On Saturday morning I was out in the Big garden by 6AM. This was the area I planned to work on, to the west of the onions we had planted on Wednesday. It needed cleaned off, weeded, the mulch moved and raked before I could plant.
I had weeded and moved all the dry hay off the area by 7AM. I decided to only rake as much area as I was planting, as I went along.
So I got this much done, amended it and laid out the first row. It was parsnips to be planted from seed. Some plants cannot be started inside, usually deep taproot plants.
I got that row done, on left, and mulched. Then I started the next row for Swiss chard and a short row of parsley. It was 9:30AM when I had gotten this far and I needed to rest. So I went inside and sat down for a while.
I started hearing noises just outside the house and went to check it out. The last of the wood for the masonry heater had arrived. I sat for a few more minutes then went out at 10AM and got started again.
I got the Swiss chard and parsley seedlings in the ground and started mulching. I had that big pile of wet mulch and I put a thin layer of that down first. It’s still good mulch but because it is wet, any seeds in it will germinate and sprout up.
So I cover it with a thicker layer of the dry mulch and things don’t sprout. Then I put the loose hay we’d brought in around each plant. That row was finished.
I raked back more of the wet stuff and laid out and prepped the next row. It would be basil and spinach. The next thing I had to do was broadfork the row and I just didn’t have the energy. So I got cleaned up and got my notes and photos and went inside to rest. It was nearly noon.
Just before I finished in the garden, the wood guy finished. I got him paid off for the 4½ cords he’d stacked in the new shed for the masonry heater. At least that much wood is in the shed.
I rested a while and thought about what I wanted to get done before it started raining on Sunday night. I had to mow, the 4 hour version, and I wanted to get more planted in the Big garden.
Eventually I decided to do the mowing on Saturday afternoon. If I got started by 1PM, I’d finish by 5PM. My brother was due back in the afternoon and he planned to weedwack the 2 pastures then work on the truck brakes.
He’d need my help for the brakes, so If I got started at 1PM, I’d be mowing at the barn when he needed me and so, nearby. So that’s what I did. But the grass was really dry (and wicked dusty) and I didn’t have to empty the grasscatcher as often. I actually finished at 4PM and came inside for a much needed shower.
He got home nearer to 5PM and was too tired to work on weedwacking or brakes. So I was finished, except for editing the 83 photos I’d taken throughout the day.
Once that was done I went to bed as I hoped to be in the Big garden by 6AM on Sunday morning.