When it’s sunny in Portland, it reminds all of us why we endure the 60-some consecutive days of rain in the winter. A sunny, warm day makes it all worth it to live here. The cherry blossoms are blooming around town and we left the windows open all day long. I got so hot working outside that I actually had to come in and change into short sleeves.
Sunday was time for my weekly chore of cleaning out the chicken coop. Those girls are so darn eager to sneak by me to range free again in the backyard, but I am resisting the temptation to appease them. It’s just not worth it to have all my seeds scratched up. Pearl seems to be especially skilled at darting for the door when I was opening it to bring in new straw. Sorry girls – no soup for you!
I decided on a whim to fluff up another garden bed like I did a week ago – digging out the bed and laying in some “used straw” from the chicken coop. It’s good to fluff the soil so my future carrots, beets, and parsnips can dig in easily. It also just looks pretty to have a nice even bed, all ready for planting, well stocked with mulch and manure.
After carefully hovering over my broccoli seedlings, it was finally time to introduce them into the big, big world. I strapped on my little garden apron and went to work plotting out each plant, to ensure I can cram in as many as possible into as small a space as possible. I had to handle the newspaper seed pots carefully, but they transplanted well. I just peeled the bottoms back slightly and in they went.
It need to start a chart to layout where all my plants will go in the veggie beds, before I just fill it all without careful thinking. They are territory in high demand when I consider all the seeds waiting in the wings for planting over the next couple months. I shoved a few broccoli starts in the front and side yards in addition to the beds. I am firm believer that an edible front yard makes more sense than a formal one, so everything gets planted everywhere.
Quite the workout during the garden bed shoveling, but really I was only laboring for about an hour or so. The rest of the weekend was spent with friends and family, having a blast, enjoying all the good things. I could go on and on about how much fun I had this weekend, but not much would be gardening-related π
I am definitely ready for warm weather. I love the 4 seasons, but it seems like this year I am ready earlier for spring. I am looking forward to seeing how your garden progresses. Do you can or freeze anything?
Every year it seems we expand what we’re doing to preserve the harvest. A couple years ago I started dehydrating foods and last year was my first year with canning as well. This year, we are hoping to get a freezer where we can keep local farm meat and tons of our backyard produce as well. I’ve been carefully collecting canning recipes to expand what we do this summer.
Just like gardening, we seem to learn more with every season!