May is such a busy time of year. I am itching to get my hands in the vegetable garden yet our weather is still too unpredictable to do much planting. Instead it is time to get my raised beds ready for planting! I’m also working on getting all the flowers beds presentable just in case someone decides to come look at our house!
In the fall, before we left for our cross-country trip, I planted a cover crop in the raised beds. Doing this accomplished two things, weeds were crowded out and not allowed to grow and the cover crop provided nutrients to the beds.
Ideally I would have tilled the cover crop under but my raised beds are four feet by eight feet and too small for our large rototiller! Instead I am hand pulling the cover crop, shaking out all the dirt from the roots before placing in our compost pile.
The beds usually settle somewhat over the growing season so before planting I will top the beds off with some of our beautiful compost! I love creating compost that in turn adds nutrients to our garden bed.
Once the beds have been weeded and compost has been added they will be ready to plant. I have already planted peas, spinach and lettuce. Those three vegetables don’t mind the cool nights. I have also planted one bed with strawberry plants; they are runners from our old strawberry bed so we’ll see how they do!
Ever since we moved into our house 16 years ago I have been working in this garden space. I started with a small garden, which kept expanding over the years. With four growing children we easily consumed everything I grew in the garden plus I was able to can what we didn’t eat. Now that our children are grown and have all moved away I have been slowly decreasing the size of our garden! With a move in the future I just don’t need to have such a large garden anymore. I am now down to just the eight raised beds plus a large blueberry patch and a newer raspberry patch plus my rhubarb plants!
It will be hard to leave my garden and I just hope that whoever does purchase our home loves to garden as much as I do!
Nancy on the Home Front 
I would suggest putting straw down in and around your strawberry plants as well as any veggie plants that you decide to plant.
First year for me planting strawberries; the Ever=bearing as well as the Hula Strawberry Berry which are white with red seeds.
Also planted my a Meyer Lemon but have to wait for a couple of years before I let it set fruit.
Oh, picked my first tomato yesterday :}
You want to use straw and NOT hay as hay has lots of seeds and last thing a person needs is more weeds to pull.
Nice growing patch of rhubarb. You’re so lucky to have that.
Enjoy your day and have a wonderful weekend
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Colleen, I would like to be grading in your zone! Great tip on putting straw around the strawberries, helps keep the berries clean! Easier to eat right from the garden! I just put my little tomato plants in the garden! Thanks for stopping by, reading my post and taking time to leave me a comment! I love it. Have a wonderful weekend too!
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You definitely have a green thumb. I would buy a house just for the garden if it was a nice as yours. In reality we too need to fine a smaller house with no stairs since we are both nearing 80. Life just moves on.
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Peggy,
I have a green thumb and a sore back! Guess it goes with the territory! Sounds like you are still active as you head toward your 80s!
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I love the smell of the earth , rhubarb crumble and the sweet fragrance of strawberry jam in the preserving pan . Have a great week .love Daisy Debs x
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Daisy,
My loves exactly! Have a wonderful weekend too!
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Wish my rhubarb could get that big. I’m forced to use a large container and the stalks just don’t get very large and the crop doesn’t last too long. I’m envious of all your soil. – Margy
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Margy,
If only you lived closer I’d be glad to share some rhubarb!
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Hey Nancy,
Gosh, I’m been so busy I see I’ve missed many posts – sorry about that! I see you have rocks in your garden. Our new garden is full of rocks – not just rocks, but boulders. I’m having a dickens of a time trying to pick them all out. I guess if I keep it up, I’ll eventually get most of them.
About using straw: I’ve used straw in my gardens for year. CAUTION: If you are going to use straw, make sure it’s WHEAT straw, NOT GRASS straw. Grass straw grows so much grass that you’ll be miserable trying to keep it under control. Wheat straw grows wheat (if your bales have lots of heads left on them). But the wheat comes out super easy, and it’s not like grass at all. I have put wheat straw down this year in the huge garden for the walkways. Yep, lots of wheat starting to sprout but so easy to pull it out. Just pull the straw back and you’ll see the wheat grows in clusters. Grab the base and pull. Bingo-bango …. out they come. Ha! Wish my weeds came out this easily.
Your gardens look awesome — anyone who comes to see your home will fall in love with it — I know I would. I love how you have all the beds set up — not too big and not too small. Perfect.
Happy Day to You!
Bobbie
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Bobbie,
Yes we have rocks in our soil, in fact I have been working the same patch of soil for almost twenty years and I’m still pulling rocks although I think they are getting smaller! We’re convinced that they come bubbling out of the soil in the winter! And yes we use wheat straw learned that mistake the hard way! The what straw works wonders and keeps the weeds at bay. I also planted a cover crop last year in the fall and that seemed to keep the weeds at bay! This time of year I eellike my flower beds are way too big but once I have them under control they are pretty much problem free and I can just enjoy them. The majority of my flowers are low maintenance. Have a wonderful day!
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