My daughters were out early, taking care of some planting for me, so here are some “after” pictures. 😊
The first area they worked on were the bald patches in the maple grove.
These are where the branch pile we got chipped last summer had been sitting for about four years. The first thing they did was use the thatching rake to break up and loosen the soil, then raked it smooth. For the patch in the foreground, they made sure not to get too close to where we’ll be digging a trench to replace the water line from the house to the garden tap. I ordered two packets of alternative lawn mix, which they sowed and watered and tamped down. From the website:
This mix contains annuals and perennials of daisies, poppies, sweet alyssum, soapwort, nemophila, viola, thyme, chamomile, clover and fine fescue.
Hopefully, they will not only fill in the bald patches, but will also naturally spread themselves in the maple grove, and maybe choke out the bell flowers that have been so invasive here!
In the time it took me to finish feeding the outside cats and switching out the trail cam memory cards, not only had they finished this area, but they finished planting the spinach, too!
The only thing left to do by the time I came out was to add the floating row cover. I bought a couple of these from a dollar store to try out. I’m not sure we’ll get more. It seems very fragile. At some point, I should buy a whole lot of tulle fabric. For the spinach, however, it’s more about keeping the critters from eating them than for insects. I just hope the cats will stay off of it. Otherwise, we’ll have to add hoops. I’m still shooting to build proper covers for these beds soon, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to pick up the lumber I need, so this will do until then!
The next cool weather crop I need to get in is at least one variety of bread seed poppies. I keep forgetting about them! I’ve decided to clean the vine off the chain link fence and put them in the bed we unsuccessfully tried to grow white strawberries in, last year. That can be the permanent spot for one variety. The other cool weather crop we can get in this early are peas, which will be planted along the chain link fence where we had tomatoes last year.
After that, things will need to wait until closer to our last frost date, so we’ll have time to prepare and finish more beds.
It feels so good to be able to get stuff into the ground!
Oh, and I got my first shipping confirmation from Veseys, for the smaller order that got processed a couple of days ago. It is our 3 pack of raspberries!
The expected delivery date is May 8, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they arrived earlier. I look forward to getting shipping notices for the apple, mulberry and potatoes!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 
I’m so pleased with our poppies! They are in full bloom right now and looking gorgeous with the bees all over them. I tried to for years to get them established with only frustration to show for it. Then a nearby gardening friend gave me her seeds, and bingo! Are not all poppyseeds used for bread? I know there are lots of varieties, but what’s special about the bread seed poppies?
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So glad you found seeds that took!
My mother used to grow poppies here. I used to love eating the seeds right out of the pods!
At some point, it became illegal to get the seeds for edible poppies, because they can be used to make opium. Even the seeds bought at the store had to be treated somehow, so they wouldn’t germinate. I don’t know when things changed. When we moved back here, there were ornamental poppies, but that’s it. They have almost no pod at all. The bread seed types grow large pods with bigger, edible seeds. We grew this variety before, but the growing conditions were poor, and they never reached their full size. I’m hoping they do better here. I found a second variety to try and still need to decide on a location. Something further away, as I don’t want them to cross pollinate.
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