The Very First Steps
Having just moved in the previous October, this is our first spring at Mulin Sura and the true beginning to our gardening and farming journey. My priorities were in building raised vegetable and flower beds while Pascal's were in planting fruit trees. Today we were able to accomplish all of that.
In the middle of March, Pascal had built three vegetable beds for the sunny part in front of the house, next to the cellar, and behind the garage. A good-sized grassy section is framed on one side by the public hiking trail and by the house on the other side. The section gets sun for as long as it shines on this pocket of Schluein, which is a lot. It's the perfect place for growing vegetables. At the beginning of March, I had already outlined exactly which fruits and vegetables I wanted to grow. I'm a true beginner, so I wanted to start small. The point is to grow a few of our favorite kinds of produce. For me, that resulted in the following short list: spinach, carrots, red currant, and black currant. Pumpkins are also on the list, but they will be planted later in the year in an open space somewhere in the yard (they don't like to be contained by a raised bed).
At that time, I sowed spinach seeds in one bed and carrots in another (careful not to sow too many, as this can require thinning later on and subsequently attract carrot flies). In the third bed I planted a baby red currant and a baby black currant, not more than two years old. There was still a strong chance that the frost wasn't over; we had had the heaviest winter in 10 years. So I crossed my fingers that the seeds would eventually sprout. The spinach sprouted around April 6th (about three weeks after sowing) and the carrots sprouted on April 13th (about four weeks after sowing). It's not surprising that they sprouted a little later than the package suggested, as it was still quite cold until the first days of April. I was so thrilled to see the sprouts! A lot of people told us it would be hard to grow from seed. Meanwhile, the red currant is also sprouting a lot of little leaves on all branches while the black currant is a little slow to start. Not being against a wall, the berries are slightly vulnerable to the breeze, but they are supported by two sticks each.
Today Pascal built a raised flower bed for a grassy section by the entrance of the house. There I planted two types of dahlia bulbs, Icelandic poppies, and Alpine poppies. Lucky insisted on burying two sticks in the soft soil even though I protested. Pascal also built two herb boxes, which were installed under the stairs of the BBQ hut. There I planted basil, rosemary, coriander, and chives.
On the other side of the house, the hillside below the BBQ hut also gets quite a lot of sun during the day. There we planted the cranberry bush, the baby cherry tree, and the baby pear tree, about ten meters apart. Including the baby apple tree Pascal planted next to the vegetable beds, our fruit tree goals are almost reached. We will still plant a quince tree somewhere near the house, as well, as this is one of Pascal's favorite fruits. His absolute favorite fruit is plum, and a plum tree of about 20-30 years grows along side the hiking trail.
It was a true gift to spend the whole day outside in the sun. The winter felt excruciatingly long this year. We had the most snow in ten years, and we were simply ready for spring to come. I usually go to California for a month every winter, but this year we stayed home to enjoy the white winter wonderland in our new home. By the end of March, he had had enough of the white winter wonderland. We wanted to see the color green again and feel the sun rays on our cheeks.
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Heute ist unser erster Tag im Garten. Wir haben so viel Freude, dass die Sonne scheint, und dass der Winter zu ende ist. Es ist circa 15 grad, und wir haben viel erreicht.
Meine Prioritäten sind, dass wir Hochbeete für Frucht und Gemüse bauen, während es für Pascal die Obstbäume sind. Wir haben Spinat, Ruebli, Johannisbeeren und Schwarze Johannisbeeren in den 3 Hochbeeten gepflanzt, sowie ein Kirschbaum, ein Birnbaum, und einen Apfelbaum. Wir haben auch einen schönen Platz für unseren Cranberry Busch gefunden. Pascal hat noch zwei Kisten für Kräuter gemacht welche unter der Treppe vom Grillhüsli sind wo sie viel Sonne bekommen. Dort habe ich Basilikum, Rosmarin, Schnittlauch und Koriander gepflanzt.
Ich glaube dass wir auf dem richtigen Weg sind mit unseren Garten Projekten. Nun wollen wir noch einen Quittenbaum und hoffen dass wir eine erfolgreiche Frucht und Gemüse Saison haben werden.