Spring has Sprung! Time to Plant?

Weather is warming, plants are over growing their containers and the garden beds are ready!
Time to Plant!  J and I have been steadily busy working the beds, transplanting the seedlings into bigger pots,spreading some great compost and pounding in the stakes for the beans. 

Looks like we could be ready to plant.  Or............should we wait?
Never can be too sure about the frost in this area!  We will see what tomorrow brings. Last week we planted the bean seeds, lettuce, chard, beets, spinach, and carrots,  checked on the raspberry vines we transplanted and put the 3 varieties of seed potatoes into their above ground beds.

We are anticipating an awesome harvest!!!!

We are in need of some volunteers to help weed, and then harvest the veggies.  If you or someone you know want to help out....please give me a call.  We will put you to work!

The Hoop Houses Have it "Gowing On"!

The Hoop Houses have it "growing on"!

The lettuce, spinach and swiss chard have really taken off this last month with the little bit of sunshine that showed up.  

The trick is keeping the chickens out!

I moved some of the veggie starts out to the hoop houses to begin hardening them off.  They seem to be doing really well.

Never Underestimate the Power of a Single Seed!

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ~W.E. Johns.  The anticipation is keeping me awake at nights :)  We are excited to see what the Lord will provide!

Never underestimate the power of one single seed, the strength and energy it has when given just the right amount of water, some sunshine and a bed of dirt to grow in. I waited until I could wait no more to plant my seeds!

It has been interesting trying to keep them rotated under the grow lights, and when we are blessed with a little Oregon sunshine, setting them near the window to get a taste of the real stuff.

The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. ~George Bernard Shaw

Weed free and ready for the manure. 

Thanks Roland and Debbie for the "Black Gold"!

Thanks Stan and Lori for loaning us your tiller.

J is getting the small bed ready for some raspberry plants.

Seeds have arrived from Seed Savers Exchange!

Today was an exciting day! 

Most of the seeds we had ordered from Seed Savers Exchange had arrived.  In anticipation, we had our seed flats ready to go for planting.  All of the tomatoes, eggplant, squash and melons have been planted in seedling trays down in the laundry room to get a good warm start.  All of the other seeds will have to wait until the ground is ready to plant outside. 

Our potato starts are due the first part of March.

We are excited about the variety of the vegetables this year and the fact that we are starting our tomatoes from seed.  Normally we have purchased starts so this is an exciting adventure.  We are hoping to plant enough starts to give our friends a few.

Along with the vegetables pictured above, we are also planting the following for harvest.

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  Spinach
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  Romaine Lettuce
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  Red Leaf Lettuce
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  Dragon Carrots
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  Chioggia Beets
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  Basil
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  Dill
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  Delicata Squash
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  Zucchini

We have transplanted raspberries into the giving garden as well, hoping for an abundant harvest. We will be companion planting, so along with the above vegetables, we will have plenty of flowers and herbs mixed in among the rows to keep the pests down.  This will also enable us to grab a bunch of flowers to hand to the Food Pantry Staff when we bring in the over flowing food baskets at harvest time :)

Seeds of Change Giving Garden in first part of transformation!

Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it. ~Author Unknown

Linda and I cleaned out two of the raised beds in January. 

We found a dry day and took advantage of it!  We dug out overgrown

lavendar plants and turned the ground under.

Today, J and I removed the remainder of the old lavendar plants and

worked the remaining beds to get them ready for some "Black Gold"!

...Just like fine wine....aged manure is well worth the wait!

Here is a list of some of the Heirloom Veggies we are planning on growing this year.  Every day I check the mail for my seeds to arrive from Seed Savers Exchange.  They are a non-profit organization of gardeners dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.The selection of seeds that they have is amazing and through their site you can access forums and blogs about seeds and gardening. (Check them out via the link above)

Only a few more months before Spring and can hardly wait :)

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  Ideal Market Pole Beans
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  Chioggia Beet
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  Dragon Carrot
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  Scarlet Nantes Carrot
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  Paris Market Carrot
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  Udumalapet Eggplant
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  Charantais Melon (Wishing for a really hot summer!)
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  Nyagous Tomato
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  Five Color Silver Beet Chard
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  Galeux d'Eysines Squash
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  Muscade de Provence Squash
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  Cincinnati Market Radish
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  French Breakfast Radish
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  Plum Purple Radish
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  Federle Tomato
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  Speckled Roman Tomato
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  Isis Candy Cherry Tomato (these sounded delicious!)
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  Blondkopfchen Tomato
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  Black Krim Tomato
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  Amish OG Melon
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  All Blue Potato
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  Desiree Potato (pink)
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  La Ratte Fingerling Potato

Stay tuned for more pics!  Were are going to work on our "home grown" tomato cages next!

Geez!  Just seconds ago I had opened the door to the run so that they could free range for awhile.  I left the door open just for a second to get them some clean water.  Water?.....they wanted some of my breakfast I guess!  Curious little ladies they are.  Always wanting a handout :)

They have become quite comfortable in the backyard when the dogs are in.  I hope that they eat every bug and slug that they possibly can before Spring hits.  The more the better.  Eat up girls!