My seeds are here!

I've received two out of three of my seed orders this week, and I can't wait to start planting! Well, since it's still a bit early to start getting them into the ground (or even into seed trays inside), I'll just have to have fun organizing them & dreaming of all the yummy veggies they'll produce! And... I still have some work to do outside getting the veggie beds ready.

I have around 400-425 square feet of space available in my veggie beds, which, considering the amount of stuff that I want to grow this year, is not that much space. So I have to be pretty creative. But before I can even get to that, the soil has to be prepared to be "hospitable" to the vegetables that will be planted there. Since our Willamette Valley soil is very "clayey" (resembling or containing clay), it is necessary to amend the soil before planting. Last fall, I purchased a great blended soil from a local company (Grimm's Fuel, http://www.grimmsfuel.com/) which I'm working in as I till the existing clay soil. So far, it has been going very slowly since I'm doing manual tilling with a "Garden Claw", but it looks like I may be able to borrow a motorized tiller from my neighbor next weekend, so that should make things easier (and faster!).

So, in addition to the tilling, I did some major weeding this weekend... a never-ending task with gardening, I'm afraid! Also, my housemate helped me get some trellises up in preparation for the beans which will need something to climb up later this spring. And then, as I mentioned above, there's the organizing of the seeds... I took a stack of paper lunch bags, marked each one with "Inside" or "Outside" and the dates of the Saturdays from now through May, and placed seed packets in the bags according to when they need to be planted, and whether they must be sown in seed trays inside the house or if they can be sown directly into the garden outside. That way, when I'm doing my planting each weekend, I can just grab the bag for that day & plant away!

On that note, it's time for me to "plant" my little head on a pillow, in the hopes that I can maybe grow a few more brain cells for tomorrow! :-)

'Til next time...