Spring 2001!

It's the first day of spring and with the help of Grandma Britcher and Derek (Adam's 16-year old cousin), we got so much accomplished today in the garden.  First we got the strawberries planted.  They don't look like much right now but give 'em time.  Just give 'em time.  Soon there will be 18   strawberry plants with runners going in every which direction.  Adam got us both June bearers & Ever bearing varieties. 

The we got around to planting our first batch of red beets, radishes (including the  French Breakfast variety), turnips, and two kinds of carrots.  We'll plant the other half of the 5X8 ft raised beds in a couple of weeks.  The red beets and the regular variety of radishes were purchased at our local farm stand (Butcher's Farm Market).  The French Breakfast variety, Turnips (Purple Top White Globe) , and one variety of carrots (Nantes Scarlet Half Long) are from the Beekman1802 seed pack I purchased at work (Williams-Sonoma).  And the other variety of carrots (Kaleidoscope) is a certified organic variety from Burpee. 

Next we worked on our lettuce bed.  We put in some Arugula, a Burpee looseleaf Lettuce Blend, an Heirloom Four Seasons Lettuce, Baby Spinach, Baby Choi, & at Adam's mom's request, a strip of lettuce that apparently produces head lettuce.  Holy Cow!  We're going to have so much salad this year.  I briefly contemplated becoming a vegetarian but then I remember that a good salad goes great with a juicy delicious steak! 

Finally,  we worked meticulously to put our peas in perfect rows.  Spacing each row 36" apart, we successfully put in 4 rows of Sugar Peas & Snap peas.  We will work on trellising them this year so that we don't have to watch rows of peas grow on top of each other and into the rows.  We decided on 36" inches apart because our rototiller will fit between each row making it easier to weed.