Dear Friends,

Last Monday (March 30, 2020) we planted our first seeds of the year in three trays. Our kids helped to fill each tray with dirt, water it thoroughly, put the seed markers in, and sprinkle in the seeds.

I moved the trays to a table in our kitchen near a window. They don’t get a lot of light there, so we set up a lamp as well.

In 3 days the kale seeds were starting to germinate, and in 5 days, almost all of them have sprouted.

It is a real pleasure for all of us to check on the seed trays throughout the day to see how they are growing and changing. It is a sweet joy to celebrate each little seed as it pokes its leaves above the dirt and starts reaching towards the light.

Dear Friends,

This week our mushroom manure arrived, all 8 yards of it. The main garden isn’t quite finished being weeded, but it will be by the end of tomorrow.

With three ‘big people’ with wheelbarrows, and three ‘small people’ with ice cream buckets, we are able to move about 2 yards per day. It takes us about two hours, and then we are done with that task for the day. Also included in that time is the care and entertainment of a baby and a toddler.

All in all, it is going to take us 4 days to move all that dirt. It may not be super fast, but it is fine for us.

Dear Friends,

Today it is the first Saturday of spring!

For us, that means it’s time to order our seeds: beets, carrots, cucumbers, green and yellow zucchini, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, snap peas, spinach, and lettuce. This year, we are also trying red and yellow potatoes. We have other seeds already (green beans, scarlet runner beans, red Italian tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, kale, parsley, dill, chives, purple coneflower, calendula, hyssop, dwarf sunflower) and some things (cabbage, mint, oregano, thyme) we will buy as plants from the plant nurseries.

We also ordered mushroom manure. This is our favorite compost/manure/soil mixture. It has given us such beautiful, healthy, productive plants! We usually add more mushroom manure to our garden about every 3 years.

We pay about $40 per yard, plus $50 delivery for 4 yards. So roughly: $40 x 4 = $160 + $50 = $210 for 4 yards.

One cubic yard is equal to 3 feet x 3 feet x 3 feet. Generally, we want the garden to be covered 1 foot deep, so then 1 cubic yard would cover 27 square feet (3 x 3 x 3 = 27).

One convenient garden row is about 3 feet wide. If it was 10 feet long, it could be covered by 1 cubic yard. Every 3 feet there should be a pathway, to keep your garden rows easy to access. That makes weeding and harvesting so much easier! Each pathway should be 1 to 3 feet wide, depending on what will be growing nearby and if you need to get a wheelbarrow through.

So, 4 yards of mushroom manure would easily cover 4 rows that are 3 feet by 10 feet. That is a really great garden!

Once seeds and dirt are ordered, then we can get to work raking out the yard and grass, pulling any remaining weeds, cutting dead leaves off perennials, and raking out the garden soil. The compost piles can be turned and raked as well, and any new garden beds can be prepared now.

Then everything will be ready for when the dirt and seeds arrive!