The Vegetable Garden- Off and Running

Because of all the sunny, dry weather we have been having this Spring, I was able to start my vegetable garden today. First, the site needed some help. I had a nice blank slate to start with, after all the work we did last year. But before I started planting, I did want to bring in some more soil to raise the back of the bed, level with the front. After a trip to Lane Forest Products and Dad's help with his small tractor, I was ready to layout this year's garden design.

I decided to scratch the back row of sunflowers that I have done the last two years. Each year they stretch out , reaching for more sun and lean over into a walking path. Then, when the Fall rains come, they fall over. Enough of that! So I decided to move the tomato row back to the back row. Hopefully, they will still get plenty of sun there. In front of the tomatoes I want to do a whole row of Zinnias. Then, in front of them, I planted a long row of two varieties of onions: "Prince" a yellow storage onion & "Mars" a red onion , both grown from Johnny's Select Seeds seed by local Hayhurst Farms. I picked up a 6-pack of each yesterday at Down to Earth. Then, in the front as always, I prepared the 4 raised beds for my Winter Squash. The rest of the garden won't be ready to plant for almost another month, when it really starts to warm up for good. But it sure feels good to have everything ready so early.

My long row of "Prince" & "Mars" onions.