Everyday Life for Four Seasons

I love our backyard. Honestly, it's the whole reason we bought our home. The girls love it too!


I woke up earlier than usual this morning and spent some time getting the garden beds ready for planting. I'm filling them with a soil & compost mix that we have had "steeping" in the woods for three years. It's good soil, full of earthworms, and with a pH of 6.8. I think that's on the high side for vegetables but overall I am hoping it will work well for us this year. I augmented with just a little manure.


I think our planting plan is just about ready. I've spent time on this. There are a lot of things I'm not good at, but research is not one of them. So, after much reading, and speaking with experts, and a class at the local cooperative extension office, I've come up with a plan that includes tomatoes (from transplants, and I'm looking for different varieties of heirlooms); zucchini and two different types of yellow summer squash; peppers (at least two varieties); carrots (actually, 'A' is growing those); beans; basil, thyme, sage, cilantro, rosemary and if I can find a transplant, some cumin; and for fun, a sunflower. The bed gets 10 hours of sun a day now.

I grouped them in the beds according to the companion planting guides and I've been checking the soil and air temperatures to see when I can put each plant or seed in the ground. It looks like we'll start the carrots this weekend, the tomatoes and peppers in a week or two, the zucchini in a while, when the soil warms to at least 65 degrees (it's 60 now), and the beans in a while, when the soil is a few degrees above 60. How long does it take for the soil to warm up? Can you say "short growing season?"


Everything outside is coming to life.