weekends in march (and probably april)

our first spring in the new house finds us busy as bees preparing the land for the potager. thankfully, the weather has been really fantastic this month. the kids and i spend some time each day clearing beds of fall leaves, pruning (rose bushes, apple trees, grape vines so far, wisteria this week, and cutting back plants left for winter interest. i love putting on my gloves and getting dirty out there. this leaves the weekends for the big project.

the to-do list includes

1. design potager (done)
   
2. clear plot (done)
3. remove fence and timber (done)
4. till the plot (done)
5. level plot (done)
6. start indoor seeds (tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and many more) (done)
   
7. build raised beds (in progess)
8. place and fill beds
   
9. plant spring (cool weather) crops outside
10. build fence and gate (simple this year? final maybe spring '10)
    
11. install paths (mulch or gravel over landscape fabric) - maybe spring '10)
12. continue planting crops as season progresses

not completely exhaustive, but you get the idea. our hope is to harvest most of the food we eat (produce) throughout the planting season - beans, peas, broccoli, lettuces, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onion, herbs, cucumbers, squash, berries, etc.

a few before pics (one from the upstairs window) - luca is digging for worms. jesse tilling the ground and peat pots waiting for tomato seeds to germinate. (also notice the freshly pruned espaliered apple trees against the back fence. they took me several long hours worth of work (and many blisters to show for it) a few weeks back.

soon to come, a sneak peak at the raised bed plan i designed and jesse is building. we have 4 trays worth of seeds now planted and luca has plans to photograph them to show off.