PEAS & RADISHES

Last week the first bed was turned and prepped and lo and behold! We have one bed with good, humus-rich, amended soil. This bed received the bulk of last-year's compost plus a thick layer of straw mulch that overwintered and was turned into the bed. For the first time in 7 years, no further amending is required.

While turning the bed, found a stray carrot that survived the winter. Melanie the bunny (who is kind of in shock after her recent recapture following several weeks on the lam) was the lucky recipient.

Captivity has its benefits, babe.

Another denizen is Methuselah, the onion, now beginning his third year in the bed. Methuselah is a volunteer - no one knows how he got his start, but now that he's established he seems content.

Here's Methuselah and the peas, his new neighbors.

Also in the hood: radishes.

Then the wind picked up again with 40 mph gusts, so the straw mulch was out of the question.

One bed down, several more to go.

Several frosts this week. Yesterday it snowed. Today is sunny, breezy and cold.

P.S. from last post: Mom says quit adding wood ash to the compost - our soil is alkaline enough already. I guess I should be skewing my compost slightly acid, not neutral.