By Mike Thayer
It's been a fantastic week to get ready for spring planting. With the temperatures hitting the 70's and a clear sky, a lot of work has been done in the Akdeniz Garden.
The previous three days have been spent prepping and amending the soil. I'm a big advocate of raised garden beds and over the 10+ years at the current homestead, I've built five 12' x 4' raised beds and a number of smaller beds around the plot. Raised beds provide better drainage, higher yields and they're easier on the back and knees! I've got a three-bin composter, which provides the beds with oh-so valuable nutrition for the veggies and flowers. Compost beats the pants off of commercial fertilizers, saves money, is free of unnecessary chemicals and no more hassles with the garbage disposal!
With prep out of the way, lunchtime today allowed me to put in some cool weather tolerant veggies. I put in onions, radishes, spinach, peas, carrots, arugula and a variety of lettuces. When the danger of the last frost is past (Mother's Day is my general rule of thumb), I'll be putting in eggplant, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, okra and a variety of peppers.
Sprouting from last year's fall planting are green onions, leeks, parsley, lemon balm, camomile, chives, thyme and believe it or not some red cabbage!
Next up, trimming the grape vines and putting in the potatoes....... I'm trying Yukon Gold this year.
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