Spring Has Sprung!

Yesterday was spent mulling over how to fill the new garden beds.  I started with a thick layer of cardboard, followed by straw and peat with a sprinkle of alfalfa meal, then any combination of manure/compost/used potting soil (from last years's containers) and/or topsoil I could find.  Then I ran out to pick up some dog and rabbit food.  This in theory will help my layers heat up and break down faster....so more straw and a sprinkling of corn, gluten, soy, and alfalfa rich pet food went on top.  I only had time to finish off one of the beds; a mix of compost, peat, amendments, and vermiculite went next, and all was topped off with some black plastic mulch.  This will most likely be the sweet potato bed.  I need to finish the other 2 off today, but hubby needs to get me some loam first.

Here are the two unfinished beds, with a dog hovering...they are being tortured by the dog food in the beds.  Amusing to watch them try very hard to get their muzzles through the fence and into the straw.

The finished (for now) bed is seen here on the right.  I will need to top it off with quite a few inches of soil before planting.  My Wintersown tomatoes can be seen in the background inside a frame, the jugs are in bags for an extra layer of protection.  There has been no sprouting yet which seems odd since it has been very warm here.  I am afraid the little seeds got jumbled around and are too deep or something.  It is very tempting to break in there and dig around, I may just have to today.

I also need to turn my coldframe around at some point, it is facing the wrong direction, and now that the fence has been expanded it can face the proper direction for maximum sun exposure and be opened!

I saw on another MA blogger's post yesterday that the honeybees were out.  It seems too early, but sure enough, they were buzzing around my crocuses as well.  No bumbles though- and they are usually the early arrivals.

This bee had nice big pollen baskets.  We caught him and watched him under magnification for a few minutes.  He was quite distraught, but the kids thought it was cool to check out the busy bee up close.




This other little fella was hovering around as well, not sure what kind of bee it is.  But seriously, where are the big bumbles?

Sweet Potato Know-How

After talking sweet potatoes with one of my gardening girlfriends this evening (Linna over at Linna's Garden Journal) I decided to try and nail down my technique for this upcoming gardening season.  It of coarse helps that we had some baked sweet potatoes for dinner tonight, but they weren't my own.  These were farmstand potatoes and were quite large and delicious.  I want large and delicious tubers out of my garden this year.  And the photo?  While looking for a an actual potato picture I came across this this little "sweet tot" and had to put him in instead.  I can't believe how quickly they grow, these children.

Alright, now back to the vines.....the article linked by the title above is written by a Canadian maritime gardener and I found it to be just what I needed.  Simplified.   No-nonsense.  I have been debating over raised rows or containers for the Georgia Jets.  After reading this article and talking with my friend I think I will fill one of the new raised beds using the lasagna gardening method as Linna suggested, along with raised rows composed of light soil for planting the slips in.  Why not combine multiple techniques, right?