Saturday, John and I went to the property and spent the afternoon working on the yard. We reflected that it really was the first time we worked on the property together. Partly because we got this new toy, errr, I mean tractor!
It fits perfectly in our new barn and it’s so easy to maneuver! I used it to pick up scrap wood from around the house while John built a 4’ X 4’ frame for a raised garden bed.
We decided it was a good time to start a garden off to the southern side of the house. I wanted it easily accessible and it made sense to put it off the mud and laundry room side of the house. It also needed a space that got at least 6 hours of full sun, which also limited our choices since we have so many trees.
I’m doing square foot gardening. It’s efficient, low maintenance, and simple for people who don’t want to spend a lot of time weeding and fussing in the garden. Instead of planting in rows, you treat every square as it’s own plot and plant 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants, depending upon its size. Tomato and pepper plants are planted 1 per square, while green onion seeds or carrots are 16 per square.
I also have a little plastic grid, the Seeding Square, which has holes that help make sure everything is planted evenly. Just poke the orange stick down into the soil as deep as directed on the seed packed, and plant the seeds into the hole, then cover up the hole and water. It included a color coded sheet that tells you how many of each plant goes into a square plot.
I’m not exactly sure how this garden will go… I’m used to gardening in USDA zone 5b and now we are in 8b – quite a difference! This little 4X4 garden has 4 different tomato plants, 4 types of pepper, 2 types of onions, green onions, Swiss chard, 2 types of lettuce, spinach, and 1 strawberry plant. We may be starting this too late for the spinach and lettuce because it is already regularly in the 70’s and 80’s, but we’ll see. I was surprised that I actually did get a little compost out of the compost pile we started in the fall. But the garden still needs more compost and I couldn’t get vermiculite at the local Ace hardware store, which helps the soil mix retain water. Finally, we need to build a lattice for the tomatoes and fence around the little plot so varmints don’t get our plants…. But overall I’m very pleased with our progress in just a few hours.
The other exterior progress we made is that the cedar brackets were added to the cedar posts on the front porch.
We really like how it gives a more finished look to the cedar posts and beefs them up a bit.
On a more personal note, I spent Saturday thinking often of my oldest brother, Beau. He would have been 65 years old on Saturday, but passed away back in 2016. He loved being outdoors on his farm with his horses and dogs and his sudden passing was part of our inspiration to move to Texas and build this house and lifestyle. And with the current Covid-19 health crisis, I think it is more important than ever to live the life you want with those you love. John and I wish each of you a wonderful and healthy Easter Sunday. As always, thanks for stopping by!
Hugs, Libby
I expect to see that tractor.washed and waxed and garaged after each use. Just like every ‘reai’ Texas farmer does it.
Hmm. I’m not sure about that. Can I stop by your place and see your washed and waxed tractor? 😜