March 16, 2012 - First Plantings

The past week has been unseasonably warm.  So much so that I almost feel that I've fallen behind with my seeds!  I have to keep reminding myself it's March.  On Tuesday I planted my peas, carrots, radishes, and started some cauliflower and broccoli in little pots.  On the porch I started spinach and the rainbow char in pots. I don't feel I'm taking too big of a gamble assuming the growing season has started.  All the bulb flowers are out, buds are forming on the trees - the trees in town have already blossomed on many streets.

Before I could plant I had to really till the garden.  It was so much work this year with all the field encroaching that I was only able to do what was necessary around the trellis.  In total about a third of the plot is finished.

There is also the matter of replacing the drip line tape. After two years all of the lines were shot.  I decided to simplify the design a bit this year and run only six lines: three sections of two parallel runs of tape.  For what I'm doing right now there's really no point putting different lines to different types of plants as they all require roughly the same amount of water.  If I have to, I'll under water and hit the more thirsty plants by hand.

I have some time before the rest of the garden needs to be prepped, but I think if the weather stays this nice I'll have it done by next week.