Summer at last!

The temperature finally got more summery in Washington and the tomatoes and I are thankful. I got so inspired about the warmer temperatures and the opportunity for things to grow that I had to make more room to plant things! At first it started as tilling up more lawn in the front yard. Then the thought shifted to making a lasagna garden in the back yard in a newly observed sunshiny spot near the house. Lasagna gardening is the method of layering compost and peat moss on top of the soil then planing in the layers instead of digging down into the soil- works great on lawns (start with wet cardboard or a heavy layer of newspapers to act as weed cloth) After some consideration about the chickens and the dogs and the fence building that would need to be done in addition to the major scoring of some free 6'x8' lumber from a restaurant who had just redone their front stair entrance, Russ and I decided we could install a few more raised beds in the front yard while still using the lasagna methods. Russ came up with a unique design of triangles to complement the original square foot garden. I got the basic run down of the tools I'd need and where to find them then it was handed over as my project. Weee! Power tools, air wrench, dirt and hot sun! By Saturday afternoon I had 3 new boxes.



Sunday I shuffled compost and horse manure around while Russ mowed down the ever growing and too much shade providing shrub by the driveway. By Sunday afternoon I had a garden spot for strawberries, cantaloupe (I know it is tough to grow here but I am giving it a shot!) broccoli, more tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, dill, parsley, lettuce, spinach and carrots.