Tuesday, March 22, 2011

It's Been Awhile...

Wow where does the time go?  Is it already the end of March?  Is it really 2011?  But with Spring comes...gardening!!  After a few sleepless nights thinking about which way to lay out my rows this year I was anxious to do a first "plowing" yesterday.  Man that tiller (borrowed from a neighbor) really kicks my tail!  I'm planning (hoping) to re-till this whole area in a few weeks before I do any seed planting.  I think it might really keep down the weeds.

I had a few stragglers from last year in the garlic and onion family so I went ahead and pulled them, split them and relocated them in their new row position.
I also purchased some more onions, both red and sweet full sized to plant-this will be my first try with this size onions.  As a general rule I have had trouble with almost any type of onion so this is a an experiment for sure.  Luckily they mature by around the end of June or earlier so I can always pull them to make room for something else when the time comes.  Each large batch was only $3 or so-I actually may not even plant them all-it's just too many and takes up too much space.
Finally a couple changes this year-I decided to move my herbs to pots.  I had a few living from last year (Rosemary, Chives, Sage and Flat Leaf Parsley) and I rounded that out with a few more purchased yesterday (Basil, Oregano, Thyme and Cilantro.)  I did it for a couple of reasons.  First off it frees up more room for other stuff (because that of course is every gardener's goal-to plant more stuff!)  Secondly I wanted to be able to save some herbs from weather conditions by bringing them indoors as needed.  For example the Cilantro really doesn't handle summer heat well and the Basil always gets snapped when it cools down.  This way I can move the pots in and out as needed and keep fresh herbs throughout the year.  Of course now I just have to remember to water them more frequently.
I really don't do well with indoor plants but hopefully since these were started outdoors maybe I won't kill them?  That's all for the first 2011 Garden Update-welcome back!