A New Row Has Been Hoed

It was another warm, but beautiful morning and afternoon today and Farmer Craig decided that he wanted to add another row of veggies to the garden. So off to Walmart we went to see if they had something different than Lowes. They did! Craig has wanted to plant broccoli since he first started talking about the garden, but Lowes didn't have any starter broccoli plants. Walmart, however, did have some so we bought a set of 6, (along with some turnip plants - Craig's choice. I'm not sure he knows what he chose as I know he has never had one - Mainly because his father and I don't like them at all) and we headed back home to dig, fill, and plant more of the garden.

New Center Row
Back 6 plants - Turnips / Front 6 plants - Broccoli

Craig decided that he wanted to clear out the center of the garden instead of either side. This is where I came in. I get to do all the manual labor. Just as with the first two rows, I used a shovel to clear off the grass, removing as much of the root system as possible.

Since this new bed was in the middle of the older two, I thought that one long railroad tie would serve as a better bed end that having 3 separate pieces. This is a great idea, but the ties are 8' long each and I only needed 7' (aprox). So I had the fun of cutting through one of the wooden ties with a handsaw. Why you ask, did I use a handsaw and not a power tool? The answer to that is a simple one. I like my fingers and hands. My husband is wonderful with the power tools and cutting devices, I however see massive problems if I were to attempt it, so I used the handsaw and almost an hour later I cut through the very thick railroad tie. Hey, It's good exercise for my arms...At least that is what I told myself.

After the tie had been cut to the length that I needed I placed it at the end of the now three beds, and again using Miracle Grow top soil for vegetables and flowers, we filled the new row. Craig is now becoming a master planter and was in charge of digging the holes, removing the plants from the containers, placing them in the holes, and covering them with the soil. He did it all himself and the pride shone across his dirt smeared face.

Proud Lil' Gardener

Next came the watering of the newest row. Craig loves to water and now has the flow of water under control. He no longer beats the plants down with a super strong stream of water.

We finished up watering and picking up the trash around the garden and headed into the house to clean up. No sooner had we come inside than the thunder began. Loud and close we knew that rain was on the way and chances are it was not going to be a nice soft one. We were right, it poured! All I kept thinking was that I hoped we had planted the new veggies deep enough to not float out of the ground. Craig (and I) have worked so hard today, I knew it would upset him.

Thankfully, Craig did a great job getting the holes deep enough and packed them in well enough that they looked just as good after the downpour as they did before it!!