29 April - What is this?

I spent part of today weeding the rock wall, which seems to be breeding a healthy crop of dandelions this year, and came upon this. I haven't the slightest clue what it is supposed to be, the leaves are about 2-3 inches long, mottled brown and green, and glossy. It doesn't look like a
weed, but the last time I said that, I ended up with a vine of some variety overrunning my cucumbers in the garden. So Ill watch this very carefully, and try to look it up. If anyone can identify it, send an email.

23 April - getting the garden ready

The garden is tilled, and most of the fencing is back up. (and some of the raised perennial bed is placed, the timbers in the front.) You can also see the row of markers where I planted 300 onion sets.

Yes, the flags are courtesy of digger's hotline (from the last round of work on our front yard), but no, they don't mark buried utilities.

Some dimensions for you, the garden is about 30' x 35', with a 5-foot pathway through the center (for driving the lawn tractor) To the rear of the photo, you can see the compost bins, and the seedling bed for the trees we get from the DNR program. The gates need to be upgroded (you can see the crack in the frame), but that can wait for a slow spell in summer.

The rock wall is starting to recover from winter, you can see the Daffodills are in bloom, and the green patches are strawberries, herbs, and creeping phlox.

--

15 April - Easter Saturday

Early warm spell here, it's been 80 degrees for two days now. After a few thunderstorms this week, the sunny weekend is allowing me to prep garden beds for planting.

The front electrical box bed is weeded, the mulch raked to the inside, and I'm adjusting the rocks for a smoother edge to mow around. The weeds had already sprouted, so I had some visual help where to dig up the roots. (after 20 years of this, I'm finally learning to weed the entire root system before I plant to reduce work later) Since the soil is still significantly clay, adding an inch of peat moss should help break up the clumps. Stella de Oro Daylilies were planted. They will bloom all summer and provide consistent color for years. I'll expect to dig and divide them in a few years, but that will just give me more lilies to plant elswhere.

--

April 9 - Garden Chores

As you can see, the sprouts are doing great - the strawberries and lettuce are pictured at the right. Most of the grasses have graduated to windowsill status, and made room for the nexd batch of seedlings. The Impatiens are not doing so well, however. I think the pelleted seed is not properly getting soaked by the bottom-watering (several have sprouted in the last week since I've been top-watering those trays.) We'll see how they do for a late May planting.

Peppers and Tomatoes are being started as space permits. They do take up quite a bit more room than the rest (I'm starting them in quart containers)

The garden is getting an overhaul this spring. We've squared up the corners and installed permanent fencing along two sides (the tiller needs to access the rest, so two sides have semi-permanent fencing). I'll post more photos as we get it set up. The side will have flower beds, the other side will have the compost bins and tree seedling beds. It's starting to look like a planned feature, rather than a haphazard one.

--