Saturday I inventoried all the food I had canned, and dried. Sunday I inventoried the things I froze. This inventory will help me decide what to plant this year. I must say "THANK YOU" to my mom for canning beets, peaches, and spaghetti sauce and drying apples for me. There was no fruit on my trees and I didn't get enough beets or tomatoes to can.
This year I know that I need to plant lots of cucumbers. The pickles are getting low.
My seed catalogs are arriving in the mail and I am getting excited for a warm afternoon to start working in the garden.
I watered the garden December 27 and left it uncovered for two days. There is enough spinach for a salad still growing. I will harvest that and the beets this week, since it is supposed to be warm. The beets are planted in the coolest raised bed in the garden and I want to get that bed prepared so I can get cabbage and broccoli started there really soon.
I will get another bed or two prepared for lettuce, spinach, and peas this month too.
I keep having the feeling to start things earlier this year, so I will. I can cover everything if needed.
Two years ago I started my lettuce and spinach in February. Three years ago I started my lettuce, spinach, and peas in January. Both of those years I had great crops.
I looked out into my backyard Wednesday morning and saw a rabbit sitting near the garden. I had noticed in November that there were foot prints near my compost buckets, but I couldn't tell what they were and I wondered if something was living in my yard. Well I guess a cottontail rabbit was.
I opened the gate and threw rocks near him, so he would head towards the gate. He did. He ran out my gate and under the neighbor's gate.
I scraped the driveway gravel so that it would meet the bottom edge of the gate. I checked the fence between us and next door. I had to fix the chicken wire in the back corner where it was pushed in. I'm sure the rabbit could fit through that opening.
I moved the wood and rock that I had used to block the antelope squirrels from coming in behind the beehive, since it wasn't doing any good. I ended up making a big mess instead of blocking out the critters. The bees are all inside the hive, so it was a good time to clean.
I also found that the cat is back and has been for a while. It has three new places it is going to the bathroom in my yard. One place is next to the fence where there isn't any tack strip. That side of the yard was never a problem. Thursday I got out the box of tack strip and now the fence has carpet tack strip on it except where the grapevine grows over the fence. I need help to get it there, but I am hoping the cat doesn't decide he can climb up and down a grapevine to get into my yard. There is also a section of fence that backs the desert that doesn't have tack strip on it. I don't expect him to show up from that direction.
I got the vinegar spray bottle out and sprayed all the dirt. I've been so busy I can't believe it is already Monday. I will get spraying again this evening and do that daily for a while. This time I hope the cat leaves for good.
Forgot to buy more tulle at the fabric store this morning. I have enough to cover the frame on the bed while they are short, but I will need more to cover the plants as they grow.
I am going to keep the cabbage and broccoli covered with tulle from seed to harvest. Hopefully that will help with the bug problem better.
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