How my garden grows - Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration

Like last year, my husband and I got a plot at the Stratford Community Gardens.  Because we had so much fun and were so successful, this year we got a double sized plot. 

Phase one of our gardening project was to get the plot ready for planting.  It was a lot of work but with the help of the back breaking effort of my husband and the less than enthusiastic assistance from my son we got a lot done in just a few hours.

Invasive weeds are a big problem at the gardens so we started by mowing them as close the ground as possible and raking up the clippings in an effort to prevent as much regrowth as possible.

Then we (we meaning my husband) tilled the two rows of our plot.  We had the same single plot as last year and we had done a decent job of enriching the soil . . . the new section the plot is going to going to need some loving. 

The garden has a fresh crop of New England potatoes to contend with.  If you’re not familiar with this variety of “potatoes”, their actually rocks.  They seem to reproduce around here, so I was pulling them out and chucking them away as fast as hubby could plow them up.

While hubby was tilling, my son and I filled a wheelbarrow with compost.  My husband saw the first barrowload and mumbled something about us (us meaning me and my boy) being only slightly more than useful and that it might take days if we (we being me and my boy) were left to our own devices to haul as much compost as was needed.

So, after he was done tilling he cracked the proverbial whip and dumped barrowload after barrowload twice as full as my girly muscles could manage.

While he and my son were getting the compost, I raked it out over the plots.  Pulling weed clumps and “potatoes” as I went along.

Once we had enough compost to cover both rows, hubby tilled it in . . . not much for us slackers to do but watch . . . and take pix!

The last thing we needed to do was string off our little section of the garden . . . kind of like marking out territory.  Although the plots are assigned it's not unheard of for a squatter to plant rows that someone else has already worked.  

Phase one . . . complete.  Stay tuned for further 

developments.