Spring Cleaning

Hi. My name is Mitch and I have a weed problem. At first I barely noticed it and didn't think it was a big deal. Nothing I couldn't handle. I could just grab a handful of it and pull it out and perform other garden duties without a problem. But, as time has gone on, the problem has gotten bigger and more widespread. Now it's not just isolated to a few spots in my garden. It has gotten into other parts of my yard. I used to have just grass. Now I have weeds taking over my grass. This particular strain of weed goes by the street name, Creeping Charlie (I think). It's easy enough to pull out when it's isolated. But as the problem grows, it forms a mat and takes over your whole life, I mean, lawn. Okay, both. 

Our community garden has/is battling bindweed as well. Might as well call that stuff Devil weed because I'm sure that is where it came from. It was born from some sort of evil. I'm sure of it. The good news is that (it sounds like) Creeping Charlie is a bit easier to eradicate than bindweed for which there is practically no cure. No seriously. Check this out. If you get bindweed in your garden or yard, you're not going to have a good time. That stuff takes years to get out of your soil.

Overall, the best advice I can give is to try not to get too overwhelmed and take weeding a section at a time. If you look at it as a whole, it will feel almost hopeless at times.

So with my complaining about my weed problems out of the way, let's talk about getting your garden ready for spring.

The first thing you are going to want is the motivation. Some days are easier than others. I recommend a sunny 60 something degree day. I do NOT recommend a day like today where the high isn't getting out of the 30's and snow showers may periodically interrupt your gardening and discourage you with a piercing reminder that winter was damn cold and only a few weeks removed.

Once you find that motivation, you are going to want to clear some of the debris off of your garden beds. You can save those leaves and such and reuse it as either a mulch for your plants or you can put it in a pile somewhere and let it break down throughout the year. You would then use that crumbly pile of dirt, known as leaf mould, on your garden beds. Let nature do the work for you.

Ok, so you have your beds cleaned and exposed. Now what? Well, pull any weeds that have already started to take over because fuck those guys. Also, if you are lucky, you might find little forgotten gems from last fall. Such as these carrots that I found in my garden bed.

Adorable

 It should also be said that you probably shouldn't clear your beds until you have some seeds and/or seedlings lined up to plant. This time of year, you are going to want to plant some of the cold weather crops listed in that embedded link. So far, I have planted seeds for carrots, peas, lettuce, onion seedlings and sets, potatoes, radishes, and spinach. I highly recommend that you get a good chunk of these cold weather crops into the ground before May. This allows for these crops to mature before the summer gets too hot where many of the aforementioned foods tend to wilt or bolt. Peas, lettuce, broccoli, radish, and spinach in-particular tend to have a short self life once the temperatures rise. Personally, I try to get those crops in the ground as soon as the soil is workable. If you pick up the dirt in your garden and squeeze it in your hand and it falls apart or crumbles, your soil is probably dry enough from the thaw to work. If it sticks together or stays in the shape of your fist, it's still too wet and you may have to wait a few days.

Above, I have included a picture of my newly planted onion seedlings and also my two pea/bean towers. My son, Jack, plays with his dump truck and garden tools in the dirt.

Pictured below is another section of my garden. I chose to take some pictures of my dad helping clear out woody vines from the back fence. I did this for two reasons. 1) To show how big of a help my dad has always been the past few years with developing the landscape for my gardens. He always helps weed, built the water catchment system at the community garden, and helped me redesign the garden in the back yard among other things. And 2) To show that it's always something. If it's not vining weeds, it's ACTUAL vines. Nature always finds a way...

There is more work to be done in the garden to complete all of the spring checklists. Second sowings of some aforementioned crops, weeding (always weeding), planting of flowers, etc. But, if you don't want to put in the work this probably isn't the hobby for you. And despite some of the complaints with all of the work that goes into the spring clean up, it feels good to get out in the sun and get your hands dirty. Besides, when you pull that first spring radish out of the ground or pluck that first spring pea and crunch on it, the work all becomes worth it. 

Except for weeds. We all have a free pass to hate on weeds.  

Oh, hey there. Long time, no see.

This is my first Gerich Gardens' blog post in just under a year. I had made a conscious decision to take a year off from writing here when I found that, at times, it was starting to feel more like a chore than the fun, informative thing I had originally created. I had a few influences on my need to set this to the back burner among them being that I had just taken over a community garden and all of the nuances that come along with that. My wife's job became (and has remained) very busy especially during the spring and summer months, a thing for which I am very thankful every day. I was also dealing with a two year old who was both increasingly physically active and demanding and also one of the moodiest and needy human beings I have ever interacted with.

I know. I'm not complaining or trying to whine. All of those things listed above bring me great joy every day. People every day have busier lives and worse things going on than dealing with a toddler with an anger complex. But, for me and my first world problems, this blog had to take a back seat break. And I was okay with that.

