Columbus and the Valley

Garden Update

I didn’t get the ground broken up and ready to plant, but I’m well on my way. I couldn’t get the tiller cranked, so I’m taking it in for service on Monday. I’m sure the good folks at Best Nursery won’t take long to get it serviced and I’ll back in business. I got the drip irrigation system broken down and ready to reinstall. That part went well. I also get most of the scrubby stuff burned off  and all the big stuff pulled out of the ground.  I’ve knocked the vines off the rabbit fence and have decided to pull new wire on the electric deer fence. I didn’t install the tensioners correctly when I ran the wire last year and so I’m going to re-do it this season.

The actually tilling of the ground won’t take too long, so I should have it done in time to plant by the first weekend in April. I’m so glad to get most of this behind me! The sheer manual labor part of it was not something I was looking forward to, but now that most of the hard stuff is behind me I’m feeling pretty good. I had a bitch of a time last year keeping the weeds down, so I’m going to try covering everything that doesn’t have a plant sticking out of it with sheets of newspaper. I’ll keep adding sheets until I have all the weeks choked out. I’ll let you know how that goes.

I’m not sure what I’ll plant this year, but I’m looking forward to going to Capps and picking up some plants and seeds. I’m looking forward to seeing something green popping out of the ground. The garden is soon to be a reality!

Garden Prep Day

With my new vegetarian diet 80 days in the making, my vegetable garden is much more meaningful this year. Last year, I got my garden tilled and planted and then ended up sick, in the hospital and unable to work it. Our sons and a few of their cousins weeded it one day during a family event, but it was too little too late for the garden last year.

This year, the possibilities are endless! I’m healthy, full of energy and excited about the interesting vegetables I can grow in my 24×24 space. I’m not worried about deer and rabbits, because like Tim the Tool Man, I “rewired it.” My garden is a a foursquare bastion of protection against pilfering animals. Anchored by 4 6x6x8 posts on the corners, it is wrapped with rabbit fence that goes below grade and then 5,000 volt deer fence above. Here, kitty kitty. I got something for you, kitty.

The deer fence is solar powered and I installed a rather nice chain link fence gate. I hand-dug a trench out to the garden site and laid 1″ water pipe to irrigate the garden. I built a drip irrigation system to water my garden with ease. I’m sitting here now looking out across the field at the overgrown patch of ground. I just ate a great Scott Gribbin Dip Egg breakfast and I’m ready to go knock it out.

Bye. I’m outta here. I’ll let you know how it went. By the time you read my next post, I’ll be ready to put some seeds and plants in the ground.

P.S. The local fencing store can supply whole sale.