Garden Fever

Sure, it was 26 degrees with a foot of snow on the ground when I let the dogs out this morning, but it won't be long until spring. All I want to do lately is get started on our vegetable garden.

My husband spent some time a few summers ago helping out on an organic farm, so we've been putting his skills to good use in our back yard.  Last year was a bust because of the infamous August 31st frost, but usually we get a good crop.

If you're thinking of putting in a veggie garden this year, the most important thing around here is to improve the soil first.  We live up on the hill by the skate park, and our back yard has lots of clay and rocks.  The first couple of years were spent breaking up sod, sifting out rocks, and adding topsoil to help smooth it out.

After breaking the sod by hand, we rented a tiller from Evergreen Rentals and tilled as deeply as we could to help make room for new roots.  It's $30 or $40 to rent for the day and it saves a lot of digging.  We usually mix in several bags of composted manure, which can be found for ~$1.50/bag at the Family Farm and Home store by Plumbs Grocery.  Our compost bins are another source of rich black dirt in the spring when we're putting in new veggies, and our dogs do a good job of scaring away critters.


Newaygo residents can buy bulk landscaping materials from the City Offices - delivery is free if you live within the city limits.  That has helped us out a lot - they delivered topsoil when we were starting the garden, mulch for building up our flower beds, 2" stone for our garden path, and crushed concrete for our driveway.

I can't wait to get started again!