A fresh beginning as shown by this spring flower

But now? I miss it. I miss writing about and sharing one of my passions. My wife's job is still a busy one but has afforded us (me especially) many opportunities, my gardening life being one of them. My 3 year old little boy is just that, a boy and not a toddler anymore. And much less angry... most of the time. He likes to help his daddy in the garden. I can talk to him and explain things now and he can use words and sentences to express himself. That shit is so much easier to deal with now. What a difference a year makes! And as far as the community garden thing goes? I feel like I have an okay grasp on it now. I'm not the best garden leader ever but I like to think I can run a good ship.

So I've decided to reboot this corner of the internet. Quite purposely on the first garden clean up day and the first day that I put seeds and seedlings into the ground. The official start of spring for any gardener is when you can get out there and work the soil. Get out there and play in the dirt. That is when the Earth feels like it has awoken from its winter slumber. It's a mini holiday that I get excited for. I get up and finish plans on where I will be planting everything over a cup of coffee, even though once I start planting I always end up changing it and making edits to my paper plans while in the field. I even took an early morning field trip to Horrock's Garden Center.

THIS is what trucks are for

So one of the things that happened while I was on hiatus was that I got a new vehicle. A red Dodge Ram pick up truck to be exact. I took a picture of all of the tools I loaded into it today because I was so excited. It was the first time I was able to do so since we brought it home in January and it just felt right. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that while I was loading things up and heading out to the community garden, my wife did a bang up job of cleaning out our garage from the winter clusterfuck it had become. Thanks hunny!

I didn't take any pictures at the garden today. I probably should have but once you get working, sometimes things fall by the wayside. Plus, all it really looks like is dirt and straw. But, trust me! Seeds were sown and work was done! A lot of that work was done by fine garden members. A true group effort.

After everyone left the garden today, I was able to get in the dirt, make my hands caked black, and get lost in the process of planting. Clear the ground, trough the dirt, put seed(lings) in, cover, repeat. I was able to bury 4 different kinds of potatoes, radishes, carrots, peas, and onions into the ground out there today. That is a good day. I didn't get all of it done and I started to get frustrated that I hadn't. I've always hated leaving something unfinished. As an example, this is a regular occurrence and conversation in our home. My wife: "Okay, I'm done with cards for tonight." Me: "But... we only played two games! You can't just quit when the series is tied." Or, "At least play the best of 5!"

 But as a I get older, I am able to accept the fact and understand the saying that Rome wasn't built in a day. It will be there tomorrow. And that is okay.

I have garden stuff happening around my own home as well. Allow my visual evidence to explain

Buds on one of my Black Raspberry canes

Bud growth on Red Raspberry cane

Beautiful Crocus

Garlic bed developing really well

There are literally dozens of other things that I could touch on and talk about in terms of gardening things that are happening. Such a busy time of year. But this post is already super long and I commend you for getting this far. The good news is that I expect to be able to put more Gerich Garden posts to the proverbial paper in the near future to cover it all.

In the meantime, I hope to hear from and interact with you on all things gardening. Thanks for reading.



Mitch

Gardening: Beautification edition

It's finally gorgeous out and that means getting things done outside. As you may remember from my last post, I had installed garden boxes in my front yard, filled two of them with dirt and put strawberries in them. This weekend, I completed phase 2. I had 2 yards of a compost/top soil mix dropped on my front yard lawn in the area where I grow my flowers. I wheel barreled most of the dirt into my garden boxes up front, into my established garden beds in the back yard and also right along side my strawberry and raspberry plants. I left a good foundation of the dirt on the flower area.

Speaking of my strawberries and raspberries that I put in a few weeks ago. Already we are seeing some really encouraging growth.

Strawberries

Red Raspberry

Black Raspberry

All of the green leafy growth on these canes are new and I take that to mean good things. Mainly that the roots are becoming established, they are getting a decent amount of nutrients and water and that their sunlight is adequate. Again, having never grown fruit before, this is all an adventure for me.

Let's go back to the flower area where I left spread out compost. Big things happened in that area. My wife, children and I went on Mothers Day morning and picked out a few flats worth of flowers to make use of the space. Have a look for yourself.

My wife put many of the extra flowers into pots and hanging baskets while I put the flowers in the flower bed. And even deeper than what you can see here, I went along in between the rows of established flowers and sprinkled flower seeds. The thought process here is that as the established flowers start to wear off and die down, these seeds will just be rising up and will take their place, ensuring a continual bloom throughout the garden year. I'm not sure if they will take but I know that with the excellent soil I just put them in, they have about as good as a chance as any seeds out there do.

And just for fun, let's check in on other happenings around the garden including the community garden where garden members and I just planted in some apple trees for future years enjoyment.

Onions

The pea bed

Onions and Radishes

Garlic on the left, potatoes on the right. 

Garlic

Artsy shot of my brassica bed including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and brussels sprouts. 

Apple tree planters hard at work. 

