In between sessions of picking up deadfall I've been making steady progress on outdoor projects in spite of my sore back. I finished the first raised bed, filled it up with garden soil, and sowed the whole thing to kale for Mrs. Augie. Cost of materials was a little over $200 for the 3' wide x 10' long x 2' tall box. Not terrible compared to the plastic beds that you get at the store. I hope to have two more of them done by time for fall garden planting. The low beds behind this one need to come out to make space for the other two that I'm planning, and the bit of garlic that didn't freeze out over the winter needs to be harvested before I can tear out the beds.
Saturday I got the tiller tractor out and worked over the spot where we installed the new freeze-proof faucet. Knocked down the high spots with a rock rake and threw some fescue seed on the ground. From there I moved to the new garden patch and made one light pass over it with the tiller.
I stopped by the plant nursery while I was in town Saturday morning and picked up five rhubarb plants and a bundle of ProMix. I've been having a devil of a time getting rhubarb to survive after transplanting but I'm determined to make it happen. I re-potted the plants as soon as I got them home and put them all in the greenhouse. I'm going to give them a couple months to make some roots before I put them in the ground outside.
Yesterday I raked the winter mess off of my asparagus bed. No signs of new shoots yet, but with a foot of leaf mulch on top that's no surprise. That bed has been there for 15 years. I should dig the plants, renovate the bed, and then reset the crowns but it's not worth the trouble. I just ordered 50 new crowns from Jung's that I'll plant in the new garden after they arrive. The old bed can just keep on keeping on where it is now.
We're due for a refresh of our chicken flock this spring so I've cleaned out the brooder house and tuned up the fence around that space. Still need to put the feed/water containers in and replace the heat lamp, but those things take two minutes to accomplish and can be done when I bring chicks home.
ugh...