I'm going to be in pain tomorrow! Tonight was a busy one - I de-thatched the edges of the yard and re-seeded them with a no-maintenance ground cover. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the neighbours won't think it looks weedy!! My elderly neighbour came out to chat today, and I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm a total nutbar. She asked me, "didn't you have a really nice lawn?" I tried to convince her that this will look a lot better when it's all green and nicely mulched, but the jury's still out on whether or not she'll like it. I hope my berry bushes are loaded this year so I can leave some on her doorstep! Food always eases peoples' minds, doesn't it?
I also finished trenching around the garden in the front - it's my way of keeping the grass from encroaching on the garden. We tried some of that plastic edging last year but that was a bust - even after nailing it in, it was still popping up this year! So I'll probably have to re-trench every once in a while, but for now this is a good solution. (on a side note, see my little strawberry babies? I finally figured out how to propagate them last year and they all happily overwintered!)
I also filled my peat bog in the back with a couple rubbermaids full of goat shi...manure. (I know, I know, it's the proper term. But I just can't bring myself to say "the s-word". I've been properly trained, that I have. :) ) Anyway, I've been amending the crap out of that raised bed in the past couple of weeks. I added lime, compost, and the entire contents of my worm bin. Unfortunately the pile then got so big that it was way too much "soil" for the bed! So then I started transferring it out - I used it on top of my newly seeded path, I tossed some on my strawberries, I even filled up a garbage can with the stuff for anytime I need peat moss in the next 10 years. Now there's 2 rubbermaids full of straw and goat dung worked in as well. I hope the dung works well because I sure didn't need the extra straw! Oh well, I guess it will be a test garden for another year.
At least now I can get my carrots and lettuce going, which I've been positively itching to do. In lieu of that, I put in some tomatoes in the raised bed that was already prepped. Don't shoot me! I know there's a lot of debate over gardening before the May long weekend in Edmonton, but our actual average last frost date is May 10. I realize that there's a possibility of frost even in June, but I ain't waiting that long! That's what blankets are for. :) And besides, in Edmonton, I bet I've seen frost in every single month at some point in my life. For those that aren't familiar with our weather, on Monday, April 29 we had a snowstorm and it stayed below zero for 2 days. The very next Monday, we were basically the hottest spot in Canada at 30 degrees C.
So it's possible I'll lose my tomatoes, but what's gardening without a little risk?
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