March Garden Update

Here’s an update on some of the things I’ve been doing here in early March. We’ve had favorable weather lately, dry and warm, and I’ve been taking advantage of that to get a few things done out in the vegetable garden. One task has been to spread compost, especially on the first bed where I will plant the spring brassicas next month. I’m spreading about an inch of compost, which will be followed by organic fertilizer. The area I’m working on will be one of my no-dig, no-till trial beds this year.

shoveling out compost

I will say that spreading compost used to be much easier 20 years ago!  My back has been sore after every work session. One of the compost bins is almost empty, while the other one is full and needs to ‘work’ for a couple of months or so. So I want to get the one bin cleaned out and spread on the garden as soon as possible. The compost is wet and heavy this time of year, and until recently was frozen solid.

one load of compost

spreading the compost

I’m also putting down cardboard between the beds, which I plan to cover with straw. This is one of my favorite mulching methods, and does a good job of keeping down the weeds as well as contributing organic material as it breaks down. Until the cardboard is covered and has weathered a bit, it is prone to blowing away though. For the time being, I have weighted it down with whatever was handy. In this case it was a few metal t-posts and some bags of hardwood mulch I plan to use on a permanent walkway area.

using cardboard for mulch

I’ve also found a bit of time to work out in the greenhouse. I’ve been planting some of the lettuce I started indoors, and I’ve done a bit of transplanting too for some of the seedlings. So far I’ve potted up parsley, petunias and the early eggplant I started. Next week I need to start seeds for peppers, following by tomatoes. It’s a busy time of year, but I enjoy the work after a cold winter.

salad box planted with lettuce

I hope you have enjoyed this look at what’s happening here. I’ll be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres!