The Freshly Mulched Garden

As the weekend drew to a close, we were able to haul the remaining compost over to our "homegrown" pile behind the shed, smooth over the planting beds and lay down some fresh straw along the garden paths. Now that Marc is able to spend more time with me in the garden, we can get much more done in one weekend. One of the things I like best about gardening is being able to stand back and look at a finished project with pride. Maybe it's because vegetable gardening is something born from your own two hands (I doubt that we would feel the same way if we had paid someone else to do it). I also enjoy its communal aspects as well. Marc's mother came over to help out, our neighbors were out tidying up their yard and our children were running around both properties laughing and playing. It's times like these that make me appreciate the simpler things in life.

Anyway, here is what it looks like now:


A half bale of straw was enough to cover this space. I have to admit that straw isn't really my favorite form of mulch but it does present a nice contrast to the dark raised beds, especially when it's still relatively fresh and yellow.


I also got around to sowing some shell peas, snow peas and French Breakfast radishes. Still no signs of the Fava beans I planted two weeks ago (though it has only warmed up in the past week). Should I be worried? I might have to start some indoors just to be on the safe side.
This week I'll also be sowing some carrots and mesclun mix and transplanting several varieties of broccoli. With temperatures remaining in the 6o's this week, I finally feel as though the Spring gardening season has begun.


On a final note, I tidied up our compost pile a bit to make way for the excess we purchased. I moved all of the fresh(er) garden waste to the left. The waste to the right has broken down quite a bit but still needs several more months to finish.


We piled the remaining compost onto the semi-decomposed waste. Hopefully, this will help speed the process along. As you can see, my composting pen is pretty lame. Until I find a composting system that I really like, this will have to do.