Progress!!

What a beautiful day today!  It was 84 degrees today, a very warm day in May (average is mid-60's)!

Last night, I stopped by Lowe's to pick up a couple packets of seeds I recently realized I need, and they had asparagus marked down 1/2 price.  The husband has been whining a bit because I didn't get the asparagus ordered, first because the beds weren't built, and then I figured it had gotten to be too late to get any.  I came home and told him if he was willing to help me build another bed, we could go get some.  I do hope they'll come up okay, they were definitely not enjoying life in the packages anymore.  I opened them right away and soaked them overnight in some water with a little splash of liquid kelp.  I figured by the time I planted them, I'd be able to tell if they looked like they just were too far gone.  Other than the one I seem to be missing- and I thought I counted all 15 of them last night, so I'm guessing it's just wound in with another root- the roots did seem okay today.  I guess we'll see soon enough.

I was so hot and tired after working outside all afternoon (I am definitely NOT used to warm weather!) I forgot to snap a new photo, so the details will have to wait.

I did finally get out to take some photos of the new garden:

This is the view from the east:

You can see how the little garlic rings we put together in the fall, really don't fit in well with what we ended up building (oops!). After the garlic is done, I'm going to take them out.  We added the asparagus bed in the grassy area in front of the larger rings on the left and will add another bed or two as well, for next year.  I hope to leave the rhubarb where it is (the small ring on the far right, on the side of the chain link fence.  That poor plant has had a rough couple of years, as I dug it from my rhubarb in Colorado and stuck it in a pot, with what turned out to be awful soil, and it spent some time on an apartment balcony, then the too shaded front yard of the rental, then to a sunny deck but with no attention due to moving and remodeling.  That it is still alive shows it is a hardy plant.  We stuck it in the ground last fall and though the stalks are small, it has put up many leaves.  I don't want to disturb it again.

Here's the view from the other end:

The arch is a cattle panel trellis.  When we rented last year, the back yard was not completely fenced- the last 15' of each side was open because I think it is technically a green belt that didn't belong to the landlord.  The way things were when we moved in, nobody could really access the space anyway as it was very overgrown next door, so we bought two 16' panels and a couple t-posts and made a temporary fence, but one that was sturdy enough to safely contain our labs, and one that I already knew how to re-purpose.  I don't think I'll use the second one this year, but it is an option if I need it.  I'm planning melons in the right side bed (where if you look closely, you can see the kitten, Fred) and winter squash in the left bed. 

This is the long bed toward the east side.  It has a mish-mash of transplants, probably too closely planted, and because these were in wintersown jugs, I had to get them off the deck before I had all my materials for bed-filling, so we'll see how they do. They're pretty much planted in composted horse manure and old, partially rotted straw.

 Anyway, that's all for now.  I'll be back again- hopefully with more regularity than I have been.  It's been hard to get back into the blogging swing.  During the past couple of summers with no garden, I had to stay away from Gardenweb and the blogs, as they just bummed me out.  I am glad to be back, and I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone's gardens, and keeping this blog up to date.