This past week has been a bit of a chaotic one for my garden. We’ve been getting snow off and on for the past two weeks and it’s making the last little bit of fall clean up a bit of a messier process.
What I planted
Earlier this week before the colder temperatures really settled in I got to spend some time prepping one of the garden beds for a new batch of garlic. I planted around 75 cloves. This is less than I did last year where I did around 100 cloves and while the beds have the space for that amount of garlic I felt like the bulbs didn’t get as big as I was hoping due to less nutrients available in the soil.
So, I reduced the number this year so as to not deplete the ground too quickly. I mulched the bed with several inches of some left over mulch from the tomato beds and some freshly fallen leaves off the trees. I can’t wait to see some of their little green sprouts popping out of the snow in early spring.
I normally also plant flowering bulbs in the fall but I elected not to this year since I’m going to be rearranging some flower beds in the spring. This might end up changing what I plant in certain areas, so I opted to just keep what I already have. I am still deciding on final arrangement and layout options (which is a great task to work on throughout the winter when I can’t be outside as much).
What I worked on
I put together a shed this last weekend. For years I’ve wanted a shed to store my outdoor supplies and tools. Before this I’ve been trekking back and forth from the yard and garden (primarily located in the back) to the garage in the front of the house. I do have a front yard but it’s a xeriscape layout that I implemented several years ago and besides some light weeding occasionally it’s low maintenance. So I rarely need tools in this area.
Installing this shed will put the tools and supplies I need much closer to where I actually use them and complete projects. This is going to save me so much time and give me a better opportunity to enjoy the gardening experience!
I chose a shed that I would have to install myself in order to save a bit on the overall cost since it’s so close to the holiday season. I will admit that the directions did clearly state that two people should work on assembly and I worked on this alone so I’m not surprised it took longer than anticipated.
However, instead of a six hour project like I had hoped (double the time the directions indicated since I was going to be working alone) I ended up needing 12 hours! I spent most of Saturday and then a few hours on Sunday to finish the shed. I had hoped to complete the project before snow started flying again this week, but Sunday’s laboring was almost entirely while it was snowing. So, while I’m happy to have a shed, the process is one I’m not eager to repeat any time soon.
Once the snow melts and the temps warm up in the next couple days I’ll finish cleaning up the last of the garden space and then I’ll be moving items into the shed. I’m excited and ready for early spring work.
Stay tuned for next week’s update!
–The Busiest Bee Garden