Editing the Garden-

Making way for new growth.

We are still  FINALLY getting sweet peas that we planted way back in October. 

We had a fairly mild winter-- and a few times our temps dropped down into freezing temps. We kept these Sweet Peas covered with hoop frames-- that meant no pollination -- I tried to uncover when I could...but it just meant a late crop for us. 

Now-- we're just trying to keep the chickens out of the peas. 

More on that later. 

I cleaned out the area that kept us stocked on carrots and radishes over the winter months. I've planted RED ONIONS there. 

This photo has a lot going on in it. 

• Lower right corner... Potato Box. We had pretty good success in that box last year. I hope to have even better success this year. 
• Above that box is another area it has onions and potatoes. Honestly-- I don't know if you can plant those together or not. We'll see. The only reason I planted them that way was we bought too many Onion sets for us.  
• Then of course-- there is the Huglebeet. Last year I was so proud when I read about this technique for planting-- This year- I'm afraid it has become an OVER GROWN ANT HILL. I suppose the earth inside that mound stays warm enough to keep the ants comfortable. 

Yesterday, while working out there-- I removed some of the larger sticks from that pile allowing it to fall in on itself a little. There is still plenty of decaying wood inside there -- to hopefully warm it up a bit. I sprinkled  DE all over the mound and hopefully that will take care of the ant problem. 

• If I can get rid of the ants in enough time well, then I hope to plant squash, cucumbers and cantaloupe in that pile...as all those did really well last year. We also had some tomatoes on the edges of that pile that produced quite a yield of Tomatoes for us. 
• The pathway is covered with 'cigar beans' from the Catalpa trees. This seems to be a good material to help keep the weeds down. I am still raking and adding these as I work around the yard.  **edited to say, the cigar bean pods are dry and there are no seeds in them. It is just the outer shell. 

I've also got some beds that have been cleared and prepped for vegetables. I did have shrubs last year until the drought and grasshoppers-- since all that is cleaned out...I'm hoping some greens; Spinach and Lettuce will go there nicely maybe even some Beets. 

Lastly-- we've been letting the chickens out everyday. This has been great. I like to see them wandering around and getting familiar with their surroundings. It is wonderful to see them head into the Run and Coop once the sun starts to set and the shadows begin to fall across the yard. They know where they sleep! So wonderful.  I'm toying around with fencing ideas to keep them out of the beds. We'll see what works!  Having them roaming will take care of that pesky GRASSHOPPER problem we had last year. 



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