Garden Baby (or baby garden)

Today I got to put my fingers in the dirt for only the second time since Luke was born.  It was wonderful!  My sweet baby has been hanging out with me in the garden wrapped in his blankets and tucked in his swing.  He spent several happy hours there this week.  I was worried about his little face being cold, but he has seemed to enjoy being able to watch what is going on, especially when his big brother is jumping about and doing tricks for him. 

The garden is coming along.  Alex and I have been working hard to get all the beds covered and turned over.  I pulled TONS of Morning Glory from one of my beds today.  Not my favorite thing.  It seems to grow two plants where ever I pull one!  I was really mad and called the weed my ‘Hydra of Gardening’.  That made Alex laugh hysterically (he has been studying Greek Mythology for the past 10 weeks) and so the name has stuck so far. 

We covered the beds with chicken bedding (white wood chips along with their poo and diggings) and have allowed that to compost most of the winter.  The older stuff (from late fall and early winter) has now turned into this beautifully rich dirt that I can’t wait to put plants into!!  Uncomposted chicken poo can be very ‘hot’ as it breaks down.  The concentration of nitrogen can burn young plants, so I am portioning out the newer stuff (from late winter) to places where it can be more of a top dressing as not to stun the tiny seedlings I will be putting into the beds. 

Here is a walk through of my garden from today:

I am starting to understand why the people who lived here before us kept sticking black plastic on the ground to keep the weeds and grass out.  It takes a LOT of bark to keep this much space mulched so it will be clear of grass.  I have been considering just seeding the pathways in the garden and allowing the grass to have rein, but I am not sure that will not spread to the garden beds themselves…. soft and green pathways is one thing… clearing hundreds of grass tufts out of my garden beds is another.  So we will see what my research tells me to do.

It was so stunningly wonderful to be out today in the semi-sunshine and spend some time doing the things I love. 

HAPPY SPRING everyone!