And so it begins...Garden 2021

 Hmmm...it's been a "hot minute" since I've blogged...6 weeks to be exact. Much has happened in that time, wedding planning, engagements, bridal showers, school and more school, paperwork, financial planning...life. I tend to get "stuck" on big events I want to get right and then don't blog for months. I am aware of this tendency. I have noted I tend to skip blogging in the Alaskan summer and falls...and I'm determined not to let that practice stand. We LOVE the spring, summer and fall (glorious week) up here and need to share them, lest years from now our descendants think Alaska is one long winter. LOL 

I'll start "today"  and backfill as I go.... 

Even by Alaskan standards I am a couple of weeks "behind" in getting my garden in.  We are late to plant, but the abundance of sun helps things grow fast up here. I am learning to get things done in snatches...when Dad is napping...and when there aren't appointments. Michael has been working on a big garden project which has diverted his help for things like rototilling and hauling dirt. We had to wait until the week AFTER memorial day to get our garden compost/soil. In any event.....here are a few before shots.... 

Yes, I AM aware one can cover the ground in the fall and weeds are supposed to magically disappear. My beds WERE covered. The ground is covered with black plastic...

The Squash patch 

Cardboard, left-over shingles, roll of roofing paper, tarps and old carpet. The chickweed and dandelions made cracks in the shingles etc...and grew up anyway. 

Nolan and Alex are working long hours. Michael is busy with another project and this "space" is just too much for me to conquer....and yet I'm learning not to live life with an "all or nothing" mentality. I've decided to simply weed the beds and around the beds and plant. I'm not sure I'll plant the squash corner this year, or the potato patch. I can't find onion sets. I'll do what I can do. 

For the first hour it was me and Millie in the garden, as the girls were out for a run.  Millie is quite the dandelion slayer. The trick will be keeping her out of the beds when they are planted. She can scratch in the ground all she wants. Note her "fresh start" hair cut. I need to get some before and after shots of her blogged. 

Gardening is hard work! 

This bed is, for some reason, favored by our moose population. The hoop is bent beyond help and the cover was shredded, the bed  was well fertilized - thus lots of weeds. I removed the frame and we set to weeding. 

I finished weeding the one bed I had planned to do today - I also tackled the tall grass and weeds around it. After lunch it was time to fill it with the new soil and plant...there were challenges.  Michael took pity on me and interrupted his project to mow a path from the dirt pile to the garden. This was incredibly helpful and much quicker than my plan of weed eating it all. Again, I planned to do it "all" and Michael proved doing a bit was a huge help and we'll get to the rest of it later.  I'm learning the beauty of "tomorrow." ::snort:: 

I kept weeding beds and the girls began hauling dirt to the beds. They were a great help. 

Allie and Stacia are extremely happy to be done with school so they
can help with yardwork! LOL 

Grandpa woke up from his nap. Alex got home from work and was happy to stay upstairs with GG so we could continue working outside. We far surpassed my goal for the day. We went with the momentum.

If you give a girl a hose.... I told them to soak the bed, I wanted it wet several inches deep.....

There is certainly nothing wrong in having fun while you work - in fact there is a lot right about it. There was talk about stomping grapes, I waited to hear if they were going to move on to mud wrestling, at which point I may have intervened. LOL  Maybe. 

The girls headed in for showers and I planted two of the beds. The starts in the greenhouse are looking pretty ragged. It's good to get them into the beds, even though the majority of the garden is still a weed patch. LOL 

I planted two kinds of cauliflower, Brussel sprouts and broccoli in this bed. 

 

This bed has two more  Brussel sprouts, cabbage, a few broccoli, lettuce and asparagus. I need to research asparagus. I'm wondering if I let it go to seed if I'll get more here next year. 

I still have this in the greenhouse to get planted....and beets, carrots and beans to direct seed. OH - and a lot of potato starts from last year's harvest...if we get that far. The farmer down the road hasn't planted his potatoes yet, so there is still hope. 

I found a few small beet plants, one lettuce plant, one onion, and an asparagus amongst the weeds. This makes me wonder if I can leave some planted in the fall and get a jump start on the spring next year. I may try a bit and see.  I assumed it was too cold and dark to try that....but somehow I had tiny beet plants. 

If one is very disciplined with their eyes, it's starting to look like a civilized garden plot. LOL 

We were supposed to have respite care today but Benny was running a low-grade fever. In many ways THIS was the best respite we could have had for the day. Michael made good progress on his project (which I'll blog when it's done), I made good progress in the garden. 

But, alas, it was 5:30 p.m. and none of us had given dinner a thought. The girls and I ran to the store. I was too tired to go in. They ran in and bought deli chicken, potato salad, a get well balloon and gift for Benny. Ah, and epsom salt! I sat in the car and hydrated. We dropped by and "surprised" CoRielle and then headed home to get dinner. Michael ran out to the hospital.  We got veggies and fruit to added to the pickings from the store  and ate. 

I'm told we watched an episode on Netflix - but Millie and I slept through most of it.