2011 Garden Season Begins

Today was the day I've been waiting for. It was sunny, snow-less, and my brother was on spring break. Since I'm almost 8 months pregnant right now I had to depend on my generous brother, Ian, to wield the shovel for me.

First order of business - garlic sprouts! This is the first time I've grown garlic. I planted the hardneck cloves last fall and they somehow survived this terribly cold winter, in spite of the fact that I never got around to mulching them.

Secondly, as my two-year-old daughter and I cleared out the herb and flower bed we discovered that parsley is a perennial in our yard. I planted them as seedlings last year from a place in Westport called Figuerido's. I will be buying from them again.

And the biggest news, the beds are ready! They've been cleaned of rocks, weeds, tomato cages, and old carrots. They've been fertilized with cow manure and plant-tone, amended with a bail of peat and raked (thank you, Ian). I sowed 16 square feet with carrots and about half that with spinach.

Stay tuned for - potatoes!