April Growth!

Well, I meant to update more regularly, but instead I'll now have a big old post. Happy May Day to you all! April was a month of growing more & more....the garden work I did in mid-March started showing it's first greens, and my belly got even BIGGER.  I had a beautiful & wonderful baby shower, hosted by my dear friends & family, and another shower at school (our 7th school baby shower of the year!) that was so appreciated. I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful friends, co-workers, and family! Baby Henry has such a supportive circle to be born into! Speaking of baby Henry, he's working his way into the world- no active labor yet, but there are signs he's on his way. I've finished school for the year; I'm at the point now where he could be 2 hours, 2 days or 2 weeks away....so, I'm just enjoying my time (while waddling around like a penguin), and preparing mentally & physically for the journey to come. It's an exciting and expectant time, for sure! I'll let the rest of this entry speak for itself with pictures & captions.

Here's me, getting the garden started during Spring Break in March. My belly is hidden, but it's certainly harder work while pregnant! We pulled back the straw that covered the beds for the winter, applied compost (this, to me, is still one of the most amazing things- see that stuff in the wheelbarrow? That used to be our leftover food, kitchen scraps, etc....now, it's the best thing in the world to feed my garden. It's really quite a moment every year to "harvest" the compost & spread it on the garden. Such an amazing cycle!), and then mixed in a little Happy Frog soil conditioner. Then, we put up the fence (thin netting, but has kept out critters so far), and I went ahead & put in all the supports I knew I'd need this season, for peas, tomatoes, etc.  And finally, I planted my first round of seeds & such- spinach, mixed salad greens, lettuce, peas, beets, carrots, onion sets, and more! (I follow the Farmer's Almanac planting schedule pretty closely- has worked so far for me.) And of course I got help with all the big work- here's my wonderful garden helper!

One month later, we have growth: my first asparagus came up from the crowns I dug in last year (I knew I wouldn't be able to do hard digging this year, so I did it while I had the chance!), and we got to harvest a few spears this year. Exciting! Lots more for years to come! Also, the first harvest of greens this year was baby spinach. Yum!

In April, I got in the warmer-weather plantings: tomatoes, peppers, basil, herbs, potatoes, corn, beans, cukes, squash, melons, and more! (I bought some of those things as plants this year from Stranger's Hill- mice ate the starts I tried in my Aerogarden downstairs, and I didn't have time to re-try). Now, the garden looks like this:


On the left, you can see green stuff popping up everywhere; and on the right, some close-ups of red leaf lettuce, chinese cabbage, and a bit of kale. Here's a close-up of some baby-spinach & carrot tops:

Exciting and yummy! I did have to cover the tomato, pepper, eggplant, and cuke plants I bought during a late April frost warning- I just used upside-down plastic pots & containers, and they all seemed to fare just fine. So far, so good! At this point, I'm just glad to have everything planted before baby Henry comes. The hard part is done; now I just watch it all grow & maintain it the best I can. Hopefully, we'll have some good harvesting all summer long!

In the baby growing department, here are a few fun pics of me, my fam, & friends from the shower:

                                       

And finally, some random pics:

Silly doggies on the bed, and,

      A late pregnancy, big-belly photo!

Thanks for reading,  everyone-- the next post will probably be of baby pictures! :) 

Happy Spring to 

you all!