Breaking Ground

So, while everyone is out celebrating St. Patrick's day this Saturday, I will be happily working on our garden. I was looking at some photos from last year and it seems that I broke ground around March 29. I will not actually be planting anything until after Easter, as all of the wise and experienced gardeners will tell you this is the best advice.

We have a local farmers market that I go to on Saturdays, and last week there was a new vendor, Swansea Milling Co. They are selling some organic soil nutrients by the manufacturer Fertrell that I am interested in looking into. But honestly, my soil seems to be fine and money is tight right now. With that being said, I will more than likely try and look no further than what is around me, but especially, that which is free. My dad and his wife, Betty, have both cows and chickens, so there is a good supply of manure.

Soon after we moved into our house almost four years ago, I decided that I wanted us to start composting. I had been reading about how we could compost all of the organic materials from our kitchen that would normally have been thrown in the trash. I even read about vermicomposting, which uses a variety of earthworms. Needless to say, we compost everything that we can. Last year alone, I was able to add a lot of compost to my garden to enrich the soil. So this year, I will be sifting out the yard debris and kitchen scraps from last year and adding that to my soil, and continue the cycle.

- Compost added in 2009 -

It is very exciting to be in the planning stages of our garden. My wife and I have been discussing what we would like to grow, and soon I will decide if we will grow from seed or purchase plants. I have finished going through all of my Mother Earth News magazines, marking sections of interest. Several books have been discovered on my bookshelf, full of great ideas!

So now it is time to press forward and break soil, for this years garden will be as fun as last years, but with a little more experience.

- 2009 -