It feels like it took me FOREVER to figure out what sort of layout I wanted for our new front yard garden {or door yard as they call them here in Maine}, but over the past few days the weather has been really nice from basically sun up to sun down that I couldn’t help but play around in the dirt.
Walking outside and staring at the old stones we pulled up last month was getting old, so while the kids were here, I had them haul them all off to the woods for me.
Because hey, free child labor… right? đ
We started with resurrecting the old and neglected garden path.
Talk about a HUGE difference! All it took was about an hour and a sharp hori knife to bring it back to life.
And then I started in on the garden.
I still haven’t figured out what I want to do as far as beds go {wooden, stone, tubs} and I think part of that is because this area next to the front door in a year or two, might actually become a cutting flower garden.
I’m not 100% sure yet, but I think I might want to install a bigger, fenced in garden area {with a greenhouse and garden shed} in the backyard. But I feel like I need to get a gardening season or two under my belt first to be sure.
To see how things go. To see if I really want to go big or go home. Because if there is one thing I’ve learned from gardening on the east coast… it’s that bugs and critters can make or break a garden. They can crush your soul.
So far so good though. Because we are right on the water and we have a bit of a breeze, the black flies {which are a BIG deal this time of year} have been barely non existent {but the neighbor who lives across the street who’s on a hillside with lots of trees wears a mosquito net while out on their mower}. So I think we’ve lucked out with the spot we picked.
Having a constant cool breeze is pretty rad. Especially when the flies can’t get to you. đ
It’s only been a day or two since the garden beds were formed, but so far I’ve planted spinach, peas and chives.
Mrs. HB sent me a picture of her garden and she’s already got all sorts of things growing back in the PNW. Here though {in planting zone 6a}, this week will be the first week that the evening temps won’t dip below freezing. So now it’s game on to get everything planted.
Next up are the lettuce and radish seeds. And I’m hoping that by this weekend, I’ll have cabbage, broccoli and the Brussels sprouts in.
Planting season! It’s finally here. Wahoooo!
What will YOU be planting in your garden this week? Curious minds want to know.
Have a good one,
~Mavis
Garden Markers by Mavis Butterfield {Hey! That’s me.}
Mel says
We’re in Zone 7B (coastal southern Maryland), and ours is also a front yard garden. I think it’s been cooler than normal this year; our nights are still dipping to 48 or 49 degrees, and our days are in the 60s-70s. We just pulled overwintered brassicas (we leave kale and broccoli to bolt in late winter to feed bees) and planted tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. We’re picking strawberries and some herbs, and our peas are flowering. Next (and last) to plant are three raised beds of beans, so that will probably happen this weekend.
I gave away about 10 spare tomato seedlings, but I still have about a dozen more that I need to find homes for somehow.
We do have mosquitoes in summer, but they aren’t so bad that bug spray won’t work (even for a bug magnet like me). That said, I think the house across the street from us might be vacant now, and their lawn is a foot high with seed heads forming on the grass, so I’m betting that’s not going to help the bug and critter situation.
Lisa Millar says
Hi Mavis!
Wow… thats a lot of work you’ve gotten through!
My garden is sooooo shabby! I think I lost the plot (so to speak) last season (Pretty poor summer here)
Will enjoy seeing this develop!
Mostly I need to pick the remaining tomatoes and start pulling up the gardens and putting a thick layer of mulch (straw) on top of each one. They can then twiddle their thumbs over winter.
Except the garlic plots… will plant mid June!
Eventually I’ll find some motivation somewhere and dive into it lol
Have fun…
Mavis Butterfield says
Twiddling thumbs this winter sounds like a solid plan. I might steal that one. đ
Toni Wood says
The wildlife put a halt to our gardening plans forever in TN. Hope to get a few tomatoes if the deer and squirrels don’t get to them first otherwise I will buy from the Amish now that they have moved into our area.
Lana says
Squirrels can’t stand the smell of orange peels so we put them in every pot and near every plant. We usually only have to do it once because they are stupid they think they are still there all summer which is long after they rot.
Victoria says
I’m going to try this today! Squirrels will not leave my planters alone!
Maria Campbell says
I laughed when you said “go big or go home” because you are home! It was funny. I live in zone 8b down near Myrtle Beach and I am planting my second planting. I harvested a cabbage and a purple broccoli this week. Cabbage was good. Broccoli for lunch I have raised garden beds, metal ones I bought in January from Amazon and they are excellent. They are three feet tall. No bending over to weed. Critters havent jumped up there yet. Husband has been fishing and I put the fish heads and guts in them as fertilizer. Everything is huge!
Diane says
Can you post a link to the metal beds you got through Amazon?
I’ve been thinking of adding a new raised bed and was shocked at how much the price had climbed on lumber.
Thanks
laura says
it is so interesting to see what others are planting! most of what you are so happy to plant right now would be in the process of being pulled up and replaced in my garden in southern california zone 9b!! they will happily grow all winter but last week we were in the high 80’s!! your door yard is looking great and i can’t wait to see what the season brings you!!
Margo says
Gardening in zone 10a. Winter greens and all been done for a few weeks, but have enough shade in part of the garden to still grow some lettuce and radishes. Still have some red scallions and lots of chives which are beautifully blooming. Citrus is done for the season. This week I transplanted several varieties of tomatoes, harvested some snow peas, have several varieties of squash with babies on them. The cucumbers are poking up and basil, oregano, and garlic are staring to be ready for picking. Green beans getting ready to flower, and planted potatoes in wooden potato towers this year. Beautiful head of greenery on them. We started some artichoke plants this past year, but donât expect much from them until next year. And just for fun planted a few mammoth sunflowers as well!
