and up pop the seedlings

Saturday we spent some time at the garden–sprucing things up a little, dreaming, and setting goals for this week.  Part of Steve’s job is overseeing the grounds-keeping.  This week there are two groups of volunteers coming in, so he was planning which projects they would be tackling.  It is soooo exciting to think about what all will be accomplished this week.  There is a lot of hard work–pulling vines, carrying stones, building a terrace, putting in pipes and a few new beds–but with big groups coming this place will be whipped into shape within a few days.  I can’t wait to see it!

Last week they had a group of about fifty people come in.  I couldn’t believe how much better the garden area looked since I had been there last!  There was a vine growing on the bank that had worked as a ground cover, but had become way to aggressive.  Here’s the one end that isn’t finished which will give you an idea of the area before:

Aaaaaand, after:

It’s like a clean, new start, and looks soooo much better.  Now we’re needing to put in a new groundcover and we need ideas!  What will grow in [hard] soil on a steep bank, partial sun, and survive very hot summers–but not be too invasive?  Taking all suggestions.

 

Another shot of the gardens:

Here are a few pictures to show what is happening in the beds I had planted a few weeks ago–

I guess this bed will be my pet.  The plants are all coming up nicely in neat rows just like I hoped they would.  Good job, plants! :)

The lettuce bed.  I found I had planted several seeds in some spots, and a few areas didn’t come up.  I tried transplanting a few of the plants I thinned, but I don’t know if you can do that with lettuce. One bed has two sparse rows of spinach which must be volunteers (does spinach do that?) or from a planting by someone else last fall.  The spinach is a good step ahead of the lettuce and should be ready for eating by the end of this week.

This week I hope to add another set of radishes, carrots, beats, and possibly onions.  Planting them several weeks apart will keep us supplied with fresh vegetables for longer.  I’m also planting the next round of seeds that were waiting for warmer temperatures.  I’ll see what all I can plant when I get to the nursery–which is where I’m heading in just a few minutes.

This weekend I finally found a nursery, and hope it’s worth the twenty minute drive (past Home Depot, past Lowes).  In my experience, I like the expertise at nurseries and the plants from there usually grow/produce better as well…we’ll see.

I’m off–

PS and please don’t forget to give groundcover suggestions.