The beginning of a garden!

The Right Spot!



Garden went in a little to the right.



We spent the day digging a new plot for our garden. Last years garden turned out to be quite a disaster. The dirt was more sand than we could handle. So this year we decided to plant a little closer to the lake where the grass is greener. We have very few plants in our yard so relocating it isn't a problem.

The new spot.



You could definitely tell it is spring here by all the plants that are flowering and trees sprouting leaves. It's the perfect time to start the garden. The blueberries are loaded with flowers this year they must have really liked all that cold weather. I hope it makes them sweeter.

Blue berry flowers.

With every shovel we get a grub. In this case two in one dig. Why those water fowl that visit my lawn every day haven't picked it clean of these things I'll never know. Last year we planted sweet potatoes and they ate everyone so this year I hear a product called milky spore is supposed to get rid of them so that's what I'll be buying.



Two of the grubs from the new garden.



I've heard people in some parts of the world consider grubs to be a delicacy. They'd get fat in my back yard. We have found tons. I only saw one beetle from last year. I remember thinking it was so pretty.

Not now.



Chris rototilling.




  After we scrapped the grass off the top we broke out the old rototiller. It's much easier than digging and we realized we should have scrapped off more of the grass. Because as easy as it was we could have done a lot more. Under the grass is where we found the grubs. We didn't find any while rototilling. So it was pretty nice.

Me plowing with the tiller.

After a while Chris let me give it a try. It was shortly afterward that the tiller died. So we ended up digging it all by hand and decided we had enough dug up. I don't know how those pioneer people did it. It's hard work and we just did a tiny little space. We will have to find a lawn mower shop that knows how to work on old rototillers.


As you can see my ground, as my daughter puts it, looks like dirty beach sand. So we added some of that prepackaged garden soil. We mixed that in. Last year we did that and it didn't make a bit of a difference. But this year we bought some black cow. It's good stuff or so I'm told. I was also told just get some old cow pies and use that but I'm afraid if I go in a pasture the farmer will shoot me thinking I'm messin' with his cows.

This year we are going to try and make our own compost bin, again. Last year it didn't work and we have a trash can full of weeds still. They are dehydrated not rotted and full of bugs. And yes there is also water in there so I don't know how it happened. So any way this year we got some compost starter and hopefully that will work. Plus we plan to add grass clippings to it.

Look at that thing go!  Right before it died.

We still have these cabbages from last year. I planted them in October and they are about the size of a tennis ball. I've got four lovely ones. I plan to pick them and eat them for St. Patrick's day. Unless they look like they are going to go to seed. Then I'll have to eat them sooner.

So you'll have to wait till next time to see what all plants I plant this year. (Hopefully some of them live.) This is truly gardening from scratch. And no we didn't get the soil tested. We are pretty sure it's sand and anything we add to it disappears and turns into more sand so we will be going from there and assuming it must be pure acidic soil. I heard azaleas grow well in acidic soil. The fig and the blueberries like it. Just got to figure out what kind of garden vegetables like it.