Jeanine says
I hope all the stones that were hauled out to the woods are not so far away from your barn, greenhouse planned area, or possible garden area in the next year or two. Those stones may come in handy once again and youâll have to haul them back.( Just saying in my opinion)…
You are doing a marvelous job on your âforeverâ home. Everything is coming together and looks great!! Iâm just getting started cleaning up my garden area…slow and steady. It will come together soon enough.
I love reading your blog every morning and envy your enthusiasm and energy. Also glad your health seems to be much better.
You go girl!
Jules says
Here in Oregon we’ve been enjoying our early planting of lettuce. Nothing like homegrown salad! I planted cilantro, basil, oregano and parsley last week and every day I go out and check to see if anything green is poking it’s head up.
Your garden looks great, the soil looks really good.
Brianna says
Zone 4b here in MT and plenty of frosty cool mornings still. I rented myself a skid steer for Motherâs Day and got the front yard level and you can actually see my house now. No more stupid 8â mounds of dirt, buried logs, and sharp rocks! I have pretty red brick facade now on the front of my house that was hidden behind it all. Iâm going to rake it, hope for some rain so I can observe the drainage, lay fabric down and leave it a blank slate until I get it all figured out. There was a decaying pool liner under all the logs and dirt that was buried, so I hope that is the reason we had so much ice and moisture collection there. I hope to be out of the mosquito breeding habitat for good now.
Lynn Y. says
Hi Mavis!
I assume you live where the ‘deer and the antelope play.’ Any troubles with the deer jumping the fence? I live in an HOA (yeah, I know, working on the move now) where suburbia meets corn country in Illinois and I have issues with them meandering into my backyard for their first course.
Lynn Y. says
What am I planting? I have two gardens: a small kitchen garden in my backyard and a 30’x30′ garden at a community plot. I have not planted anything yet, other than kale, in the community garden. That will hold most of my tomatoes and peppers, cukes, and sunflowers. I have been planting herbs, zinnias, lettuce, radish, and beets so far in my kitchen garden (Zone 5). My nettles are coming up in the kitchen garden (over 1 foot) and I plan on dehydrating that soon (medicinal tea) and making soup and pesto. Most people look at nettles as a weed, but I deliberately collected wild seed and started my own patch as it not only has medicinal benefits but is considered a superfood.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yep. So far we’ve had the following in our backyard:
Ducks, geese, voles, field mice, woodchucks, deer, turkeys, a fox, something really creepy {maybe a fisher cat} and 10 million birds {hawks and turkey buzzards included}. We’ve even seen a few seals.
Still waiting for the sharks, a bears, skunks and porcupines to make their appearance.
Diane says
I would LOVE a step-by-step tutorial of how you made your garden beds! They look amazing and I’m so envious! With pictures of course. đ
Mavis Butterfield says
Sadly there will be no tutorial for the “dig up dirt and pile it into 3 rows and tamp it down” style garden because there are no other steps than that.
Diane says
Mavis, would you mind telling me what weather app you use? I really like how the weather data is displayed. I always notice it whenever you post weather screenshots.
Thanks much!
Mavis Butterfield says
I have maybe like 5 apps on my phone so no idea what it’s called. There is a little cloud on it though if that’s helpful.
Diana says
Here in GA, zone 8A, we’re still seeing cool temps. Lows in the 50s and highs mostly in the 70s – a few 80s so far, but it’s been unusually cool this spring.
My potatoes (Kennebec, Pontiac Red and Yukon Gold) are all at least 2′ high and getting ready to flower. The ‘junk’ spuds that I threw in the compost pile are doing just as well, lol, and I had to throw some dirt on them to hide the spuds peeking out of the ground. It looks like it’ll be a great harvest.
The blueberry, blackberry and raspberry bushes are covered in fruit. The almond tree has almonds this year. Basil, dill and spinach are growing well. My fruit trees are doing crappy (one of my expensive cherry trees up and died last week for no reason that I can discern). The cukes are climbing up the trellis and finally, all three of the tomatoes are flowering (1 Black Cherry and 2 Jet Star). I’m thinking of experimenting with some corn (grow in pots) and head lettuce (start outside in pot and when it gets hot, bring it in and put it under the skylight).
I’m trying to get my nerve up to get a few laying hens and some meat birds, but I may just put that off til next year, lol. The greenhouse has to go up first, then I’m going to attach a small house for the hens to it.
Glad to see you out gardening…
Eileen J Stewart says
I love looking at your organizational skills at work, Mavis. I have a Missouri Hill Farm that is great at growing rocks. I kid. I have six major gardens and lots of little gardens and I grow everything I can. Some 150 varieties of herbs, flowers, and veggies.
Fresh grown is just the best!
Linda T says
I live in south western Ohio on the edge of 5B and 6a. Usually our weather is nicer that it has been this year- we were down to 38 last night. I have everything waiting to plant. My house smells like garden dirt, not a bad smell if you garden but not what I was going for.
The broccoli and peas are in and thriving, along with rhubarb and strawberries. Oh and the sage, lemon thyme and chocolate mint all look good. I PLAN to plant tomatoes, basil, sweet potatoes, and a bunch of flowers that I apparently started too early, as well as zinnias, pansies, sunflowers and my dahlias.
Michèle says
Mavis you may not know it but the beds youâve made are VERY close to those Peter Chan became famous for through his book published by Sunset in the â80âs. We visited his garden in Portland, Oregon, and his style (which is brilliant) changed our gardening life. If you can get your hands on his book you will see what I mean! Example: Angle the edges so the Sun warms the beds early in the season. He won the Sunset Garden of the Year one year!