Gardening

For the last two weekends I have been getting compost from the city of Warsaw and spreading it on our garden. For 5 Saturdays every Spring and Fall, Warsaw offers free compost from the leaves that they collect in the Fall; I got 3 pickups full each Saturday and spread it on the garden (6 total). I hope to till it this weekend.

We are expanding the garden by about 50% this year and adding more crops. Last year was just an experiment to see what the soil was like—rocky, very rocky, hence the compost. We live along a creek and the soil reflects it in being mainly rocks with some topsoil. In fact, one of the previous owners, back about 40 years, used to sell gravel to the county!

I'm growing the tomatoes (roma, cherry, and beefsteak), peppers (chili and bell), cucumbers, and watermelon from seed in the basement. Yes, there is a grow-light over them; I know you can't grow plants in the basement without light :) If everything grows as hoped, we will have plenty to give away.

Meantime, I also got two loads of wood chips and spread them around the lilac bushes and the house. We took the black plastic edging out and replaced it with landscape timers. I think it looks better; it sure will be easier to mow. We also cut down the bushes in front. If we had trimmed them, all that would have been left was branches without any green. Maybe, if I remember, I will take some pictures...