks for sharing your link, it's full of great information!
Playing outside! And I have the day off of work today, because we had *another* ice storm. We've been snowed in quite a few times this month.
Being outside has been nice. While I am a little jealous of all the snow my northern friends have, it is nice to live where we can be outdoors nearly year round with just a light jacket!
Can I ask why you use raised beds? Is the soil really poor there? We have REALLY sandy soil (like, there is a sandmine 3 miles down the road! haha) yet I have never had too much of a problem with the soil.
Two reasons, we don't have a tiller and we have very rocky soil. The first year we lived here, we borrowed a tiller but didn't get too far with tilling since the soil was so full of rocks. We decided raised beds would be easier. It does require quite a bit of upfront cost but we actually think it's easier to maintain. We purchased some material for 4 of the raised beds but since then, we've been using reclaimed lumber to build the rest.
We also follow the square foot gardening method which we think is a simple way to garden!
Rocks would stink! Plus, purchasing a tiller can get pricy – last year we went in on one with family so that really helped the cost.
I am so envious of you and the ther posters who are getting ready to plant – I am just getting ready for starting seeds in side 🙁 Things like tomatoes and peppers can not go in till almost June up here so we have a while! I would love to hear more about your composting and how you get the food inside to outside regularly without a smell – with two young kids that is. I always give up.
I keep composting pretty simple. I just store the scraps for the day in a bowl and then take it out each evening/when it gets full. Since it's so small, I frequently dump into the composting bucket outside so we never have smells to deal with in the house.
Did you make the boys' little hats and scarf? Adorable!
My mother-in-law made them! They are precious little hats and Weston's little cowl is so cute.
Your kids are adorable! I haven't started preparing for Spring yet, but I guess I should be! This is going to be my first year planting a small garden. We have one raised bed…so, what do you recommend I start with? And what kind of soil did you purchase? I need all the help I can get! 🙂
We purchased soil at a local soil/mulch place. Somewhere like that would be a great place to start. And, start with something easy to grow, last year we had a lot of success with cucumbers and carrots, they didn't take up much room and were quite prolific! One bed is a great start, it will be manageable and keep it fun and then you can expand in future years!
I'm looking forward to having my first raised bed garden this year! Thanks for sharing about the square foot gardening method! Do you use anything special in your soil?
We're trying out a wood chip mulch/compost on the top of our soil this year. We watched this documentary: http://backtoedenfilm.com/ which inspired us to give the mulch/compost a try this year!