Massive amounts of wood chips, most available because of the ice storm and the debris left behind

So there it is! Busy things happening. I still want to get my two front garden boxes seeded. I'm looking at doing some corn, pole beans (to grow up the corn once it is established), and some squash/zucchini. We are sitting on the edge of the warm crop planting season and I can't wait! That is when things really get moving. I'm sure my next update will be highlighting what warm weather crops (corn, tomatoes, beans, etc) that I have put in the ground.

Until then. Garden on, Wayne. Garden on, Garth.

HOLY GARDEN-TASTIC-STRAVAGANZA-YAHOO WEEKEND!

Wow, where to start? Lately I always seem to lead in with a statement about the weather. This has not been on purpose. Until now. To be fair, weather is kind of a huge thing for us gardeners. If our soil is depleted of nutrients, we can add some compost and fertilizer. There are many other things like this that we can somewhat control. The weather on a day to day basis is not one of those things. Oh sure, you can grow in a greenhouse but I don't have one of those damn it. Though, if you want to donate one or build me one I would not turn that down. I digress. Back to weather. I'm just going to keep it real for everyone. Shit's been pretty cold in Michigan, yo. I mean, yeah, we've had a few 70 degree days. But overall? The winter has been followed up by a really sluggish spring. Tulips are slow to grow let alone bloom. I imagine the people with the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan are freaking out a bit considering that is coming up in a week or so. A large portion of the Great Lakes still have ice covering them. And it's going to be May this week.

The point of all this is to say gardening has been slow going thus far. But as of a few days ago my gardening calendar EXPLODED. It was blowin' up, as the kids say. I had already scheduled this weekend to enlist my dad's help in building some raised bed boxes for my front yard. And then I got a message from Nicole, a nice woman at the Ingham County Land Bank Garden Program, that my spring crop vegetable starts were in. And then I got a message from a good man named John (through the same program) that my raspberry and strawberry plants that I had ordered were in. Hot damn. So my weekend was committed to gardening (minus the Lugnuts minor league baseball game I attended Friday night). What choice did I have?

We will start with the cute. My kids love digging in the dirt with me. Jack will now spend a good chunk of his time outside digging in the garden. And I love it.

And so we move from one kind of young sprouts to another. 

Radish sprouts! Even these that tend to be pretty cold tolerant have been slow to take off. 

And here we have pea sprouts. I should have gotten new pictures of these because since the few days since this has been taken there has been a real surge in the number of pea sprouts and their rate of growth. 

The garlic bed is looking quite right

Oh hey look. Another cute pic made it in here. Filling some trucks up with dirt. 

Spinach sprout. 

So this is where I am so far. Things have been starting to come on. And then my spring batch of starts came in. And this is what they look like.

What we have here are leeks, storage onions, red onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage (red and green), and a metric shit ton of Brussels sprouts. 64 of them to be exact. I like Brussels sprouts. What of it? 

Those starts are currently being hardened off. If you are not familiar with hardening off, it is the process of slowing getting sprouts who have spent their lives inside, used to the elements and temperatures outside. This takes 5-7 days generally. Each subsequent day, you leave them out a little bit longer. Moving on...

Time to plant some raspberries! I must admit, the fruit sector of gardening intimidates me a bit. I am not familiar with it in terms of hands on experience. I've read up on it and studied it a fair bit but as the saying goes, there is no substitute for experience. I already have planted 4 Mammoth Red Raspberries along a bed. This weekend I also planted Anne raspberry canes and Bristol black raspberries. But even before I planted them, my wife and I worked on taking down a chain link fence and also clearing out some of the most stubborn grape vines I've ever met. Which is, you know, presumably not a lot.

Anne raspberry canes in their new home. 

Bristol raspberry canes. 

After I had planted out the raspberries and took a lunch break, I went back out to plant the leeks and onions. The following are some pictures of their placements.

Today (Sunday) brought a new gardening day. A day in which the strawberries would need to be planted. But first, we would need to build their new homes. Raised bed boxes.

Jack enjoyed playing in them

Clearly

 Also my wife, Maggie, took some shots of me while I was filling the boxes with topsoil. Because, you know, chicks love a dude who can fill a box. HEY-O! (I apologize for the inappropriateness but then again, this is my blog and that is my sense of humor)

And the finished product. Well, the two finished products. The other boxes will get dirt in them in due time. But my main concern was getting those two boxes finished so I could get the strawberries in. 

I apologize for not having pictures of the strawberries finally planted. I blanked out on that one and now it's almost 10:00pm. But, to be fair, there isn't much to look at other than the crowns of the strawberries poking up from the dirt.

Also not to be lost is the fact that I planted out a second round of seeds for spinach, lettuce, carrots and mini purple bulbing onions.

 So there it is. A weekend of work. It seems like so little when put down in this blog but has been much longer and more work than I can relate in words. I am hoping that it will be worth it.