Garden Prep and First Plantings

I planted the first veggies of the young season very early this year (March 28th) right after a string of crazy warm weather. Of course, right after planting it returned to normal early spring weather (read: cold and rainy/snowy) in Maine. About 10 days in and the Mesclun Mix Lettuce isn't up yet, but the Arugula came up a few days ago and seems to be doing okay so far despite a few below-freezing nights.

Ethan was pretty upset to find out I had planted some veggies without him, so we made sure to plant some more Mesclun Mix in his garden this past weekend. This is his first year having his "own" garden space, so he is very excited to take over the small garden area on the "hill" behind the main garden. It's only two small mounds (each about 6-8 sqft) but should be a perfect size for him to plant a few of his favorite veggies and manage (plant, weed, water, harvest) the area all on his own.

After 3 years of gardening (and lots and lots of composting!!!), I feel like I have finally gotten the soil to a good place (it always can be improved though of course). I started raised beds last year for the first time, so my plan is to use no-till methods where I disrupt the soil as little as possible going forward. I will add finished compost (maybe an inch or more if I can?) on top of the soil each year but otherwise not disrupt the soil structure for the most part. We'll see this year how well this works (or doesn't work).

So the soil's in a decent semi-steady state but sunlight is one area that I felt could be improved. Most of the garden gets sunlight from 8ish to 5ish but there is a gap from 12:00 to 1:30 where a tree blocks much of the garden and then another tree that blocks parts from 2:00 to 3:30 or so. There is nothing I can do about the second tree (too nice to consider removing) but the first tree has been bothering me for a couple years. I decided this winter that it can be sacrificed for the greater good of the garden. I had mixed feelings about killing a perfectly healthy tree but it wasn't particularly attractive (it's a white pine on the edge of our woods) and I justified it's removal by thinking about the extra 20% of sunlight the garden should hopefully receive as well as the other surrounding trees getting more sun as a result of the big one being removed. My Dad brought his chain saw over yesterday (Easter Sunday) and helped me take it down. Let's hope the extra sun results in extra delicious and abundant veggies this year!

Ethan preparing his garden for planting

The main garden raised beds. View from the hill (where Ethan's garden will be this year)

Planting the mesclun mix lettuce seeds

Proud gardener

Watering the newly planted seeds

The Arugula sprouted about 7 days after planting. So far has survived a couple hard frosts.

Lettuce and Arugula planted bottom left. Black plastic used to warm soil in prep for planting later in Spring. Green tripod sprinkler (between beds) is what I plan to use for watering this year

View from the middle of the garden beds, looking up where the tree was (wish I had gotten a "before" shot, but the "after" shot will have to do). The old tree filled up the space where the dark cloud is now

Another "after" shot. The big white pine used to be right in the middle, a few feet into the woods, taller than any of the surrounding trees

Dad and Ethan checking out the felled tree

Counting the rings -- about 40. Sorry Old Buddy.