Prepping and Rototilling

Spring seems to have come upon us quickly and magically this year. New signs of life abound all around us now. First of all, our orange tree in the back yard has start putting out blossoms for its next crop. We don't know if it's just the right time, or if it is because a few weeks ago Village Harvest, a non-profit group of volunteers who harvest fruit for the hungry, came out and picked 100 pounds of fruit from our tree. I think the tree is relieved to have so much less fruit and is now focusing its energy on the next season.

The raspberry bushes in the back yard are transforming themselves from lifeless-looking stumps to leafy productive plants again.

The Japanese maple in the front yard is putting out tender little leaves from its bare-looking twigs.

The nasturtium seeds we planted in the front yard a couple weeks ago are now popping up out of the soil, sporting their cute little leaves.

And the bougainvillea, which really appeared to have not survived the frost, is showing signs of recovery.

Regarding our children's garden, the seedlings we planted last Monday are already popping up and looking very happy.

We have worked really hard this weekend and have made some major progress. Yes, we rototilled. But first, and most fun, we watered the ground to soften it up. Josephine, as you can see, thought this was quite an event.


Next, Sven tried out the rototiller. It amazingly transformed what looked like hard packed soil to an incredibly fertile looking bed.

Josephine and I then went through picking up the now-dislodged weeds and sprinkled the area with some leftover sand we had on hand, in order to give the heavy clay soil better drainage.

Then we scattered the compost we had. We felt that it was not nearly enough and that over the next week we would go and get more and rototill it in next weekend.

I've spent the last few weeks gathering the materials we will need when we lay out the garden. I got a few stepping stones from posting on Freecycle, and just this past week I got over forty cement garden borders . . . all free! Freecycle is amazing! Also amazing is the little peach tree my neighbor across the street donated. We'll have to find a very special spot of honor for it in our garden. Besides all the wonderful free stuff, I've bought a few things as well. I got a really cute little birdbath whose bottom actually serves as a strawberry pot. Of course, I had to buy some strawberry seeds as well. I also ordered an arched arbor for the entrance. On this we will be growing hanging gourds this year. Here is a picture of all the wonderful stuff waiting to go into the garden:

Over the next week, I hope to plot out the garden on paper so we will be ready to start placing things after next weekend's final rototilling. Such a lot of progress we've made!