One box planted!

Well, believe it or not I finally have my spring box planted. I bought enough Mel's Mix to fill one box about a month ago and have been waiting for a nice Saturday to get things ready so that I could plant.

Today my daughter drove 100 miles to help me. She put the extenders in the sprinkler heads so they wouldn't get buried with Mel's Mix. I will adapt to drip system later but in the mean time we can gently sprinkle with a hose.

Next we raked the garden spot trying to get it level. My soil is mostly clay and when it is dried out you have to go at it with a pick- ax so it's not really level but I just wanted to get things planted before it rains tomorrow. I decided that what grows best here is weeds and rocks. I swear those things reproduce. Every year I clear the rocks out, and every year I collect a bucket full for my neighbor who uses them to mulch her flower beds. If you can't beat them, use them to mulch. My little granddaughters helped by picking up the weeds and putting them in an ice cream bucket.

Next, we put the landscape cloth down and my husband helped set the boxes out to get them positioned. We put the wire stuff under the box to be planted and started putting in the Mix. We soaked it down enough so that water pooled after each bag. When we were finished, I covered it with netting from the fabric store so that neighborhood cats couldn't use it for a littler box.

It was getting pretty hot so I decided to wait for it to cool off to plant and I sent my daughter and granddaughters home. Tonight I used some old mini-blinds held in place with rocks to make my grids. I can do it for real later. My 12 year old daughter came out to help and was impressed with how rich the soil looked. I guess it isn't really soil, is it! It was still plenty moist after a pretty hot afternoon so I'm hoping I got it wet enough.

With her help we planted two kinds of peas, beets, radishes, Romaine, head lettuce, leaf lettuce, spinach, Arugula, and micro greens. I poked the holes and she pinched and covered. Then I covered it up again with netting to keep the Quail from relocating my plants. After all the preliminary work, the actual planting took less than an hour. I know it's late to plant these things but I'm hoping if I shade them when it gets hot they will still make it.

I hope the weather doesn't get too hot too fast. Not only for my cool crops but because the whole state is on flood watch with sand bags ready. There is still plenty of snow in the mountains and if it all thaws at once, the rivers and streams can't handle all the water.

Now I can work on getting boxes ready for the summer crops. One gardening friend said she waits until Memorial Day to plant because we can still have frost or snow, so I have a couple more weeks. One year I didn't plant until July and I still had a harvest. If I keep the ground wet, stuff will grow even in regular dirt. I will be interested to see how things do with the Mel's Mix.

Time to put my feet up and rest!

Well done , what great daughters you have.

Congratulations on a job well done.

Getting the first box in is an accomplishment, and now that you have practice, the summer boxes will be even easier.
Nice to have family that can help you get going.

Hopefully, the spring box will just take off and you will have a lovely assortment of fresh veggies. That is a good idea to create shade if you think it will be getting too hot before the spring veggies are ready to harvest.

Keep up the good work, and keep us posted with your progress. Did you take photos, because we would love to see.