Tools and gardening

I use a variety of tools when gardening. I have a ton of store bought ones.... and yet, today I went out side with a FORK!

Yeah, a FORK!

Since I spent some time this morning putting my arbor trellis BACK up. (75 mile an hour winds yesterdays tipped the darn thing over!) I figured I would rake up the soil under the trellis to allow the pretty tulips and daffodils have a softer journey up from the ground. And a fork is perfect for that!!!

Then I moved the dirt from one long planter.... to put it in the other long planter...

(I used a lot of the soil to re pot indoor plants this fall)

So I combined the dirt into one planter, and moved it into the SHADE!

I love fresh sweet snow pea's... but last year I had the STUPID idea to put the planters in the SUN!!! Snow pea's don't like the sun!

Really, they do not like the sun. A fact I found out real fast when no peas made it to the picking stage!!! GIGGLE So this year I moved them back into the shade.

Too early you say? Nope, I'll plant the peas by mid March, and have a bumper crop! Snow peas like shade and cold!!! So do things like spinach, and cabbage.... but I'm not planting those this year.

My tomatoes have come up in the indoor pot, just tiny yet, but by the time they are ready to go outside they should be big and strong.

I plant them in a large pot.... and put in dirt only HALF WAY up the pot.... this way as they grow, I add soil, and by the time they are ready to go out, they have a HUGE ROOT SYSTEM!! I don't like those peat pots used for seed starting for the tomatoes, they tend to confine the seedlings too much, and the roots don't get big enough.

My herbs I planted indoors will stay inside, because I have others planted outside... but this way I have quick access to some herbs in case it's raining outside.

One thing I did notice while outside, even though It's early yet, most of the dirt in my planters are ice free!!! Pretty good for this time of the year.

One seed I'm going to pick up this year is more "Teddy Bear Sunflowers"!!! Those tiny sunflowers (no bigger then 4 inch's!!) were the hit of my garden last year. They look just like regular huge sunflowers... but itty bitty. So pretty and cute!