CHOP CHOP DIG DIG

Last night I realized that my peppers plants were starting to flower. It's way too soon for that, and they're not nearly big enough to support the weight of any peppers, so I chopped their heads off!

See ya flower buds

Beanars says "can I eat these ones now?"

Yep, I decapitated all of them. As much as it pained me to chop off so much, I know they'll grow back stronger and bushier and produce more peppers this way. 

This morning I got up early and started hardening off all of the plants (which in regular-speak means taking them outside so they get used to the wind and rain and sun). If you don't gradually harden off your plants for a few weeks before planting them outside they'll go into shock, or get sunburned, and die. The elements can be pretty harsh!

The next item on the agenda was to start working on the plot - here's what I managed to accomplish from about 8:30 until 11:30 this morning:

The far bed will hold peas, carrots, bush beans, and beets. The closest will be for salad greens.

Are you impressed? I'm impressed. I pretty much got these first 2 beds weeded and built up, and also dug trenches around some parts (which I'll later fill with mulch to absorb water when it rains, and to be used as pathways between the beds). It was getting pretty hot by 11:30 and my arms were feeling weak so I called it a day. The pictures make it look like nice fluffy soil but that is pure HEAVY clay. But I did see a ton of these guys as I shoveled, which is a good sign - there must be enough nutrients in the soil for the worms to be feeding on, plus they help return nutrients to the garden with their poop!

hi there wormy, thanks for your help!

It's my mom's birthday today so now I'm off to Manotick for the celebrations. The weather is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow so we'll see how much more I can weed and dig out by the end of the weekend (If anyone wants to come help me I will reward you with delicious vegetables during the summer!!!!)

Have a good one and enjoy the weather!