First Day of Spring :)

Hopefully the first day of spring will be the hardest day of work in my garden this year!  I tried to get all of the heavy lifting out of the way, from here on out it should be all the fun stuff.  Carolina red clay is so hard to work... the only reason I even tried is because the peppers did so well directly in the ground that I didn't want to move them out. 

starting the day off with a little "light" tilling





danger! construction zone!

I also got the rest of my containers prepped and filled.  I now have 4 whiskey barrels and 2 potato buckets with self-watering reservoirs.  However, I still have 6 more seed potatoes without a home.  I think I can get one more potato bucket in the back, we'll see.  I also haven't found the right place for the onions and shallots just yet.  I've been dealing in very deep containers so far but onions don't necessarily need the same space.  Finally, I'm still on the lookout for another strawberry pot for my herb garden.  I just heard about the new Carolina Pottery that opened in Cary so maybe I'll get lucky and find just the right things there. 



 Matthew was so sweet to help me out with my construction projects today.  I would have been there all day cutting, snipping, and sawing.  Two of the barrels are destined to be home to a zucchini and a summer squash.  I will pair them with some lettuce until the squash are ready to take over.  I haven't made the final decision on the last barrel just yet.  Maybe I'll see something new to try at the nursery. 

I put a few peppers in today, but it really is a bit too early.  We have potential for some light frosts in the next week or so.  If it's going to be a really cold night, I'll just put a bucket or something over them and hope for the best.  The rest of my pepper plants are scheduled to arrive after all danger of frost has passed.  I also put a few broccoli seeds in next to the peppers just to see what happens.  If I don't have any luck with the seeds, I'll put some plants in later this spring.

Hot Banana!  Sweet Banana!



I bought this asparagus on a whim at Lowes.  I wasn't really planning to add asparagus this year but it seemed like a good idea.  Matthew and I both love asparagus so why not get it fresh from the back yard?  Asparagus plants can last 15-20 years so I hope I  picked a good spot!



asparagus bed



asparagus crowns, look like spiders!



 



 After a long, hard day in the garden it was nice to look back and admire everything we accomplished.  Now all that's left is to keep planting, hope for the best, and harvest the fruits of our labors =)

carrots, potatoes, green beans, cucumbers, lettuce, nasturtium, peppers, broccoli
lookin' good

spinach, carrots, lettuce, nasturtium, chinese cabbage