Happy Friday! My dirt is coming! My dirt is coming!

LOL! Oxborrow is delivering my garden soil and decomposed granite today ~ asked them to give me a call here at work before they deliver so I can get home by the time they get there.

Am getting 3 cubic yards of Double Mix (topsoil and grape compost) and 3 cubic yards of D.G. 5/16″ (coarse). Have my wheelborrow and shovel ready!

Well have to go shopping for seeds and some plants afterwards. List has been made:

Here’s a picture of where it’s all going ~

Soil in the boxes ~ decomposed granite all around the boxes where the dirt is now. It’s going to be nice not having dirt all over the patio when the wind blows. Tired of sweeping out there all the time! I was going to get the fine D.G., but the lady at the counter asked what it was going to be used for. Told her and she suggested the coarse as the fine is like sand. She said that the coarse D.G. is what everyone uses in their xeri-scape landscaping. Small pebble size, like your pinky finger nail. I plan on using it in the front yard where I’ve been re-landscaping too.

ALSO! Wanted to remind everyone in the Reno/Sparks area that the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office will be holding their:

ANNUAL MASTER GARDENER PLANT FAIRE next Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 7:00 am to 11:30 am. 5305 Mill Street, Reno, NV. 784-4848.

From our gardens to your’s at great savings! Wide variety of annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, grasses, shrubs, grapes and more. 4-inch and 1-gallon plants.

Here is a link to their Calendar of Events.

Vegetable Gardening in Northern Nevada & How to make a Raised Garden

After just about killing ourselves over those bloody junipers and planting the lilac and weeping cherry, I’ve turned my sights to the back yard and making my raised vegetable beds!

In the very back of Sunset’s WESTERN LANDSCAPING BOOK, pages 404-405, in the Materials and Techniques chapter, there is a section on Building A Raised Bed.

Raising your garden above the ground can solve some of the most frustrating problems gardeners face. An easy-to-build bed makes it possible for plants to thrive where soil is poor, wildlife is hungry, or the growing season is short. And if you need easy access to your plants - due to a disability or simply to eliminate back-bending labor - you can sit on the edge of the bed and garden in comfort.
Fill the bed with the best soil you can. Good soil means that plants can be placed closer together, making a small area more productive. Line the bottom of the bed with wire screening to keep out pests, or fit it with a PVC framework for bird netting.
A raised bed can be any size, but if its more than 4 feet wide it will be difficult to reach the middle from either side. If the sides will double as benches, build the frame 18-24 inches high.

We have a small backyard ~ with a huge front and side yard. So much rearranging of the landscaping to do! OY! Here’s what I have to work with out back ~ The soil that has been turned was going to be sod…but I’ve decided to put pavers there instead. The compacted ground area behind will be where the raised garden bed will go. Behind those rocks is a an area of about two feet wide to the fence…that will be where I plant the corn.

A couple of weeks ago The State of Nevada Employees Council had an Open House at The Joe here on campus and I signed up for a lot of information from the University of Nevada’s Washoe County Cooperation Extension office. I used to be in 4-H out in Washoe Valley…so I knew they were loaded with great information. I highly recommend them for all us in Northern Nevada and the Eastern California area! I posted a link to all of their free publications below.

Here are some of the pamplets I asked for:
Vegetable Varieties For Northern Nevada
A Quick Guide to Composting
Nevada Soils - Worth the Toil
Urban Forestry Tree Planting Practices for Nevada
The All Seeing, All Knowing, Lawn Care Manuel for Northern Nevada
Roses for Reno and the Northern Nevada/Eastern Sierra Area
Spring Planted Bulbs Boast Beautiful Blooms
Hardy, Drought-Tolerant and Moderately Salt-tolerant Shurbs and Vines for Northern Nevada
Seven Ways to Make Your Trees and Shurbs Drought Resistant

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS FOR FREE

The Vegetable Varieties for Northern Nevada is four pages long and gives a list of all veggie varieties that are great for planting here with the planting dates. Great comments on which are better for canning, yields, rust resistance, maturing, indoor growing, storage values, disease resistant, most popluar, etc.

ps: For all of you in the Reno/Sparks area…or those of you who will be in town on May 17th ~ at the Washoe County Extension Office on Mill Street there will be a plant sale that morning.

So Flippin’ Ready for Spring

Big sigh…

Since my bulbs are only 2″ high at the moment ~ thought I’d post pictures of some of my yard’s flowers from last year.  I can’t wait to get my hands into the soil again!  I was pulling some weeds out around my iris’ and about froze my fingers off ~ the soil was warm for the first inch or so, but VERY COLD after that.  But I noticed the crocus, daffies, lupine, poppies, mums, iris, and tulips were all starting to sprout new growth.