The time crunch begins

It is now the end of March or nearly so. There is much to be done. It seems the ground has thawed at least in my back yard. I no longer have a pond it has been absorbed into the ground. Though I have yet to check the space for the garden it has much more exposure and may not yet be frost free. I may be better if it is not. The work to be done will not be quite as muddy. But mud or not the work must be done. I am posting a schedule for the first part of April here.

Along with this work you may help by making seed tape at home. I will be happy to show you how to do that process. It's quite simple just tedious. It's something you can easily do while watching TV or listening to tunes. Here is the schedule for the first part of April 2016. There are many more tasks to be done and every little bit helps. Even if you can only help our for half an hour that will be greatly appreciated.

Garden Schedule for first part of April 2016.

April 1        10 AM        More tree cutting to prepare for shed arrival

April 5        9 AM        Shed arrival

April 6        Noon        Move brush pile to another location

April 8        10 AM         Move brush pile to another location

April 9        10 AM        Move brush pile if necessary, remove roots from the space.

April 17    11 AM        Take home trays of starts to get them going. Instructions after the                     service.

You might notice that the storage shed has been removed from the wish list. One was purchased last this week and will be delivered on April  5th.

See you in the garden.

  

First day of Spring

Today is the first day of spring. Of course that is spring according to the calendar. The lower 48 has spring. But as I write this it is snowing. We are supposed to get 2 to 4 inches today and another 2 or so tonight. Sure doesn’t seem like spring or look like spring. But things are still happening in the with the garden if not in the garden.

Harvested Birch

Seed starting equipment has been bought as well as seeds. I hope to have planted seeds for the congregation and others who wish to raise in their homes until we are able to put them in the garden in May. In April we will take delivery on a storage shed. We will construct compost bins. Hopefully I will be able to take soil samples so I can send them in for analysis. I will put together a calendar and let everyone know what tasks will be undertaken and when so you can come by to help out if you wish. We will also have a couple of seed tape making parties so planting carrots, parsnips, beets, and other things will go more quickly and there will be less thinning as the
plants emerge. Be watching for the schedule.

Rough Bowls

We did have a small veggie harvest last fall. We also had a large harvest during the summer. We harvested a log of birch trees. All of that wood was not burned or just left to rot. In the time since that harvest I have turned at least some of the wood into wooden bowls. It started with rough turning the wood into bowl shapes. They were left to dry for the deep winter months. This month I started turning those rough bowls into the finished product. Most of the bowls are in the 4 to 7 inch range, heavy on the 4 inch end. Some, though no many, will be as large as 10 inches. The trees were small so the bowls are as well.

Bowls Nearly Ready

The bowls will probably be on sale on Easter at the Lutheran Church of Hope at 1847 W. Northern Lights Blvd. They will also be available at Alaska Synod Assembly the last weekend of April (St. Mark Lutheran Church on Lake Otis Pkwy). The proceeds from the bowls will go to support the garden and I will receive none of the proceeds. Pricing of the bowls has not been determined yet but the small ones (4 inch) will be in the $7 range and the larger (7 inch) ones $12 to $15 with reduced pricing for the purchase of 4 of the same size. There may be a few that are more expensive because of special designs or larger size.

Spring really is coming. Be patient and it will happen.

See you in the garden.