The Ides of March 2014

While the Ides of March may have been unlucky for Ceasar, it has always been a fortunate day for me. On March 15, 2000, I went on a date with a guy from my work named Jeff. It was a magical night of poached pears and arcade video games. We've been inseparable ever since.

So how did my hubby and I celebrate 14 years together? In the garden, of course! We spent some quality time together sowing cool-weather crop seeds. In bed 2 (below left) we planted broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, romaine lettuce, mustard tendergreens, red salad bowl lettuce, and black seeded simpson lettuce. We're waiting 2 to 3 weeks before we plant in bed 3 (below right), in order to spread out the harvest. We also planted 8 pea plants (not pictured) - 4 in a big barrel and 4 more in another bed where my cucumber did really well last year.

Beds 2 and 3 ready for seeds!

Just a few days ago we added about 1 inch of compost to these raised beds and mixed it thoroughly in. The compost was a blend of our own homemade compost and a bag of organic compost from Shorty's nursery (wood compost, chicken manure, dolomite lime, mycorrhizae, etc.).

These beds are far from ideal. That fence is on the east side of our yard and there's a beautiful, old maple tree just on the other side of it. By late May the tree is in full foliage, which means these beds will be in shade until afternoon. But the soil is good and there are at least 2 more months of full sun to part sun before they get plunged into shade. Hopefully we planted early enough (but not too early!) to get a few good broccoli and cauliflower heads before it gets too hot and the plants bolt.