Winter garden uncovered and spring prep

Repaired raised beds with a new irrigation system for the backyard garden

The winter garden that was started in the fall of 2014 and was snug under covered tunnels during a cold winter has shed its cover of garden fabric and plastic leaving the bare hoops visible.  Covered tunnels are a great way to get a jump on spring growing season.  The crops above survived the winter cold and many are ready for harvest already in April while others will continue to mature in the coming weeks and be ready for harvest soon.  There is nothing so satisfying as having a small crop of fresh produce to pick so early in the season.  Pictured are:

• carrots
• Swiss chard
• kale
• collard greens
• onions
• leeks
• salad greens
• arugula
• cilantro
• garlic

Rainbow chard grown over the winter

As you can see from the new wood,we've made some repairs to our 5 year old raised beds in the back yard about 2 weeks ago.  The past weekend, we spent a few hours installing an irrigation system to help save time watering, and I pulled countless weeds that had sprung up over the last months.  I'm getting a late start this year, but the cold weather lingered longer than anticipated and travel kept me from getting seeds started indoors.  However, things are will be in full swing soon.  The table, heat mats and seed starting mix are at the ready and 3 cubic yards of compost has been delivered to replenish the garden beds.  I expect we will soon have summer crops well on their way in a few weeks.

If you are planting a garden this year, I'd love to hear what you are planting this year in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Collard greens harvested for dinner