The year before that, I started a garage renovation project that continues to the present. It started as simple cleaning, removing stored items still there from when my first marriage ended, and cleaning out the bat-shit and nasty sagging homasote wallboard. And then I had to acknowledge that the roof was shot and I had metal to put on it, but before putting metal roofing on, you have to make sure the foundation isn't moving, and that meant pouring new footings, one side at a time, while that side of the building hung in the air, having been lifted by 40 ton jacks. And if I'm going to do all this work then the thing better pay for itself, so why not an Airbnb rental apartment? And that meant a better floor up there, starting with new I-joists hung at a lower level to allow a 9' ceiling. The project isn't done and the yard is a mess because of it.
All this is to say, the garden has been neglected. Not that I regret those moves. The chances of me starving were low, and the financial and social needs of the other projects were real. With my change of marital status, I plan on moving into that apartment, hopefully in about a month, and renting out the house. At some point I should discuss further housing plans beyond the apartment, since it's garden related.
But today, let me record what's going on in the garden.
The greenhouse withstood the winter. That's saying something, as I know of several professionally built greenhouses that didn't. We had over 100" of snow this year, including some storms that came twice a week for a month, and some that dropped over a foot at a shot. It will need some major overhaul this year though. The 4-year plastic is 11 years old. The wooden greenhouse frame, built in 2008, has one rotted board that needs replacement. The white cedar foundation posts seem okay, but did get heaved by frost a bit, and digging under the posts at the west end might help level it back out a bit. The ledger board which the plastic attaches to, below the south sill, is completely rotted away and needs to be replaced. That means the plastic is loose on the bottom on the south side. I added some battens on the frames to hold the plastic over the winter, but it wasn't as warm in there with the air leaking along the sill. I want to board up the north wall/roof before putting new plastic on too, and hang a collection of large mirrors to increase light on the grow beds in winter.
Last year, spring got off to a slow start in the greenhouse because it was full of chickens, who much appreciated the shelter. Eventually a raccoon started picking them off and I lost nearly the entire flock (of geriatric low value birds) before building the new coop on the back of the barn. I lost the last two of the old flock to a fox attack in the fall, but I was given seven newer birds that survived the attack, and which are laying now.
As usual, last fall I left the dead tomatoes in there too long, and those were planted in the middle and on the south wall. No more of that! I'm going to make a point of planting them on the north side, and planting earlier, shorter crops on the south. I have a collection of simple improvised cold frames in there now. I should work on making better lids for them, and possibly an automatic opener for an assemblage of them.
I've been planting in there, and sometimes I've been dismayed by the morning temperature, but just now, on April 19, I have a single cucumber sprout, a single costada romanesca summer squash sprout, some bunching onions, leeks, nasturtiums, broccoli, endive, carrots, garlic (lots of garlic) cabbage, beets, radish, fennel, and maybe a lettuce or two. These are 3-4' rows, packed close in the frames, but it's a start. I haven't seen the kale or the chard sprout yet.
Moving on to the garden: A year ago, She told me that she wanted the garden looking neat, and that this would encourage her to join me there, and likely increase productivity. Thus I have four raised beds in what I believe I was calling plot 4. This is the area that's enclosed in a stock fence, just downhill from the rhubarb, high bush blueberries, and failed asparagus.
We did a lot to fill these beds with sifted "compost" from the pile I bought in for the pea shoot enterprise ten years ago. Last fall, I was lucky enough to have 25 yards of wood chips delivered, thanks to my "Wood Chips Wanted" sign by the road. I covered the beds with wood chips about 2" deep or more. And now I'm looking at those beds and wood chips and thinking "Do I need to move those? Should I plant into them? Nitrogen Thief?" Raking them back off would be work. I'm going to leave the chips in place, and plant things in hills of compost in them once things warm up. I want to do more Three Sisters stuff, and that will be a good place for it. I'll work the plots opposite, sometimes known as 13 and 14, for more stuff.
The one spot within plot 4 that I have worked up, just yesterday, was a 6' x 12' low tunnel frame. I had mulched this with cardboard, seaweed, and lawn clippings, and it was still full of rhizome grass. I rolled the frame off it, dug it once with that shovel, raked through it twice with the 3-tooth cultivator, and rolled the frame back on. I covered the frame with a scrap of old plastic that would have fit better in the other orientation, but I realized that after I had it stapled on. (I bought a 1/4" crown x 1 1/2" battery driven stapler for another project. This could be handy.) I planted more beets, carrots, kale, radishes, cabbage, and fennel in there. The ends are open and I should slide some chunks of cardboard in to reduce air flow. It's not going to be perfectly tight, but it'll be warmer than the rest of the outdoors.
So that's where I am just now. I'm finishing my brunch as I type this. It's sunny out and I should be back out there, so that I can be as sore tonight as I was last night. Despite the soreness, physically, I feel as good as I have in years.
Things I want to talk about: Feral garlic. Apple pruning. Apple grafting. The things from the MOFGA Seed Swap and Scion Exchange. Miserable old garden buildings. Recreational ditch digging. Future housing plans. An end to old hayfields. I'll get to that soon.
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