Today was one of my favorite days of the year. Garden planting day! We listened to the advice and waited till after Easter for the last late freeze, and then we had bad rain last week, so we finally had our first nice day to till and plant our garden.

First off, gardening has become a depression beater for me. We all need hobbies, and I found that having something that grows and needs care throughout the summer, giving me early morning watering and evening weed pulling is great for my mental state. I love watching the dirt sprout a little green curling leaf, then putting cages around plants and finally going out daily picking the fruits of our labors.

After the fact that gardening is a great way to fight mental issues. We love, and I mean LOVE salsa in this house, and we like growing everything we need for homemade salsa. Half my garden is tomato’s alone. I also learned my lesson and only did jalapeños and a few Serranos this year. We also grow our own Cilantro and Onions, so the only thing we buy is garlic for our salsa. We should make enough salsa this year to last till next summer, if not a little longer. It’s not just me and my wife it’s all my kids to if it’s a good, slightly hot, and very tasty jar of homemade salsa the entire house feasts on it from eggs to chips and salsa.

We woke up today and had a few things on our plate for the kids, but we knew that we were free all afternoon and  could I have been buying all our garden supplies a little at a time over the past three months so it wasn’t a huge cost on us all at once. Life hack if you’re going to have a hobby like gardening that has a singular large cost you can get ahead of it by buying things a little at a time. Also, watch for sales. We picked up the potting soil we use in our raised gardens, and we are slowly building up layer by layer over the years for $2 a bag for .75 cu feet bags. It’s about a $1 savings plus for each cubic foot. We had two new giant raised beds we built this fall and winter we needed to get the first layer of dirt in.

Oh, to make some sense on that what I mean by building up. Over the past three years I build a few raised beds a year, and we put enough dirt for different plants like the first year in the little planters, we put herbs and then the vegetation and some mulch and stuff was built up over the summer. Then, last year, I put another layer of soil and planet things like broccoli or squash, and then we pulled the plants at the end of the season and left them there to decay and mulch. Today, we put another layer in of soil. The two new planters we used as compost boxes this winter. I put the first clippings of spring into the boxes, so we had more mulch, and today, we made the first layer of soil. We planted watermelon in one raised bed, and the other we are going to go get some strawberry starters in.

As far as our regular garden goes, I have been throwing a lot of random things in it since the end of last garden season. From coffee grounds to eggshells, it’s been a trash can for biodegradable stuff all year. So I started today doing a quick till under of the entire garden, getting everything mixed up and in the soil. I also started doing this thing where I use cow manure called Black Kow from Lowes when I plant.

After the till under, we did a hard till of a single line over and over until I had a nice line to plant in. Timmy and I planted the main garden today, while Bethany and Ellie cleaned up and planted the raised beds. After placing our seeds, we took and backfilled all our holes with the Black Kow manure. I started this last year for my June plant. Yes, I will plant again in June. I have a bunch of stuff that I will replace things that are done, like the beans or anything that doesn’t grow well. I loved the way it came together last June, so I used this spring to plant to.

As far as vegetables planted, we have a good row of beans, three rows of beefsteak, roma, spring, and cherry tomatoes. Then, a good row of two different squashes. Next, we have two rows of jalapeños and a half a row of Serrano and half a row of red peppers. We also have two rows of cucumbers and a half a row of snap peas. We have the watermelon box planted. The raised beds have Cilantro, Dill, Basil, Onions, Lettuce, and Parsley all in them. We will plant our strawberries probably after next week when I can budget them into the picture (the one thing I hadn’t picked up yet).

I get to spend the next few months being overly protective of my plants and balancing plant food and water intake. I get to spend entire days mowing the lawn with a bagger on so I can put lawn mulch under my plants. Honestly, gardening is not something you do to save money it’s something you do to give yourself something to do with a mind that wanders. Plus, what would summer lessons at church be without me in full farmer Mike mode teaching entire lessons with very garden centric focuses or flower focuses.

My next adventure is coming up as Timmy turns 6 in a week, so I’m taking him to see a baseball game a real one. Also, Mothers Day is next week! Yes, I remembered mostly because I get all the church kids for a special Sunday Mothers Day Sunday School, and I have to outdo last year, so what’s on the agenda. That’s for me to find out, but I’ll let yall know I’m not doubting I post about it because if I do this right, I should have a bunch of happy kids giving their mom a present from the heart.