The plan is complete!

First off, things are starting to pick up! Today after work I decided to clean up the yard and put the garden back together. It wasn't as difficult as I expected! I got one bed raked up, put back together, and even shoveled some manure onto a tarp to mix with topsoil. Amanda and Nick came out and helped by cleaning up the other bed, put it back together, picked out some sprouts, and crumbled some old coffee grounds Nick brought from work on the bales. I feel happy and accomplished with everything we got done today! :)

Amanda has already made a great post about all of the plants that we are growing this year. On our recent cold, rainy Sunday I went to www.motherearthnews.com and with their garden planner I made a really awesome plan!

The planner program allows me to customize everything, I can manage the spacing between plants, rows, and plants in rows. I also can customize the sowing, planting, and

harvest times. There's also a feature that will alert me by e-mail about when to sow, plant, and harvest the plants! It's so cool. I was able to measure everything out to the exact inch. :) Of course, I'm Evelyn, so I don't worry too much about the exact measurements. I do not think that being exact is completely necessary, especially since all of the bales are a few inches off.

unfortunately, the plan is kinda tiny... :(

I made the plan following companion planting guidelines. For instance, Marigolds and nasturtiums together are great at deterring aphids, nematodes, bunnies and so many other pests. Another really cool thing is, Pumpkins, Corn, Cucumbers, Sunflowers, Beans all benefit from one another! Cucumbers will grow up the corn like a trellis, Beans also grow on the corn like a trellis as well as return nitrogen to the soil for the corn once the beans are done. Pumpkins act as a ground cover for the corn to help retain moisture and Sunflowers are good for attracting aphids and pollinators! Ahhh companion planting is sooo interesting I could go for days. Did you know catnip naturally deters FLEAS?! Amazing!!

for more info check out this site! There are tons of sites, this is the one I found that had the most information.

** http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html **

Let's just say I'm one happy gal. :)

oh and the sprouts Amanda and I started on Friday are already sprouted and photosynthesizing! (is that a word?)

The lavender even sprouted! I was really nervous that it would not grow.

I am nervous for the milkweed seems like it's having a hard time.... Oh well...