More weekend chores

While Larry was busy putting the finishing touches on the poly house, I started the day by seeding two more trays of leeks and bringing them over to the greenhouse. I noticed that the beets are coming up and tiny green lettuce has sprouted. Colleen came over to help empty out a small planting area nestled between the herb beds and the garage. When we first moved into the house the bed had two magnificent climbing roses climbing up the trellises surrounded at the base by tall green ferns. After two or three years, the roses failed to thrive. I believe it was a combination of not enough sun, too much moisture, and root crowding caused by the ferns. Last year, I dug out the roses and moved them to the base of the stairs going up to a small deck where they are now thriving. I transplanted many of the ferns to a small wooded area at the edge of our yard. I've decided to try and grow lettuce in this new area. I think it will do well in the partial shade and protected environment of the bed. I am going to have to put up a small gutter at the roofline, however, so that the rainwater is diverted to the side of the garage.

Speaking of the garage, I spent some time in the afternoon reorganizing it. The garage is more than adaquate for storage purposes, but it feels a bit tight as a work environment. Now that the poly house is up, I can spead out a bit. Even though the garden is right in my own back yard, I am still getting used to working in this new space. I was at my previous garden for nine years and I knew where everything was. Here, I feel a bit disoriented and I'm wasting a lot of time searching for misplaced tools, seed packs, planting instructions and my to do list. Perhaps it is just my excitement at creating something new that has me preoccupied and scatter brianed.
I put up stakes and fishing line to protect the garlic plants from a flock of Canadian geese who have been grazing on the lawn and inching closer and closer to the perimeter of the garden. I need to purchase some good wire fencing to put at the base of the split rails to make sure the geese are discouraged from getting into the garden where they will wreak havoc if given the chance. People in the neighborhood have been coming up with innovative ways to handle the goose problem for years and I could never quite understand what all the fuss was about until now. On a positive note, chasing all those honking birds off my lawn is keeping me in good shape!