Lowe's Inspiration!

So, the weather today was much nicer than it has been in quite a while. Richard and I hit up Lowe's today, after picking Zen up from school just to see if there is anything new in the garden department. And boy, there was!! We ended up getting some potatoes. This year we will be growing Freedom Russet, Yukon Gold, and Adirondack Blue. I set them out to chit as soon as we got home. I also grabbed some seed garlic, seeds, and organic plant food for the blueberries.

I got excited and went home and started cleaning up the planting areas in preparation for Spring. I cut all the old foliage and threw it in the compost. (which is another story in itself right now) I removed all the frost sheets, and replaced the drip hose that runs along the back fence and pinned it down.

About the compost, this year I failed miserably. When we removed all that sod this year, I threw it in the compost bin. However, it carried a lot of sand in it, and was quite root bound, and as a result it choked out the bin. The sand settled and made air unable to circulate, and the weight of the sod, compressed it even more. As a result, nothing could decompose, or therefore heat up. and I couldn't aerate it, or empty it, with this big compressed mass at the bottom. So, it froze, and I ended up having to disassemble the bin, and am now scattering the contents in the bottom of the beds to be covered with newspaper before filling them with Dixie Mix. That way, we can buy a spinning composter, and start fresh. However, it is almost impossible to shovel the contents of the old compost bin into the wheelbarrow to disperse because it is largely clumps of sod bound together and then all of it is frozen in the center. So we have this pile of ugliness in the corner until it thaws. And when it does thaw, I will have to shift it into the wheelbarrow by hand (fun).

And then I went, with a new packet of seeds, and did a new planting of bell peppers. So, hopefully we will get a good germination rate on these ones. Zen took great joy in planting his own set with me. I also took the 3 pepper seedlings and put them in with the tomatoes in the larger containers in the laundry room. Richard and I got all the "magical" celery seedlings out of the broccoli pods, where we now have 4-5 new seedlings. (welcome to the world)

I am hoping to get some dirt to start filling the beds soon. I don't know when it will be possible for that to happen. While I was outside working I got a very real understanding that I need to get on removing that sod along the back fence. Actually, I need to get on the task of newspapering and digging out the excess.

Anyway, I have school stuff to do now. Good gardening!