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After the hard freeze we had at Christmas, I left everything in my garden alone that was directly in Mother Earth. The dead always is an extra layer of protection until winter is over. I will cut back in late February anything that is in the ground. As far as the constructed beds that are replanted every season, I have turned everything over in them, added additional compost, and fertilizer. Now, I am just happily waiting for the right times to replant them. On another note, I did do one thing last week while I was cleaning the above ground beds. I decided, because I just love eating them in everything, to sow some kale seed in one of the beds that was the last to get fertilizer last summer. I did not add fresh chicken fertilizer to that bed. I like to rotate the beds with different fertilizers depending on what I am planting in them. So, I just turned the soil over really well and raked it back smooth. I always keep Kale, Collards, Mustard, and just about any other greens seed for moments just like this. I keep my seed stored in glass Mason jars. They seem to keep better this way. I took a fair amount out of the Kale jar and just sprinkled by hand all over the bed. Usually, I will mix a little sand with the seed before I sow. It was about to rain, so I didn't do this. I also did not rake over the seed because of the rain. That was seven days ago. I took a walk out to the garden this morning after checking on my hens. Behold, I have seedlings up. A nice garden bed full. I guess, the few days of really warm weather and rain was the perfect combo to give the seed a kick start and bring the seedlings to life. I have left a picture of them for those of you that are interested. I like to thin them out by pulling some up and using some seedlings (otherwise known as Microgreens now) in salads and stir-fry. Yes, it is time consuming, but while I am harvesting these tiny greens, my mind is wondering on what I might have coming on the horizon! Enjoy life, love others, and praise the Lord for all our blessings. Happy Monday! 
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1/3/2023 1 Comment A Hard Winter's FreezeJanuary 3, 2023 Christmas was a cold one. The storms that moved across the United States during this season brought horribly low temperatures to our part of the South. I learned that 14 degrees will decimate greens. My winter garden looks like someone poured boiling water all over it. I took a walk through it and just thought about what to do next. I decided to just leave it be for a few days. Today, I walked through it again, and of course, the collards, turnips, cabbage, and kale are history, but I noticed the green onions and carrots trying to shoot out new green leaves from the top. This made me smile and think, all is not lost. I went and got the sheers and cut all the dead back, pulled up all the greens that were melted, and laid them all out to dry a little before adding them to the compost pile. I did this simply because the leaves had a horrible smell and adding them to the compost pile a little dryer might curb that stench a bit, at least, I hope. After getting all the dead cleaned up, I stood back and thought about my next move. This would be an excellent time to add new chicken poop to the compost pile and straight to the beds for curing. Never put new poop straight onto your plants. It will burn them to a crisp. I used the wheelbarrow to bring a load from the pile that I keep below the chicken house. It somewhat will cure there but usually only top layer gets wet. As I came back to the garden with the wheelbarrow full of the poop, I stopped at each empty bed and added a fair amount. I continued doing this until I had all the beds done. Then I took my forked rake and turned it all into the soil and smoothed it all over the bed. Job is done for now. In the spring when it is time to replant the beds will be ready. Less work for this old soul in the spring. We will just have to watch the carrots and onions to see if indeed they do finish their growing season and give me a gift from mother earth. |
Welcome to My Garden Some people may wonder why it is called a Secret Garden. My home is in the middle of eighty acres, and the house is shaped like a capital H with the front legs half cut off. The back side consist of patios, decks, and a pool area that are basically hidden from site. This makes the patio garden very secluded. I decided to fill the swimming pool in and expand the little garden patio to the enclosed area that was the pool. This gave the garden a pretty fenced in area. The picket fence would also protect my vegetable garden from those four-legged friends that enjoy coming to visit. The garden is filled with all varieties of flowers and vegetables. It has a few palms, because of my love for the ocean, and they remind me of that little breath of fresh air when I can't be there too. I guess you could say, I am blessed to be able to have the best of both worlds, country living and Gulf air.
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