Garden Prep....

Garden Preparation...or "How to Make NorthernMommy Happy"

The NorthernClan has been planning the layout of their vegetable garden since, oh, about August of last year, when they realized that the nice fenced-in garden they created didn't get enough sunlight. They chose another location, one that:

- gets a tremendous amount of sunlight

- is within reach of the water hose (no more lugging buckets to water plants!)

- and offers a direct line of fire from the mudroom door (if the woodchucks and rabbits come back, they're goners!).

NorthernToddler, noting the poor soil that the previous garden consisted of, recommended the use of raised beds for this year's garden. NorthernMommy seconded the motion. NorthernDaddy was the only dissenting vote - and he provided a passionate discourse on the negative aspects of his having to construct said raised beds. The non-laborers won the vote, and as NorthernMommy realized that certain seeds had to go into the ground soon, the work commenced on a cold, windy day.The location chosen for the new raised beds is right next to the 'barn'. The ground there has been covered with a tarp for the past year to kill a particularly nasty invasive plant - it appears to have worked.

After the tarp was removed, the soil needed to be tilled to remove any trace of previously mentioned nasty plants and to allow for good drainage under the raised beds. Note the ancient roto-tiller that NorthernDaddy is quite proud of - it was found on the side of the road by one of his co-workers. NorthernDaddy gave $25 for it - and, after a little experimenting, found that it ran and will dig all the way to China if you let it. The project was slowed a little by some tool lessons. NorthernToddler spent a lot of time pointing at tools and asking, "What is that?" Here, NorthernDaddy explains the concept of "level" to a mostly uncomprehending three-year-old.

(Side note: NorthernDaddy thanks his brother for giving him that level so long ago. It is a fine tool and earns its keep. So does the chop saw that is on semi-permanent loan....it'll get back to you some day! ...possibly after NorthernDaddy breaks down and buys a circular saw...)

This is what the Northern's semi-completed raised bed looks like. After an hour of roto-tilling and another hour cutting and assembling the bed in forty-degree temps with a thirty miles-per-hour wind, NorthernDaddy set it square and level, pinned it into place, and called it a day. Final finish work and fill soil will wait for a warmer day (along with the construction of the second bed), but that is how to make NorthernMommy happy....