Dirty Work

These days of mid-spring, they are so very magical, aren't they? Everything is out of the ground, growing up so quickly and giving so much sensory stimulation. We've been out moving and digging and building and watering and planting and so. much. more in the garden, each and every day. I thought I'd show you a bit of what we've been up to.

1) The pea trellis (first and second photos) is going like gang busters. I adore peas, so here's hoping we have a massive crop to eat fresh and freeze for later use.
2) Hubs built these risers to keep the tiny Englishman off of the pots, as he was sort of leap-frogging from one to the next across the garden. These 12 contain our sweet peppers (there are a mess of hot peppers planted in the raised beds; since Hubs would put hot sauce on top of a jalapeno, we can never have too many hot peppers for making hot sauce).
3) We added on to the pea trellis, making a long bed for trellising pickling cucumbers beside it. There's 15 cukes planted there, and another 6 in a raised bed. In a few months, I plan to be swimming in cucumbers, and up to my elbows in vinegar and pickling spices.
4) The raised lettuce beds we made by appropriating plastic bins left by the previous owners (our property used to house an organic flower and herb farm when Hubs purchased it back in 2005, two years before we met). We drilled some extra drainage holes in them so that water wouldn't pool inside when we have serious drenching storms. Having them raised also keeps both slugs and the tiny Englishan from easy access (see #2).
5) We're excited about this sorrel bed. We figured we'd give it it's own space, for perennial purposes. Can't wait to make some sorrel and potato soup and enjoy all that lemony-flavored, nutrient-dense green goodness.

There's also been some tomato trellising going on, which I'll share with you soon. And, currently in the works (as in, right this very minute, as he's out there with drill and wood screws and wood planks in hand), Hubs is putting a raised platform and pergola beside Huxley's sandbox. The plan is to put our wrought-iron cafe table and chairs there and grow some native vine-ing edible something or other up the posts, creating an edible shade on top. If you've got any suggestions for something  that grows fast, produces prolifically, looks good, and tastes delicious, I welcome your feedback. And I'll post some images as soon as it's photo-worthy.

So much work. So much fun. Soon the dog days of summer will be upon us and we'll be ready to just sit out there, watch the chickens peck, the dogs pant, the baby play, and the plants grow. It'll all be worth the dirty work incurred to get it to that place.