Spring In Full Swing - Weekly Garden Update - by Sunscape

It was another full week working outside to prepare all the gardens for planting next month. We fell in love with the steel raised bed and decided there was room for another one.

Raised Bed

I got busy assembling it while my husband went to fill the wheelbarrow with some decaying logs.

We put aluminum screen on the ground, then cardboard, decaying logs, some compost, then a lot of leaves.

You wouldn't think that a raised bed that is only 17" tall would take so much to fill it up.

Now that the base layers have been applied, this week we will fill them up with my own soil blend. I am giving them some time to settle first.

The Pond

The small pond by the porch has to be drained every spring and all the leaves removed. We try to get to that as soon as all the ice has melted. The birds bathe and drink from it all season long, and I have a family of frogs that reside in it too.

Unfortunately, three of them were dead on the bottom of the pond, yet one was alive and well while we were draining it. Once it was all cleaned out it was time to refill it. The frog was happy once that was accomplished.

This is always a huge task to get done, but we do love having the gentle sound of the falling water while watching the wildlife visit the pond.

Of course, Mika was on the job inspecting the entire process as usual.

The Porch

Yesterday before the rain and wind started, we decided to take all the plastic off the back porch. This is one of my favorite things to get done, as I get tired of not being able to see the yard all winter long. Enclosing it keeps all the snow off the porch and our kitchen a lot warmer from the North wind.

Rolling up the sides and putting them up on the garage rafters for another season.

Time for a break and a hot cup of coffee. It felt so good to finally have it opened up. Next week once the weather warms up, we will take all the furniture off and scrub them down and wash the entire porch. Then I can say it will be ready to receive visitors for an afternoon glass of wine.

The vegetable garden is all prepared for planting once the weather permits. I put the hoops on the large frame and will plant all the cabbages and cauliflower in it next week.

The Chinese cabbage is so ready and the all the brassicas as well. The onions will be happy to go into the new raised beds and the growing season will be in full swing here in western, New York.